Please help translate "Touched by an angel"

[Nick_Bennet]

Hi dear community!

My Korean is really poor. Yet I desperately need to find a nice translation of "Touched by an angel". I need it really nice since I am going to use it for a special T-Shirt gift.

If possible it would be nice if the translations carries the touchy-feely English sense of touching as moving, heart-warming. In case of there being different words for angel, it would be good to use the one that fits better with the concept of pure and gentle angle, a pure soul.

Automated translation gives me the following.

(1) 천사가 만진
(2) 천사에 의해만 지
(3) 천사에 의해 만지
(4) 천사가 감동했다

Yet I am sure all of them are terrible and that one of you very kind fellows can help me get it right.

And of course, if the whole sentence can be expressed in a nice, cool sounding way (from a Korean point of view) it would be great. Maybe there is even an equivalent expression in Korean. If so please let me know, along with the literal translation to English.

Many thanks in advance !

[community.korean]

Hi Nick,

Thanks for commenting. There is no equivalent to the phrase in Korean---one way to write it may be to say '천사를 만났어요' (I met an angel), or '천사가 나를 움직였어요'(I was moved by an angel--but this may be too long to put into a T-shirt).

Cheers,
Lyn
Team KoreanClass101.com

[Nick_Bennet]

Thanks very much Lyn!

One more question to be sure. Does "moved" in the sentence that you suggest mean moved in the sense of imprinting an emotion in someone?

[community.korean]

Hello,

Actually, you should add the word for 'mind/heart', which is '마음'. -->천사가 내 마음을 움직였어요. This means that the 'angel' caused an imprint, like you said, or some sort of positive change in your heart.

Cheers,
Lyn
Team KoreanClass101.com

[Nick_Bennet]

Hi again Lyn! Thanks very much for taking so much interest.

I've been fiddling with more online translation and search results to see if I can figure out something (despite my Korean being veeery elemental). Somehow I find that 감동된 may be a good option to convey the meaning of touched as moved/impressed/emotionally affected.

I had a look a Naver translator which I had not tried before (how did I miss it??!!) and found the following:

나는 천사에 의해 감동받았다

http://translate.naver.com/#/ko/en/%EB% ... 8%EB%8B%A4)

Naver is great in which it includes examples. The examples appear to match the sense of touched/moved/affected that I am looking on:

He was touched by the allegory.
그는 그 우화에 의해 감동받았다.

They were moved by the young writer's message, that behind all the evil in the world, people are still good at heart.
그들은 세상의 악의 뒤에, 사람들 마음에는 여전히 선이 존재한다는 어린 작가의 메시지에 의해 감동을 받았다.

So... question (1). How do you find 나는 천사에 의해 감동받았다? Any suggestions on how to improve / tweak it?

And, question (2). Would it still be fine the shorter form 천사에 의해 감동된? Would it be basically fine? Would it carry the same meaning? Does it sound fine enough?

Sorry if i got it wrong due to my poor (almost non-existent) Korean. I just wanted to dig a little bit deeper.

And once again many thanks in advance

[community.korean]

Hi,

I was going actually going to write '감동받다' as one option, but thought '움직이다' was a more 'softer' (I hope this makes sense) expression, so I suggested that instead. Also, '감동 받았다' is a very polite way of saying you are touched, so if you want to give this T-shirt to someone close to you, maybe it would be better if the phrase was more casual.
And yes, technically, '천사에 감동된' or '천사에 감동됨' is translated to 'touched by an angel', but both expressions are not considered very 'natural'. One expression that you may be able to use would be '천사에게 감동받음'/'천사에게 감동받았어요'.

Hope this was of help.
Sincerely,
Lyn
Team KoreanClass101.com

[Nick_Bennet]

Hi Lyn,

It looks like we are almost there. Your help is amazing. I really appreciate all your help. It really means a lot to me.

Just to make sure that we get this right I will give you a little more context.

The T-shirt gift is actually for me to wear at a special occasion in which my other half will see it. It will be my way to thank her and recognize her for deeply affecting my feeling and way of thinking, helping me become a better person through her gentle influence. I want it to contain the word "angel" not only as a metaphor of her kind, gentle ways but also since it is the way I sometimes call her. This way she will have no doubt that I am referring to her.

To achieve this meaning, which grammar is the most appropriate? Specifically, which way of saying “by”: 의해, …에게, or any other, works best?

I need “by” in the sentence to clearly mean that I (the person wearing the T-shirt) was touched by an angel (her). In other words I need the sentence to mean that an angel touched me (in the sense of inspired me, moved my heart).

I want to specially avoid the sentence meaning “angel’s touch” as if I (the person wearing the T-shirt) was an angel or as if I (the person wearing the T-shirt) had the gentle touch of an angel.

So, to summarize the best candidates so far appear to be the following:

(1) 천사에게 감동받음
(2) 천사에게 감동받았어
(3) 천사에게 감동된
(4) 천사에 의해 감동된

And, based on what some other user in other forum suggested this may be another fine option:

(5) 천사에게 감동 받은

By the way, as you said I would prefer the expression to sound casual and natural (since the person to whom it is dedicated is obviously very close to me). But I don’t mind if it sounds a little formal and polite (to show respect and recognition) as long as it is not very formal and polite. So, if you find that 감동받다 is too polite I will go with 마음을 움직이다 instead.

Lyn, if you could give me your advice one more time I’m sure I will be able to make my mind.

Thanks a million for helping me with this little surprise!

[community.korean]

Hello,

What a very sweet surprise! Yes, the phrase '천사에게 감동 받은' would also work, sorry I was unable to point it out to you earlier!
I actually think that '천사에게 감동 받은' and '천사가 제 마음을 움직였어요'(Here the 'I' is in polite form, rather than the casual phrase '내'. You can use either phrases as it is a special event for your special someone) are the two best phrases, although the others also can be used in the same context. And don't worry, the latter ('천사가 제 마음을 움직였어요') means that the angel has touched your heart, not actually physically 'touched' you.
Having said this, if you have some friends to get feedback from, please ask them which phrase they prefer before you come to a conclusion! (As this seems like a very important event, I don't want to mess it up for you!)
I hope everything goes well, and would love to hear how everything goes!

Sincerely,
Lyn
Team KoreanClass101.com

[Nick_Bennet]

Hi Lyn! Thanks very much. Big, big, big thanks! I'll let you know how it goes.

[community.korean]

Hi Nick,

No problem! Hope everything goes well!

Cheers,
Lyn
Team KoreanClass101.com

[Nick_Bennet]

Hi Lyn! I went for 천사에게 감동 받은 and it was a blast. Thanks very much!!!

[community.korean]

Hi Nick,

I don't know why I was just notified of your post--so sorry for the late reply.
I'm very happy to hear that everything went well!
Thanks for letting me know!

Sincerely,
Lyn
Team KoreanClass101.com