5

Considering the original phrase:

The king who all citizens love is happy.

(Portuguese: Feliz é o rei a quem todos os cidadãos amam.)

Here is a proposed Latin translation:

Felix est rex is quem omnes cives amant

Is the pronoun "is" necessary?

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3

Not sure where you got that is from. The original phrase, which seems to be from a 1845 book of Latin exercises, does not has it. For instance, see here.

In any case, is as pronoun means "he", or as demonstrative, "this/that", so maybe the phrase with the is could be translated as

Happy is he the king who all citizens love

or

Happy is this/that king who all citizens love

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2
  • 1
    Appreciated. The translation to latin I got is from someone who translated from the portuguese version. But any way, I couldn`t found a reason as well.
    – ryuichi
    Jul 26 '18 at 7:37
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    It could easily be a happy king is he whom all citizens love with felix fronted for emphasis.
    – Anonym
    Jul 26 '18 at 19:04
1

The best of Latin: the best of English: happy is the king; he (is), whom (quem) all citizens love. To omit "is" may be acceptable; but, the assertion becomes sloppy. Guys with the erudition of Cicero would not thank you.

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2
  • I don't get this argument at all. The antecedent of the relative clause is rex.. Why does it need a demonstrative in apposition? What's sloppy about omitting it?
    – Colin Fine
    Jul 29 '18 at 21:40
  • @Colin Fine: Here, "king" is being emphasised (possibly for a dramtic effect); HE, whom...Omit "si", which you may do, the emphasis is reduced; assertion is weakened.
    – tony
    Jul 31 '18 at 9:11

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