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Glossary entry

Portuguese term or phrase:

O difícil é que a aparência era a realidade

English translation:

The difficult thing was that appearances were in fact reality.

Added to glossary by Miguel Falquez-Certain
Apr 10, 2005 13:50
19 yrs ago
Portuguese term

O difícil é que a aparência era a realidade

Portuguese to English Art/Literary Poetry & Literature
Tudo isso era a miniatura da igreja, da praça e da torre do relógio, e neste mapa a moça calculava como um general. Que diria então se pudesse passar, de ver os objetos, a dizê-los…Era o que ela, com paciência muda, parecia desejar. Sua imperfeição vinha de querer dizer, sua dificuldade de ver era como a de pintar.
- O difícil é que a aparência era a realidade.

(Clarice Lispector - A cidade sitiada)

Hi. I'm wondering about the best translation for this line. I'm assuming that it's dialogue, given the punctuation, and it's a phrase that it's important to the author of the piece so I want to be as accurate as possible. What I'm wondering about is the mixture of tenses here - does the combination of 'é' and 'era' sound strange in Portuguese? Or is it completely natural? Which tense would work best in English here - I can't see any way of mixing the past and present.

Thanks
Proposed translations (English)
5 +2 The difficiult thing was that appearances were in fact reality.
5 +2 The difficulty was that appearances were perceived as reality
5 +1 What is hard to accept is that appearance matched reality
4 The hardship is that appearance was in fact reality.
4 The difficulty is that appearance was reality.
4 What is difficult (to be understood) is that appearance was (actually) reality

Discussion

Sormane Fitzgerald Apr 10, 2005:
Read this part:..."Clarice se valeu do mon�logo para assim se disfar�ar do di�logo que tra�a em todos os seus textos, invariavelmente."...
http://geocities.yahoo.com.br/claricegurgelvalente/16_tecnic...
Non-ProZ.com Apr 10, 2005:
ok thanks for that - I didn't read as dialogue initially - the hyphen just gave me a spot of translator's doubt! Great link on Clarice, thank you.
Sormane Fitzgerald Apr 10, 2005:
See, I don't think it is a dialogue. The book, as far as I know, is very narrative. Probably the author explaining how the main character perceives life.
Non-ProZ.com Apr 10, 2005:
Sormane Thanks for the clarification of the grammar point re tenses. My instinct was to go for past + past, as you suggest. But I was also wondering about the fact that the punctuation makes it look as though it's dialogue here - do you read it as such out of context? And, if so, wouldn't a present tense be more natural? What do you think?

Proposed translations

+2
5 mins
Portuguese term (edited): O dif�cil � que a apar�ncia era a realidade
Selected

The difficiult thing was that appearances were in fact reality.

n/a
Peer comment(s):
neutral James Cook : The difficulty was that appearances were in fact the reality
10 mins
Better yet: Problem was, appearances were in fact reality.
agree Isabel Vidigal : yes, "Problem was, ...."
38 mins
agree Claudia Costa
8 hrs
Something went wrong...
3 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "I think this is the simplest and most suitable answer as far as a translation goes, although Sormane's explanation was also very helpful. Thanks all."
+2
32 mins
Portuguese term (edited): O dif�cil � que a apar�ncia era a realidade

The difficulty was that appearances were perceived as reality

Lucy,

I've seen this present + past combo many times in PT. I don't think it’s pure grammar. I would go with past + past in EN. There's jut no way around it, IMO.

Based on what I know about the book, Lucrécia, the main character, spends her life observing people, things, her surroundings, etc…and that is what she understands life is...what she literally sees.


--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 38 mins (2005-04-10 14:29:17 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Check this link out. It\'s an interesting site on Clarice Linspector and her books, main characters, etc.

http://geocities.yahoo.com.br/claricegurgelvalente
Peer comment(s):
agree Claudio Mazotti : I prefer your suggestion...
22 mins
agree Deborah do Carmo : I agree past + past here in translation - crops up all the time in PTand more often than not this is the way around it
2 hrs
Something went wrong...
1 hr
Portuguese term (edited): O dif�cil � que a apar�ncia era a realidade

The hardship is that appearance was in fact reality.

I see no problem with the mixed tenses. We often hear things like "the truth is that he was lying". IMO, if you change "was" to "is" in the sentence above, you change the idea. Another one: Mary knows that John cheated on her. We mix tenses all the time.
Something went wrong...
6 hrs
Portuguese term (edited): O dif�cil � que a apar�ncia era a realidade

The difficulty is that appearance was reality.

This is how I read it. Since the English is usually shorter and more concise, if I were translating this passage, this is how I would render it.
Something went wrong...
1 day 1 hr
Portuguese term (edited): O dif�cil � que a apar�ncia era a realidade

What is difficult (to be understood) is that appearance was (actually) reality

é como eu entendo a frase
Something went wrong...
+1
2 days 2 mins
Portuguese term (edited): O dif�cil � que a apar�ncia era a realidade

What is hard to accept is that appearance matched reality

Another option.
Peer comment(s):
agree T o b i a s
1568 days
Something went wrong...
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