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I'm wondering how to say "nobody is perfect" in Japanese. Would 「完全な人いない」 be a
correct translation?
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translation
How to say "Nobody is perfect" in Japanese
> 完璧な人間などいない。  
>  完璧な人なんていないよ。  
>  完璧な人間なんかいないさ。  
>  etc, etc.

完璧 is better than 完全 here.  
Adding something like など／なんて／なんか for emphasis sounds natural.  
人 and 人間 are pretty much interchangeable here.
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2014-10-15T11:24:15.750
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To affect that meaning, my favourites are:

  1. 河童{かっぱ}の川流れ{かわながれ}。
  2. 河童も溺{おぼ}れる。{ _much less common than #1_ )
  3. 猿{さる}も木{き}から落{お}ちる。

either will get you a smile from the listener.
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(Sorry to post this as a separate answer, but this was too long for a comment)

"Nobody is perfect" or "There is no such thing as a perfect person" can be
almost literally translated as:

>   * 完璧な人はいない。
>   * 完璧な人などいない。
>   * 人間は完璧ではない。
>

I believe this is completely natural, and you can confirm this in
[ALC](http://eow.alc.co.jp/search?q=%E5%AE%8C%E7%92%A7%E3%81%AA%E4%BA%BA) and
[Weblio辞書](http://ejje.weblio.jp/sentence/content/perfect+person). There is [a
movie with exactly the same title as
this](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%AE%8C%E7%92%A7%E3%81%AA%E4%BA%BA%E3%81%AA%E3%81%A9%E3%81%84%E3%81%AA%E3%81%84).
You can [google it
yourself](https://www.google.co.jp/search?q=%E5%AE%8C%E7%92%A7%E3%81%AA%E4%BA%BA%E3%81%AF%E3%81%84%E3%81%AA%E3%81%84)
and see many native Japanese people actually using expressions like this.

* * *

There are some traditional Japanese proverbs which look similar:

>   * 猿【さる】も木【き】から落【お】ちる (Even monkeys fall from trees.)
>   * 河童【かっぱ】の川【かわ】流【なが】れ (Even
> [kappa](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kappa_\(folklore\)) can be swept by
> water.)
>   * 弘法【こうぼう】にも筆【ふで】の誤【あやま】り (Even [Kōbō-
> Daishi](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C5%ABkai) (known as a good
> calligrapher) makes an error in writing.)
>

However, these proverbs are not drop-in replacement of 完璧な人はいない. There is a
big difference between "Even experts can occasionally make an mistake" and "No
one is perfect".

「猿も木から落ちる／河童の川流れ／弘法にも筆の誤り」 is **only** used when someone is very good at
something, but he made an simple mistake _in his field of expertise_ :

>   * チェスのグランド・マスターが、チェスで小学生に負けた。猿も木から落ちるだ。
>   * イチローが野球の試合中に、ボールを落とした。猿も木から落ちるだ。
>   * 日本語の先生が、簡単な漢字を間違えた。猿も木から落ちるだ。
>

You can use 「完璧な人はいない」 in several kinds of situations, but it's mainly used
when someone is known to be very good at something, but bad _at a different
thing_. It's usually the equivalent of "everyone has his faults".

>   * そのチェスのグランド・マスターは、10年間に5回も離婚した。完璧な人はいない。
>   * いくらイチローでも、サッカーまで上手なわけではない。完璧な人はいない。
>   * その日本語の先生は普段はとても温厚だが、お酒を飲むと暴れる。完璧な人はいない。
>

You can never use 猿も木から落ちる and the friends in these examples.
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2014-10-16T08:08:58.910
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I would say "まぁ、人のやることですから" which expresses the idea very well. The nuance is
very close to "Well, we are all only humans."
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2014-10-23T19:31:49.463
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