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  3. Geography

e muitas vezes assim acontece

English translation: and this is often the case

07:19 Mar 14, 2015
Portuguese to English translations [PRO]
Geography
Portuguese term or phrase: e muitas vezes assim acontece
Geografia e cultura podem coincidir ou não, e muitas vezes assim acontece

My doubt is whether the "muitas vezes assim acontece" means that they often do .... or that they often don't coincide. I have undestood that it means they often do. Am I right?

Thanks you very much
Bettina Myers
Local time: 00:01
English translation:and this is often the case
Explanation:
I think it is impossible to know if this means that "yes, they do coincide" or "no, they do not coincide", so I would just leave it as vague as on the original.
Selected response from:

Ana Vozone
Local time: 00:01
Grading comment
Thanks! I think this was the best answer to a tricky one
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +7and this is often the case
Ana Vozone
4and often this is what happens / and often is how it happens / and it often happens that way
Vitor Pinteus
4Geography and culture may overlap or not, and frequently thus happen.
Gilmar Fernandes
4...as it often happens.
Katarina Peters
3(Geography and culture can coincide,) and indeed they often do.
Richard Purdom


Discussion entries: 3





  

Answers


29 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
and often this is what happens / and often is how it happens / and it often happens that way


Explanation:
Creio que a frase final refere que ambas as possibilidades ("coincidir" e "não coincidir") acontecem muitas vezes.

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Note added at 32 mins (2015-03-14 07:52:23 GMT)
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Dito de outra forma: "muitas vezes assim acontece" porque "muitas vezes a Geografia e a cultura coincidem, e também muitas vezes a Geografia e a cultura não coincidem".

Vitor Pinteus
Portugal
Local time: 00:01
Native speaker of: Native in PortuguesePortuguese
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36 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +7
and this is often the case


Explanation:
I think it is impossible to know if this means that "yes, they do coincide" or "no, they do not coincide", so I would just leave it as vague as on the original.

Ana Vozone
Local time: 00:01
Native speaker of: Native in PortuguesePortuguese
PRO pts in category: 16
Grading comment
Thanks! I think this was the best answer to a tricky one

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
38 mins
  -> Muito obrigada, Teresa!
agree  Mario Freitas:
6 hrs
  -> Muito obrigada, Mario!
agree  Marcelo Carvalho Ambrósio
7 hrs
  -> Muito obrigada, Marcelo!
agree  Lumen (X)
9 hrs
  -> Muito obrigada, Lumen!
agree  Diana Di Battista: I agree with Ana's suggestion. The original sentence is poorly written and unclear (whether they often do coincide or they often do not) so I would leave the translation equally ambiguous.
9 hrs
  -> Muito obrigada, Diana!
agree  Muriel Vasconcellos: Very nice! But: I've been taught to avoid using a generic 'this' to refer to a whole clause instead of a single antecedent. Here it's so close that it doesn't matter, but in general, specifying the antecedent makes for better writing.
10 hrs
  -> Muito obrigada, Muriel!
agree  Marcus Giotto
16 hrs
  -> Muito obrigada, Marcus!
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5 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
Geography and culture may overlap or not, and frequently thus happen.


Explanation:
My two cents on the whole sentence.

Bom trabalho!

Gilmar Fernandes
United States
Local time: 19:01
Native speaker of: Native in PortuguesePortuguese, Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 14
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6 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
...as it often happens.


Explanation:
concisely!

Katarina Peters
Canada
Local time: 19:01
Native speaker of: Native in HungarianHungarian, Native in EnglishEnglish
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1 day 13 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
(Geography and culture can coincide,) and indeed they often do.


Explanation:
See my discussion entry. And I would leave the tautological 'ou não' out

Richard Purdom
Portugal
Local time: 00:01
Native speaker of: English
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