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  3. General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters

No Final o balanço foi positivo

English translation: We were pleased with the overall result

09:35 Jul 8, 2019
Portuguese to English translations [PRO]
General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters / Press release
Portuguese term or phrase: No Final o balanço foi positivo
Any ideas for a succinct way of translating this? It's a press release for an engine oil company at the 5th Edition of Cape Verde’s Motor Show.

No Final o balanço foi positivo, conseguiu-se esclarecer aos nossos clientes as vantagens da escolha da nossa marca para o melhor desempenho e poupansa do motor dos seus veículos.
Sarah Webb
United Kingdom
Local time: 04:05
English translation:We were pleased with the overall result
Explanation:
I'd keep it informal, talks about 'our customers' too
Selected response from:

Richard Purdom
Portugal
Local time: 04:05
Grading comment
Brilliantly expressed! Thank you!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +7We were pleased with the overall result
Richard Purdom
4 +3The end result was positive
Oliver Simões
4The outcome was positive in the end
Lucas Peixoto


  

Answers


18 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +7
We were pleased with the overall result


Explanation:
I'd keep it informal, talks about 'our customers' too

Richard Purdom
Portugal
Local time: 04:05
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 8
Grading comment
Brilliantly expressed! Thank you!

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Nick Taylor: Nice! Or we were very satisfied (smug grin). Or on second thoughts "very" pleased - simply because of rhyth and tonal modulation :-)
12 mins
  -> we were left with a nice warm feeling in our tummies :) thanks
agree  Mark Robertson: or, more literally, "the final outcome was positive"
15 mins
  -> thanks!
agree  Ana Vozone
32 mins
  -> thanks!
agree  Aline Amorim: or In the end the result was extremely positive / The result was very positive.
2 hrs
  -> thanks!
agree  Clauwolf
2 hrs
  -> thanks!
agree  Robert Forstag: Seems entirely natural and, though not a literal translation, a faithful reflection of the original. What is being conveyed is, after all, a subjective impression....
12 hrs
  -> Thanks Robert. I don't think a plodding, pedantic MT style translation is the best option here
agree  Margarida Ataide
2 days 1 hr
  -> thanks!
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2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
The outcome was positive in the end


Explanation:
My suggestion. I believe this construction is succint and keeps the general tone of the original, including the word "positive".

Lucas Peixoto
Brazil
Local time: 00:05
Native speaker of: Native in PortuguesePortuguese

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  Mark Robertson: your use of "in the end" is redundant/tautologous
3 hrs
  -> Thank you for the feedback, Mark.
neutral  Nick Taylor: Agree with Mark
4 hrs
  -> Thank you for the feedback, Nick. I suppose I focused too much on keeping the phrase "no final" from the original.
agree  Muriel Vasconcellos: Nothing wrong with redundancy in my book. It makes the point clearly and that's what matters.
6 hrs
  -> Thank you, Muriel. I agree that some redundancies are not necessarily harmful to the text. Take "end result", for example, which another colleague suggested in this question.
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4 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +3
No final o balanço foi positivo
The end result was positive


Explanation:
Assuming the goal is translation (not transliteration), this is how I would translate the term phrase.

Some words are too important to be missed in translation. For example, "outcome/result" and "positive".

No need to add stuff that's not in the source-text. In fact, it's probably better not to. Most additions are considered "superfluous" and therefore are regarded as "translation errors" by ATA and I'm sure by other certifying bodies too: https://www.atanet.org/certification/aboutexams_error.php

Adding stuff is like opening a can of worms. In the present context, for instance, if I were to add "we" (or any other pronoun for that matter), who would I be referring to? The company? A specific department within the company? A committee or group of employees in charge of the action? etc. My best advice is to stay away from additions unless you're ready to answer unexpected questions!

Plenty of examples with "The end result was positive.": https://www.google.com/search?q="the end result was positive...

I find this article quite enlightening; it draws the line between translation and transliteration: https://journals.openedition.org/palimpsestes/1068

Oliver Simões
United States
Local time: 20:05
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in PortuguesePortuguese
PRO pts in category: 56

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Francisco Chagas: I am fully with you on this one. Again, while one can deduce that the aforementioned company is, in fact, pleased with this result, it is but ONLY a possibility, and thus, it should not be translated as such (from a "pure" standpoint).
27 mins
  -> Thank you, Francisco. It makes sense, doesn't it?
agree  Gilmar Fernandes
29 mins
  -> Thank you, Gilmar.
agree  Livia Rosas
2 hrs
  -> Thank you, Livia.
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