English teacher (real)

[AdoraJade]

My grandmother died today and to remember her I  have decided to get my first tattoo(in real life). However I do not want to be one of those people who gets a tattoo with a spelling mistake or a grammar mistake. I need an ACTUAL English Teacher to tell me if I need like a comma or if something is misspelled or something. 

 

It's going to be a dragonfly (her favorite). And underneath it I want this phrase (or something like it):

"You are not who you are in your final moments but who you have always been."

 

It feels slightly awkward (the wording) and I'm not sure if there should be a comma or what. So any help is appreciated. Thank you.

[ellestones]

knowing the circumstance, I get what you want to impart

i would suggest to avoid using the words not and but. Examples:

"in your final moments,
 you are, to me,
 who you have always been"

"in our final moments,
 we are
 as we have always been"

[AdoraJade]

Well I mean it was a phrase she used to say to me all the time. And she meant it like "oh people say they've changed but they aren't who they say they are in the last 5 minutes.. They are who they've always been. If that makes any sense

[ellestones]

yes it makes sense

in constructing (word arrangement and punctuation) your grandmother's spoken words then I suggest that you visualise her speaking to you. When she spoke where did she pause

i think in this case it is more about how your grandmother spoke, her own use of grammar, as you remember it, than it is about anyone elses' grammar. Be true to your grandmother as best you can and all will be well. Even when the world has now changed and will be different for you for ever more

   

[Quinn Lysette]

On 7/28/2018 at 5:18 PM, AdoraJade said:

My grandmother died today and to remember her I  have decided to get my first tattoo(in real life). However I do not want to be one of those people who gets a tattoo with a spelling mistake or a grammar mistake. I need an ACTUAL English Teacher to tell me if I need like a comma or if something is misspelled or something. 

 

It's going to be a dragonfly (her favorite). And underneath it I want this phrase (or something like it):

"You are not who you are in your final moments but who you have always been."

 

It feels slightly awkward (the wording) and I'm not sure if there should be a comma or what. So any help is appreciated. Thank you.

wouldnt this be better  

"Yr not who you are in yr final moments but who you have always been."

[Resi Pfeffer]

On 31.7.2018 at 4:16 AM, Quinn Lysette said:

wouldnt this be better  

"Yr not who you are in yr final moments but who you have always been."

In the past you had a pretty amusing way to troll the forum.
What happened to you these days?

[Lindal Kidd]

AdoraJade, however you say it, that's a LOT of words for a tattoo.  I know they are not direct quotes, but here are some variants that say much the same thing.

• People Never Change
• You Are Who You Are
• You Are Everything You've Done

If it were me, I'd eliminate the words completely and let the dragonfly speak for itself.  (Well, that's not true.  If it were me, I wouldn't get a tattoo at all.)