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Auto-translation Problems

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Top-Cat said:
Tree

I tried, but words are gibberish.

Are you an expert on writing texts that the translator does not translate.

Top-Cat
Click to expand...
Not an expert, but when I'm doing translation using an auto-translator
and I hit something that makes no sense,
I try typing the word or phrase into Google Search (in inverted commas " "),
and usually find a dictionary that helps.

One more try at 'breaking in'

Phrasal Verb: Break in

Meaning: Train a horse to be ridden
Significado : treinar um cavalo para ser montado

Example: It took ages to BREAK the pony-girl IN.
Exemplo: Ele levou as idades para quebrar a menina pônei.

:)
 
yes, I was thinking to shift the exchange about problems with auto-translation to Tech Questions
 
Top-Cat said:
Are you an expert on writing texts that the translator does not translate.
Click to expand...
I have never problems neither on this site nor another
 
I'm using of "Bing Traducteur" ( Bing Translator ) and I've not the same result than Eul in her example but near ...

It took ages to BREAK the pony-girl IN. = Demorou séculos para quebrar o pônei-garota in.

In French : = Il a fallu des siècles pour briser la poney-girl.

Returning in English : = It took centuries for breaking the pony-girl.

It seems relatively correct, no ?
 
That's very close, yes - but my question was really,
does quebrar 'break' have that horse-training sense in Portuguese -
or does briser in French, est-ce que tu briseras un cheval?
 
Really "Briser", I dont think : rather "soumettre" (to submit) or "dresser" (to train, to tame ?) ...

"Briser" could be used, but it would be quite abusive and not very ethological !

Tu "brises" un esclave = you break a slave ... (but not a horse !:eek::devil:)

I know, it could be appearing like "paradoxal" ....:devil:
...though we're speaking of Pony-girl ....:D
 
Oh yes, as a pony-girl I'd be happy to be 'soumise' et 'dressée' -
but as a slave I'd be 'brisée' :devil:
 
I mainly rely on dear old Google to translate to Portuguese, though I have a number of Portuguese colleagues at work who graciously allow me to practice my dreadful Portuguese on them.

Some of them are surprisingly easy on the eye! :)

Oddly, however, 'It took ages to break the pony-girl in' is not a phrase I have attempted with any colleagues! :rolleyes:

Eu se baseiam principalmente na querido e velho Google para traduzir para Português, apesar de eu ter um número de colegas portugueses no trabalho que gentilmente me permitem praticar o meu terrível Português sobre eles.

Alguns deles são surpreendentemente fácil no olho! :)

Estranhamente, no entanto, "Ele levou as idades para quebrar a menina pônei." não é uma frase que eu tentei com todas as colegas! :rolleyes:
 
English is unusual in having constructions like "break in", "look for", "put off" etc where the preposition completely changes the meaning of the verb. Translators have an easier time if you use single-word verbs ("tame", "seek", "delay").
Non -poetic language is also safer. "Ages" is a poetic exaggeration, so I'd feed the translator a plain version of the sentence like this:

it took a long time to tame the pony girl ->
demorou um longo tempo para domar a menina pônei
 
Yes, those 'phrasal verbs' are a constant source of confusion for learners of English,
and apparently for auto-translators too. And clichés, idioms, dead metaphors
that litter (there's one! ;)) our everyday speech add to the confusion.
No wonder poor T-C thinks the translator's giving him nonsense! :D
 
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