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So google translator seemly tells me that to express "When it comes to" I should use the following structure (I tried finding it on google and this forum but could not find it)

それは ... ことになると

For instance

それは歩くことになると "When it comes to walking"

But since I don't trust google translator at all, I am asking, what is the right way to say that?

The sentence I am trying to make is the following "When it comes to drinking everyday, it seems that Japanese people drink more than Brazilian people."(refeering to the image that many people go to izakaya after work). My attempt:

それは、毎日飲むことになると、日本人はブラジル人より、飲みそうだと思う

What do you think? Thanks in advance!

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    I think the “it” is dummy/hypothetical subject. I think you don’t have to translate it. Even If you omit “それは”, it makes sense. I think even in Portuguese ele è importante a practicar portuguese todos os dias. It is important to practice Portuguese every day.
    – user25382
    Oct 4, 2017 at 15:18
  • I wonder why GT didn't adopt (歩く)となると.
    – user4092
    Oct 4, 2017 at 15:33
  • @kimiTanaka "É importante praticar português todos os dias" really makes sense in portuguese, though I could see an equivalent for それは also, something like "That is, it is important to practice Portuguese every day", anyways. I did feel it sounded weird but, you never know lol that's why I nver trust GT, though at times it's the only place I can consult Oct 4, 2017 at 16:16

1 Answer 1

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「それは ... ことになると」 sounds funny, particularly the 「それは」 part. Looks like Google forcibly translated the word "it".

Most naturally, we would say:

・「~~に関{かん}して(言{い}えば/言うと)」

・「~~について言えば」

・「~~にかけては」

・「~~のことになると」

You could say:

「日{ひ}ごろの(アルコールの)飲{の}み方{かた}に関して言えば、日本人はブラジル人よりも飲むような気{き}がする。」

Your sentence, though, would be understood by nearly all native speakers if you just dropped 「それは」.

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  • Thanks a lot, I didn't know most of these structures, it will be very useful Oct 4, 2017 at 16:21
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    How about adding also the simple "N+と言えば"? If I remember correctly that's also a standard way to say "speaking of N" which in a way I think it could be quite similar to "when it comes to N".
    – Tommy
    Oct 6, 2017 at 7:18

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