How to translate “to manage to do something”?

Question

In German this would be the verb zurechtkommen, it's meaning being very close to to succeed, but emphasis being more on the not failing part.

Examples in English:

• It was hard to raise two children on her own, but she managed.
• You will have to reverse the polarity of the neutron flow. Will you manage?
• Help! I need to send a message but I can't manage to type letters with hats.

Answer 1

In the first of your three example sentences, I would use elturniĝi (this is also the only sentence in which I would use zurechtkommen in German). In the other two I would use sukcesi.

Answer 2

Generally, I would say sukcesis, but if in certain contexts you're going for a different nuance, there are other potential options.

• Estis malfacile eduki sola du infanojn, sed ŝi sukcesis.

Benson (CEED) and Wells suggest alternatives such as helpi al si. In some of the contexts you gave, both sukcesi and povi trakti seem to work.

Your final example suggests to me possibilities like mi ne povas tajpi... or *mi iel neniam sukcesas tajpi...".

If sukcesi seems too easy, you could always clarify with additional words:

• Estis malfacile eduki sola du infanojn, sed kun peno finfine ŝi sukcesis.

Answer 3

I struggle to find a universally applicable translation for to cope, to manage (intr.) Maybe atingi siajn bazajn celojn, or tra(ns)en, tra(ns)- combined with a strenuous verb (peni, strebi, etc). Your own negative version is possible: ne malvenki, ne malsukcesi, eviti malvenkon.

• Estis malfacile eduki du infanojn sola, sed ŝi...

  • trovis solvojn/rimedojn, transluktis, luktis transen, traklopodis, faris ĉion kio necesis
  • = found solutions, wrestled through, took the trouble throughout, did all that was necessary etc.

• Vi devos inversigi la polusecon de la neŭtronfluo.

  • Ĉu vi povos? Ĉu tio eblos (por vi)?

• Helpu! Mi devas sendi mesaĝon sed...

  • mi luktas kun la literoj ĉapelitaj, mi ne scipovas tajpi la literojn ĉapelitajn.

Answer 4

I haven't searched for one, but off the top of my head, the point of coping/managing is that you're contrasting it with there being literally no way to do something, yes? So further down the scale of confidence from a sukcesi/malsukcesi contrast I posit would be an iel/neniel contrast. Slap on the ever-useful -um- suffix and I would use something like ielumi.

Example:
Mi ne scias la kielon, sed mi certe ielumos.
I don't know how, but I'm sure I'll manage.