Glossary entry (derived from question below)
Spanish term or phrase:
impotencia
English translation:
helpless or powerless
Spanish term
impotencia
| 4 +1 | helpless or powerless |
conniejimenez
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| 4 +7 | helplessness |
lorenab23
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| 4 +3 | impotent / powerless |
Tony M
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Aug 13, 2011 21:16: Michael Powers (PhD) changed "Language pair" from "English" to "English to Spanish"
Aug 13, 2011 21:53: Michael Powers (PhD) changed "Language pair" from "English to Spanish" to "Spanish to English"
Aug 14, 2011 01:57: mediamatrix (X) changed "Level" from "PRO" to "Non-PRO"
Non-PRO (3): David Ronder, Tony M, mediamatrix (X)
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Proposed translations
United States
Be true to the message
Native in: Spanish 
Works in: Spanish to English, English to Spanish
helpless or powerless
Though he was alone and helpless, he managed to keep the boat from sinking.
| neutral |
Tony M
: Either word might be suitable in Asker's context, but you certainly cannot say that "they mean the same thing" — they are close synonyms, but they do not mean exactly the same thing, and hence this could be dangerously misleading.
1 day 3 hrs
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| agree |
Thuy-PTT (X)
3 days 15 hrs
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helplessness
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Note added at 13 mins (2011-08-13 21:26:50 GMT)
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oops! meant to say "to see" which word fits best
| agree |
Jessica Noyes
9 mins
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Thank you Jessica, un abrazo
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| agree |
Michael Powers (PhD)
28 mins
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Thank you Michael, un saludo cordial :-)
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| neutral |
Tony M
: Could work in some contexts, certainly; however, I rather feel this describes a different feeling, not equivalent in every situation...
38 mins
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Thank you for your comment
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| agree |
eski
41 mins
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thank you saluditos pa'Acapulco
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| agree |
Eileen Banks
57 mins
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Thank you Eileen, un abrazo
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| agree |
MedTrans&More
57 mins
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Thank you, un saludo
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| agree |
Isamar
: Assuming it's for the right context, yes. Is it possible to have the context?
1 hr
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I know, exactly what I said, can't be sure without context, thank you :-)
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| agree |
anademahomar
20 hrs
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thank you Ana :-)
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impotent / powerless
"He felt impotent in the face of the scale of the destruction"
The EN word 'powerless' means exactly the same thing, but avoids any possible sexual connotation, and might be more suitable for a slightly less formal register.
"He watched, powerless to do anything, as the house burned"
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Note added at 1 heure (2011-08-13 22:38:08 GMT)
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OK, for the sake of completeness, the noun forms that are the exact equivalent of your source term are:
impotence
powerlessness
| neutral |
David Ronder
: But the noun not the adjective is required here
34 mins
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Well, Asker worded it as "it's what you feel...", so one might well say "I feel impotent" (more natural, in fact, than saying "I feel impotence") — but I'll add the noun forms for the sake of completeness
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| agree |
Simon Bruni
: I totally agree. "To feel powerless" or "A feeling of powerlessness" depending on how the it's phrased in the original.
9 hrs
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Thanks, Simon! Absolutely!
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| agree |
Bubo Coroman (X)
: agree with "powerlessness"
14 hrs
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Thanks, Deborah!
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| agree |
Stephen D
: I agree with powerless
15 hrs
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Thanks, Steve!
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Discussion