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I am trying to say in Italian the following sentence.

Nothing would change between us, even if you do or say some things.

The sentence I came with is the following.

Niente cambierebbe tra noi, neppure se facessi o dicessi certe cose.

Truly, in the English sentence something would be too generic; in the Italian sentence, certe cose seems too specific, as if I am talking of a strict set of things (e.g. sexual things).

I thought of using the following sentence, but it seems suggesting that person is willing or tempted to do things I could forgive, but I am not suggesting that.

Ci sono cose che potresti fare e che non cambierebbero quello che c'è tra noi.

Which is the more neutral way of saying what I am trying to say?

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    Certo, dovresti evitare 'certe cose', magari dicendo 'niente cambierebbe tra noi, qualunque cosa facessi o dicessi', così evitando sia allussioni a fattispecie sessuali che proclamazioni particolarmente impegnative, considerato che la proposizione non è chiara per quanto riguarda il soggetto di 'facessi o dicessi'.
    – Kyriakos Kyritsis
    Jan 16, 2014 at 21:14
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    @KyriakosKyritsis You should post that translation as an answer because it's the only sensible way of translating that English sentence. Literal translations don't always preserve the meaning in the target language.
    – Bakuriu
    Jan 17, 2014 at 13:27
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    Why are you trying to dump an Italian? :-)
    – Mauro Vanetti
    Jan 17, 2014 at 15:17
  • (On a side note: if you don't say neppure se *tu* facessi it's not clear who is supposed to be doing or saying "some things".)
    – Mauro Vanetti
    Jan 17, 2014 at 15:21

4 Answers 4

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The sentence "nothing would change between us, even if you do or say some things" does not sound correct in English unless you complete it by mentioning what these things are or the receiver of your message already knows what you are talking about (or you are convinced they are supposed to know). Otherwise a more sensible way to say it would be "nothing will change between us, whatever you do or say."

Even grammatically, it does not sound OK and it would be better as "nothing would change between us, even if you did or said some things…."

Note that you need the ellipsis in the writing; in fact the sentence is (intentionally?) incomplete.

In Italian it can be expressed as Kyriakos Kyritsis suggested.

Niente/nulla cambierebbe tra noi, qualunque cosa tu facessi o dicessi.

Nente/nulla cambierà tra noi, qualunque cosa tu faccia o dica.

If you believe the receiver of your message should know what things you are talking about, you can say the following or equivalently as in Sklivvz answer, but it will sound weird; it could be a sexual reference or a mafia-style message. Do not say it unless you think you have very good reasons to do so.

Niente/nulla cambierebbe tra noi, persino/nemmeno se tu facessi o dicessi certe cose….

EDIT There are several other alternatives:

  • «Non puoi farci niente, niente cambierà tra di noi»
  • «Non c'è niente da fare, niente cambierà tra di noi»
  • «Nonostante i tuoi sforzi, niente cambierà tra di noi»
  • «Nonostante tutto ciò che potresti dire o fare, niente cambierà tra di noi»
  • «Nonostante ciò che dici o fai, niente cambierà tra di noi»
  • «Per quanto tu dica o faccia, niente cambierà tra di noi»
  • «Per quanto tu possa dire o fare, niente cambierà tra di noi»
  • «Non c'è niente che tu possa dire o fare, niente cambierà tra di noi»

As a last resort you can even try:

  • «È il destino, ormai niente cambierà tra di noi»
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  • Qualunque would be a bit too much, as that would mean that person could do everything and nothing would change between us. I would say there are many thing that s/he could do and nothing would change between her/his and me.
    – apaderno
    Jan 17, 2014 at 19:52
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It's a bit of an awkward sentence even in English, and grammatically incorrect, but typically an Italian would say:

Non cambierebbe nulla fra noi, nemmeno se facessi o dicessi delle cose.

Or, if you want to keep the grammatical error:

Non cambierebbe nulla fra noi, nemmeno se fai o dici delle cose.

"Delle" in this context is not a "preposizione articolata", but an "articolo partitivo" indicating an unknown quantity.

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    I disagree. It sounds bad and ambiguous. And in Italian ambiguity almost always will be understood as a sexual reference.
    – Bruno9779
    Jan 17, 2014 at 13:05
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    Sexual reference? In what sense? And on what basis do you disagree?
    – Sklivvz
    Jan 17, 2014 at 13:10
  • I think that the translation you offer is worse than the one OP came up with. "Non cambierebbe nulla fra noi, nemmeno se facessi delle cose." sounds more like "Nothing would change between us, even if you did certain things". In Italian I can't see someone using this sentence other than with their partner, mostly as an indirect reference to some libertine behaviour.
    – Bruno9779
    Jan 17, 2014 at 13:16
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    I think that the English version also has some of the same nuances, even though I don't see how you can see sexual innuendo in "dire delle cose". If we really wanted to lose any ambiguity, it would be easy to simply say "nemmeno se fai o dici alcune cose", which is not something an Italian would say commonly, which is why I don't mention it in the answer.
    – Sklivvz
    Jan 17, 2014 at 13:23
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    I guess that @Bruno9779 is saying that in Italian certe cose and delle cose would be understood as reference to sexual things; that is the feeling I have too. I could be wrong, but to me the meanings of delle cose overlap with the meaning of certe cose
    – apaderno
    Jan 17, 2014 at 19:59
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The nuance you are looking for is lost in translation. You don't want to be too specific, but if you aren't, the phrase will be understood as an indirect sexual reference.

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Non esiste nulla che potresti dire o (che potresti) fare per cambiare le cose tra noi.

Non puoi dire o fare nulla per cambiare le cose tra noi.

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  • "Non puoi dire o fare nulla per cambiare le cose tra noi." sounds like the other person does not have any choice on the direction the relationship goes: it doesn't sound like someone with a sound mind would say.
    – Bruno9779
    Feb 12, 2014 at 15:23
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    @Bruno9779 Then explain why someone with a sound mind would say to his girl "Nothing would change between us, even if you do or say some things.", if he want to offer her a choice. Also I don't get why you are so drastic; saying "le cose tra noi", it is very generic and it may very well refer to the relationship on a very abstract level, or to something more profound like trust, love. That's why I think that either, or you don't understand very well the the meaning of my translation, or you are totally missing the point here.
    – Antonio Molinaro
    Feb 19, 2014 at 22:36
  • Open relationships are cool
    – Bruno9779
    Feb 19, 2014 at 22:38

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