Mesmo sem se sentir/E não há tempo que volte, amor

English translation: All so imperceptively/And time has no return, my love

01:46 Feb 16, 2009

Portuguese to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Music / song lyric

Portuguese term or phrase: Mesmo sem se sentir/E não há tempo que volte, amor

I’m trying to translate this verse of Tempos Modernos:
Hoje o tempo voa amor
Escorre pelas mos
Mesmo sem se sentir
E no hâ tempo que volte, amor
Vamos viver tudo que ha pra viver
Vamos nos permitir

So far I have,
Today time flies—does he mean “my love”?
It slips through our hands.
I’m stuck on the next lines, indicated above.
Obrigado,
-Michael

American_Transl KudoZ activity Questions: 1 (none open) Answers: 5 United States
Local time: 03:54

English translation:All so imperceptively/And time has no return, my love

Explanation:
So here is my quick version (you got me inspired):

The present flies away, my love
it slips right through our hands
all so imperceptively
and time has no return, my love
so let's allow ourselves
to live all there is to live

Selected response from:

Katarina Peters
Canada
Local time: 03:54

Grading comment

Wow, this was even harder than I expected. Thanks to everyone for all the beautiful translations. I chose this one because it conveyed the overall style, and other people seemed to agree, but all the other responses were very tempting. A very difficult decision. Thanks again.
-Michael

4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

4 +3

All so imperceptively/And time has no return, my love

Katarina Peters

4 +3

You don't even feel it /you can't turn back time, my love

Mary Palmer

Hard to feel it go by/And time will never come back, my love.

Clayton Causey

Without you even feeling it / And time doesn´t turn back, my love

Michelle Valle

Without noticing it /There's no turning back time, love

Floriana Leary

Discussion entries: 2

Answers

14 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +3

All so imperceptively/And time has no return, my love

Katarina Peters
Canada
Local time: 03:54
Works in field
Native speaker of:

Hungarian,

English
PRO pts in category: 16

Grading comment

24 mins confidence:

Without you even feeling it / And time doesn´t turn back, my love

Explanation:
That´s how I would translate it.
Or perhaps "And there´s no turning back time, my love"
And I think I would change Today to Nowadays. :)

Michelle Valle
Brazil
Local time: 04:54
Native speaker of:

English,

Portuguese

Notes to answerer

Asker: Thank you!

28 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +3

You don't even feel it /you can't turn back time, my love

Explanation:
I would translate it like this....I hope it helps :)

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Note added at 32 mins (2009-02-16 02:18:54 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

CORRECTION: "AND" YOU CAN'T TURN BACK TIME, MY LOVE

Mary Palmer
United States
Local time: 04:54
Native speaker of:

English,

Portuguese

Notes to answerer

Asker: I like your suggestion, and will try to incorporate it into my translation, possibly with a side notation. Thanks!

7 hrs confidence:

Without noticing it /There's no turning back time, love

Explanation:
I would translate it like this, I find it more poetic and since it's a song, this is my suggestion (also, this keeps it short)

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 12 hrs (2009-02-16 14:44:44 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

my love = love
meu amor = amor
Hey love, can you bring me my ...
Amor, podes trazer o meus ...

Why do you need to add 'my'?
The original doesn't have 'meu'

Floriana Leary
United States
Local time: 03:54
Native speaker of:

English,

Portuguese
PRO pts in category: 8

Notes to answerer

Asker: I do like "no turning back time." So thank you!

Asker: Also, thanks for the clarification about my love/love. When I first tried to translate it, "love" alone didn't sound right to me. But your example made me realize it could work. Thanks.

1 day 44 mins confidence:

Hard to feel it go by/And time will never come back, my love.

Explanation:
This suggestion takes into account the original number of syllables, the feet (accented/non-accented syllable units), the originals lack of strong rhyme and, of course, the essence of meaning in the original:

[s = strong; w = weak]

Hoje o tempo voa amor (7 syll) (swswsws) Time is flying as we speak

Escorre pelas mãos (6 syll) (wswsws) It's running through our hands

Mesmo sem se sentir (6 syll) (swswws) Hard to feel it go by

E não há tempo que volte, amor (9 syll) (wswswwsws) And time will never come back, my love.

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Note added at 1 day2 hrs (2009-02-17 04:26:01 GMT) Post-grading
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As far as the meaning goes, I have the following comments and thoughts:

Mesmo sem se sentir: Mesmo = even though; sem = without ({our}being about to [verb] it); se sentir = feel/notice/tell/sense. It runs through our hands even though we can't feel it/don't notice it.

Não há tempo que volte, amor: Não há = [subject] doesn't exist; tempo = time; que volte (adjectival phrase requiring subjunctive verb) = that comes back (around); amor = babe, baby, love, my love, dear, sweety, etc. (term of endearment). There's no such thing as time that comes back around/that we can relive, Baby.

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Note added at 1 day2 hrs (2009-02-17 04:42:15 GMT) Post-grading
--------------------------------------------------

There're many combinations of strictures and nuanced balances between strictures I've had to adhere to. You're welcome. After all, the effort was not that great. I specialize in music, and lyric translation comes up quite often. I do this stuff all the time and I love it. Cheers!

Clayton Causey
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

English

Notes to answerer

Asker: Thanks for all your efforts on the syllables and accents. Fortunately I don't have to sing this, it's just quoted in a text, so I'm trying to convey the feel. Most likely the readers of this text, in English, will never have heard--nor will never hear--the original, so the overall meaning is more important. But I appreciate your efforts to make it fit to the same syllables for the music. Thanks!

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