Sep 5, 2018 09:15
5 yrs ago
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Spanish term
Spanish plural to singular in English
Spanish to English
Tech/Engineering
General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
Grammar
Hi there,
When I translate something like "Asignación de boyas" I use "Bouy assignment" singular and not "Bouys assignment" plural (assignment meaning a type of allocation in this case), I have been unable to find the rule to help me explain this, although the singular sounds more natural to me in English,
like "información de sondeos" / "sounding information" and not "soundings information", my client prefers the plural version, would that be totally incorrect?
Is anyone familiar with an exact rule for these kinds of cases?
Thanks in advance.
Róisín
When I translate something like "Asignación de boyas" I use "Bouy assignment" singular and not "Bouys assignment" plural (assignment meaning a type of allocation in this case), I have been unable to find the rule to help me explain this, although the singular sounds more natural to me in English,
like "información de sondeos" / "sounding information" and not "soundings information", my client prefers the plural version, would that be totally incorrect?
Is anyone familiar with an exact rule for these kinds of cases?
Thanks in advance.
Róisín
Proposed translations
(English)
3 +2 | Response | Francois Boye |
Proposed translations
+2
4 hrs
Selected
Response
Because a) adjectives in English are invariable and b) nouns can be turned into adjectives in English
When you write 'Buoy assignment', buoy is a noun with an adjective function
https://www.englishclub.com/grammar/nouns-adjective.htm
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Note added at 5 hrs (2018-09-05 14:57:21 GMT)
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Of course, there are exceptions to any grammatical rule.
When you write 'Buoy assignment', buoy is a noun with an adjective function
https://www.englishclub.com/grammar/nouns-adjective.htm
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Note added at 5 hrs (2018-09-05 14:57:21 GMT)
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Of course, there are exceptions to any grammatical rule.
Peer comment(s):
agree |
Natalia Pedrosa
: Very well explained. Cheers!
1 hr
|
Thanks!
|
|
agree |
Julio Bereciartu
10 hrs
|
Thanks!
|
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Selected automatically based on peer agreement."
Discussion
It's difficult to make a firm rule because there are too many exceptions.
"One difference between branch supervisor and branches supervisor is that the singular is more vague and may be interpreted as 'supervisor of a branch or branches', whereas the plural can be interpreted only as 'supervisor of several branches' and thus excludes the ambiguity of number".
Their main point on this is "institutionalization". At the end of the previous section, they say:
"The choice of premodifying nouns in the plural rather than the singular may be attributed to a number of factors, but predominantly to the fact that an entity has been institutionalized in plural form."
And they also say that it happens much more in British English than in American English, where the plural attributive construction is relatively rare. "Institutionalization", in their terminology, would include the specialist usage you mentioned, Muriel: for that group of speakers, the plural has been institutionalized.
I realise grammar books aren't everyone's cup of tea, but this one is really magisterial. At least in my opinion.
On the other hand, if you're writing for an audience of specialists and they traditionally put it behind the noun, you don't need to expand it. This is a subject I addressed extensively in my doctoral thesis and am also covering in a book I'm writing.
If you do use a plural noun to modify another noun, it is almost always singularized. I call it "the teethbrush" rule. I don't know where it's found in the grammar books, but your key terms to look up would be 'noun modifiers' or 'attributive nouns'. Once you hear the word 'teethbrush', the rule sticks in your mind.
All that said, one of my main clients likes to keep the final 's' if it's a 2-word phrase modifying the noun, as in 'health services management'. In this case, the 's' is important to the meaning; leaving it out causes confusion: 'health service management' is a different idea.
https://www.slideshare.net/ivana14jovanovic/a-comprehensive-...