37 Comments
Is the literal translation "The coins add up themselves"? Why is "se" required here?
the ´se´ is required for reflexive verbs. so the subject does the action to itself. So in this case the coins are added to the other coins. The literal translation is like what you said, or ´the coins are added to each other´ (and then there is a bigger total).
Is it incorrect in Portuguese? It is a little strange to be referring to coins in this way. In English we would be more likely to say just 'it all adds up' - the 'it' referring to money in general.
I know the use of reflexive verbs in Portuguese, but i didnt get what it was supposed to say or a sentence where it could go....
oh right. I took it to mean, for example, you do a job for someone and they pay you with a few coins, like 10 reais. Then you think, if you did 5 more jobs like the first one, you will get more coins for each job, put them together and the total will be bigger, so like 60 reais. You keep doing that and your total keeps getting bigger. Could it mean this, do you think?
HBKB:
"It all adds up" is what we would say after listing all the costs associated with normal living expenses while getting an education.
"By the time you pay tuition, room and board, and the books, it all adds up."
Virtually every reflexive thing in Portuguese has an equivalent in my mother tongue, and this doesn't make sense to me either when I try to translate.
How about selling some little goodies? You know how much you have sold and then count the money you got for it. If it's the correct amount, "As moedas se somam.". Could this be the meaning?
199
it is not reflexixe, it is passive voice: as moedas se somam = as moedas são somadas. The usual is : Somam-se as moedas ( by someone), like Vendem-se casas (Casas são vendidas); Alugam-se apartamentos etc. I would like to know if the english sentence has a passive meaning too.
While reflexive verbs are common in Portuguese, it's not necessary to include "themselves" in the English translation. It's implicit.
"The coins add up" is not used in direct translation as shown. Should be more like "as moedas se acumulam"
That would mean you have somewhere you store the coins. Then the coins accumulate inside it. It means more and more coins are being added to the other coins.
While "se somam" would refer to their value.
- 10
In European Portuguese it would be more correct to say "As moedas somam-se" .
I think there is concern since "change" can mean so many things in English (but "mesmo" can mean so many things too, just in Portuguese).
Personally I think it should be accepted and have made the case on several of these Duo exercises but here's another appeal:
https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/change
- [mass noun] Coins as opposed to banknotes. ‘a handful of loose change’
https://www.quora.com/Why-do-we-call-coins-change
The first recorded use of “change” to refer specifically to small coins is from 1679. A few decades before that, there is the first recorded use of “change” to refer to the excess balance that is returned in 1627.
While I can’t be certain, it appears that it is related to the phrase “in change” or, as it is phrased now, “in exchange”. Small coins became associated with the settling of transactions when they were received “in change” for any excess of payment.
It is also worth considering that the place where business transactions took place used to be called “the change”. This meaning is preserved in the term “stock exchange”.
Change was not accepted, but I thought it the better translation than coins, since that's how I'd express the sentiment in English.
The little bits of money add up to something worthwhile.
As an English speaker, this makes sense to me. Looking at it as the passive voice. Like some people have suggested, you could well say something along the lines of 'it all adds up' to mean that each coin alone is not much, but when added together they make something greater. We have several phrases in English that capture this meaning, and that's how I would interpret this.
It looks like a reflexive verb in Portuguese in these examples from Linguee.com:
Para os gerentes, tudo se soma a dinheiro real.
To managers, it all adds up to real money.
Há uma gama de provas que se somam em algo suspeito.
There is a range of evidence that adds up to something suspicious.
Portuguese is my native language and I don't think it sounds natural either.
Those of you who know Tesco will be familiar with "every little helps'.... Those coins do add up...
- 199
as moedas se somam = as moedas são somadas, aumentadas (= the coins are collected, raised) ( by the beggars, by the brazilian politicians, in the safe etc.
Yes, I'm also Brazilian. But I would seldom say 'As moedas se somam' with that purpose.
'Somam-se as moedas' or even 'As moedas são somadas' (in passive voice) sound much better to my ears.
This is not a sentence that makes sentence in portuguese. The correct translations is "the coins add themselves", and that makes absolutely no sense.
- 408
"As moedas somem" would be very different. Can this sentence be reflexive also? "As moedas se somem."
- 199
As moedas se somem!! = Somem-se as moedas! ( = Que as moedas sejam juntadas por vocês!-passive voice), as Vendam-se os carros! - I want the cars to be sold.
As moedas somam-se - This is just a literary phrase, too. It's passive voice. Usually with inversion: Somam-se as moedas. With the verbs vender, alugar (sell, rent), it is a common phrase: Vendem-se casas, alugam-se barcos. = Homes are sold, boats are rented
- 408
I was thinking of "sumir." The coins disappear. Am I thinking wrong?
- 199
. Somem-se as moedas! - subjunctive or imperative of Somar (add)
. As moedas somem. = indicative of sumir ( the coins disappear )
. As moedas se somem = a useless se or, in a fairy tale, the coins are alive and disappear themselves. Creative language.
The female voice says it more like "somum" while the male sounds almost like "samao"....which is closer to the correct pronunciation? Generally -am endings have really been stumping me.
The "ão" endings get stressed, while words with "am" endings are stressed on the second to last syllable.
