"Ela caiu em cima do seu braço."
Translation:She fell on top of her arm.
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Why wasn't "She fell on top of her arm" accepted? I agree that the accepted translation sounds more natural in English, but mine was the more literal translation and as a native English speaker I wouldn't say that it sounds wrong.
Isn't there any easier expression than literally saying "on top of her arm"?
5 years ago, Armwood suggested "onto", which I agree is a better translation. But no one seems to have taken any notice.
This could be:
She fell on top of your (singular) arm.
She fell on top of his arm.
She fell on top of her (own) arm.
She fell on top of her (another woman's) arm.
She fell on top of your (plural) arm. (this doesn't make much sense)
She fell on top of their arm. (this doesn't make much sense)
Given so much ambiguity, I don't understand why one would use "seu" at all. I always use the alternatives.
Besides, "She fell on top of her arm" sounds really strange. I'm not an English native, but for me it should be "She fell ONTO her arm". Falling on top of one own's arm somehow implies that somebody has lost their arm and for some reason afterwards falls on top of it which is a horrible imagination by the way.
"She fell on top of his arm". What's wrong with that? And if it is incorrect, how would you translate "she fell on top of his arm". Shouldn't the possessive pronoun be omitted when the thing possessed belongs to the subject eg "eu tenho dor de estomago" and not "eu tenho dor de meu estomago"?
ok, i got it, special phrase, all right. but can it be a simple "em" too? i mean: ela caiu em seu braco. she felt on her arm. hm, maybe "onto" would be better... all the same, i could live with both...
We can use it in lots of cases:
Caiu no chão. A geleia caiu em seu braço.
It just gets strange in this specific case, where we would say "ela caiu em cima do braço".
