Translate a sentence
 

Hi. Could someone translate this english sentence to both japanese kanji/kana and to romaji? I would be really thankfull. :)

"The most important thing is your happiness."

Well, I would translate it to:
あなたの幸せが一番大切な物です。
anata no shiawase ga ichiban taisetsu na mono desu

I could...perhaps most likely...be wrong. It should be close enough though.

Close enough will do! Thanks alot. :)

Altough if anyone would like to chance something, please say so.

One OT question btw: Are there any site/program that I could use to zoom in the japanese sentence to see how to write the signs?

many browsers allow you to gold ctrl and scroll your mouse wheel to change the size of fonts etc. if that is not the solution you want you best bet is to copy and paste and then enlarge the font size on your text editor. there are many online dictionaries that have SOD (stroke order display) for characters as well.

お幸せは一番大切のものだ

i'd use こと instead of もの. and never use あなた, unless this is your spouse or similar

最も大切なことはbさんの幸せです

who is this addressed to?

anrakushi: Thanks. Ctrl + scroll works fine :)

It's actually to an old girlfriend.. Not any more tought. So what would you use MrDrEsq?

mmm, use her name- do you know how to katakana smash?

I don't know katakana yet. But I though about using this for that purpose.

As an actual translator/interpreter, I would write it as;

もっとも大切なのはあなたの幸せです。
(mottomo taisetsu na no wa anata no shiawase desu)

I see no problem at all with using anata unless it`s someone you just met on the street. But I highly doubt that is the case with this sort of phrase. Anata is NOT overly personal.

anata doesn't have to be overtly personal, it can also be overtly impersonal, but nnnnnnnnnnnno, there's nothing inherrently wrong with anata, just its ambiguity is something to be avoided.
i'd still use her name, but i defer to the actual translator/interpretor

So I could change anata and put the katakana for her name in the exact same place as anata would go in the sentence?

あなた（Anata） is a formal you, When used between couple, thats another case. あんた（Anta)works as well

If you want to be impolite, yes, it will work.

Around here, it`s downright insulting.

and i was just about to give up

Give up? On what?

あんた is pretty common in 関西 region. many girls use it in particular. I wouldn't consider it rude at all between people you are already on friendly terms with. i wouldn't use it in polite situations of course.

still would avoid using あなた even among friends.
anyway, olsson88- did some asking around today and came up with this.
you have two translations
translation 1) 最も大切なのはあんたの幸せ
motto taisetsunanowa anata no shiawase
translation 2) 一番大切なことはあなたの幸せ
ichiban taisetsuna koto wa anatano shiawase

translation two, i changed the mottomo to ichiban as the vast consensus was that it sounded more natural. mind you, both translations are correct grammatically and mean the exact same thing. now, when asked to produce the same translation for "the most important thing is your happiness", all the exchange students produced translation 2 with little to no differentiation. When asked which they would prefer in a letter, all Japanese picked translation two as being easier to understand- HOWEVER, when asked what they would write to express the same feeling, the Japanese came up with something like this:

わたしはあなたが幸せになることが一番嬉しい
watashi wa anata ga shiawase ni naru koto ga ichiban ureshii

so anyway,
there you have it. my endorsement goes to the japanese's 文.

That`s the thing - it`s regional. It has a different connotation in other parts of Japan. The only examples I and my family can come up with are condescending usages, even between friends. That may be local, but it`s use as just another version of anata is fairly specific to the Kansai area.

But that only works well in a relationship context. The original poster didn`t specify the context, it`s just an assumption. For all we know, it could be a letter to a sibling about their choice in schools, etc.
You certainly wouldn`t use that sentence in a letter to a colleague who is debating whether to change jobs.

by the way, i picked your sentence for comparison because it was the only other sentence that was correct.

and as another 関西代表, my advice is to use people's names whenever possible. and even when you dont know a person's name it really doesnt matter because more often then not you don't use anything at all. i just really cannot emphasize this enough to beginning learners of japanese: dont call people anata

also, i'd caution against thinking stuff is ok just because you've heard it.

Oops, totally missed that post. I scrolled through the list 2 or 3 times, but somehow skipped over that one. Ouch - sorry. I was trying to come up with an all-over translation, particularly as I was just advising a friend this week who is thinking of changing careers and used a similar sentence.