21 Comments
2233
If you just change "it" for "that", it'll sound better in English. "It is not" sounds quite unnatural in this case, people are used to say "that's not", or even "this is not".
I think the phrase implies that is not right to treat people like that. It's not a descriptive sentence, but a prescriptive one. I would translate it like:
It's not like that that you should treat people
Or in a less literal translation
People shouldn't be treated like that That's not the way to treat people
I think these translations better reflect the meaning of the phrase... Am I right?
Just the first opition, i think "that" twice is not necessary. But thats the meaning, but for duolingo thats not the point. You will hardly ever get the meaning of the sentence as correct, but you have to write almost everytime literally even making no much sense in english.
Thanks for the reply, Paulenrique. I see your point, many times I've literally translated phrases that just doesn't sound right, or simply means a different thing. I think that those phrases should be avoided at all cost. It's not good to learn a foreign language with phrases that are not idiomatic or tweaking the meaning of a sentence. More over, I think that the literal translation should be accepted, but that a message should clearly expose the correct (idiomatic and faithful to the original meaning) answer, just like when you make a typo.
BTW I really like duolingo, is there some forum where we can discuss these things?
Yep.. i think they need to improve it a lot. Im doing french, which is not in beta ,and every now and then i click on "my answer should be accepted". I imagine how harder it might be in portuguese, beta version.... complicated! Until the problem is fixed, we will have to deal with that and unfortunately lose hearts :( but duolingo is a gud tool. As a native speaker, i see many expressions and daily sentences, very common to conversations but sometimes not taught at languages schools. Another point: they offer job position just 4 geeks :P. I think they should also try hiring ppl to working on building the program, i mean, not software, but a speaker of that language. That would be amazing once they want 2 b the best and "freest" website for learing languages. When u click on discussion, it reads to write about your luv for duolingo... you may try that!!
Sure, I don't mind missing a couple of hearts or having to repeat a lesson, I'm just trying to improve duolingo. It's the best free resource on the web
Your first translation is very awkward English. Your second two are much better.
Why don't you say "Não é assim que se tratam as pessoas.", with the verb being in plural, according to "as pessoas"? Or is there a case in Portuguese where you put an "a" in front of a direct (animate) object like in Spanish (Veo a una mujer - Vejo a uma mulher) If so, I would say either "Não é assim que se trata às pessoas." or "Não é assim que se tratam as pessoas.", but only by pure intuition...?
As pessoas is not the subject - it's the object (for tratar). There is no subject in this sentence!
Check my comment at the end of the page here: https://www.duolingo.com/comment/1421017 C:
Duolingo's translation: "It is not like this that one treats people." Um...what?
Literally this sentence means "That's not the way that people are treated". The "se" in this case changes the verb into the passive voice. But the best translation is probably something like "We don't treat people like that".
I agree with your translation, but I don't think this is passive voice in Portuguese (though it is in English). I believe it's considered a reflexive verb here.
Does 'assim' mean 'right'? That may be a better interpretation than 'right after' which is offered on hover. 'Right after' implies only the advance of time.
Expressions: anda assim even so. assim, assim so so, more or less. assim como as well as, just as, such as. assim mesmo exactly like that, notwithstanding, even so. assim na terra como no céu on earth as in heaven. assim ou assado in this way or that, in any case, by hook or by crook. assim seja! be it so! como assim how come? e assim por diante and so on, and so forth. mesmo assim nevertheless. não é assim? isn’t that so? não sou bobo assim I am not such a fool. por assim dizer so to speak. sendo assim in such case, in this case. tanto assim so that.
Assim = thus, this way, so, then, like this, like that, in this manner, consequently assim que =this way/ as soon as (depending on the context - in duo sentence, for instance, that wouldnt work
I'm not an expert, but I think assim in this context means 'like that' , It's not like that (assim) how you treat people, or That's not the way you should treat people...
My "knowledge" (well, sort of) comes from an intuitive spanish translation: "No se trata así a las personas", implying that it's wrong to treat people that way... But of course, I might be wrong... Any portuguese native speaker out there that can tell us how would he interpret this sentence????
I just don't like this sentence in Portuguese and would likely avoid using once I am fluent in the language because I don't think my mind will ever embrace it as it is given. I would have to find another way to say this.
