"Quo imus?" versus "Qua imus?" -- What's the difference?

Latin translation: to what place vs. by which route

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English term or phrase:	"Quo imus?" versus "Qua imus?" -- What's the difference?
Latin translation:	to what place vs. by which route
Entered by:	RebeccaM

14:33 Feb 3, 2009

English to Latin translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Journalism

English term or phrase: "Quo imus?" versus "Qua imus?" -- What's the difference?

Hello all,

I am wondering what the difference is between "Quo imus?" and "Qua imus?" As I understand it, "quo imus" means "where are we going?" ("where" as a bigger sense of the world, ie. "grander purpose" as opposed to "physical location") and "qua imus", from what I've read, seems to be "by what route are we going?" Are these accurate interpretations?

Also, I am using "imus" instead of "vadimus" because I saw a previous post explaining that "ire" is "to go" whereas "vadere" is more "to go (in a rush)". Is this correct?

This is for a paper I am writing on how society is employing new ways of thinking and new technologies to answer age-old questions.

Many thanks in advance for your insights.

RebeccaM

to what place vs. by which route

Explanation:
'Quo imus' or "Quo vadimus" is ued for 'Where are we going?.

'Quo' is more like 'to what place or to what purpose are we going?', while 'Qua' is 'by which route are we going, which path are we following?'

Selected response from:

Roland Lelaj
Canada
Local time: 05:00

Grading comment

Thanks so much for taking the time. Appreciate the response!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

4 +1

to what place vs. by which route

Roland Lelaj

quonam tendimus?

chaac

Answers

17 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

'Quo imus' or "Qua imus"

to what place vs. by which route

Roland Lelaj
Canada
Local time: 05:00
Works in field
Native speaker of:

Albanian
PRO pts in category: 4

Grading comment

Thanks so much for taking the time. Appreciate the response!

39 mins confidence:

"quo imus?" versus "qua imus?" -- what's the difference? quonam tendimus?

Explanation:
greetings - was thinking more on a tangent and along the lines of "Quonam tendimus?" rather than "quo vadimus?"/"quo imus", or qua imus, etc.
a) because the suffix -nam would give the question more of a sense of must and urgency
b) because "tendimus" might be a better way of conveying your meaning/intentions as a headline

chaac
Local time: 10:00
Native speaker of:

English,

German

Notes to answerer

Asker: Ahh I see, appreciate the suggestions. I will try and see whether they will work better in this context. Much obliged!

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Latin translation: to what place vs. by which route

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