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English translation: It is OK


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19:57 Oct 7, 2008
English to English translations [Non-PRO]
Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature
English term or phrase: tense
when she was attending..., listening

this sounds odd to me... what do you think. thanks in advance.

Like that afternoon at Saint-Germaine, ten years ago, when she was attending the first Saint-Simonian meeting , listening to Prosper Enfantin describe the messiah couple that would redeem the world, she promised herself, with assertiveness: “ You will be the messiah- woman”. Poor Saint-Simonians, having their hierarchy going mad, their insane love for science and their idea that it would have been sufficient to place businessmen to rule the country and administer society as an enterprise to achieve progress
Lakasa Stnorden
Local time: 14:47
English translation:It is OK
Explanation:
while she was attending, (while she was) listening...

while she was doing something...something else happened.
Selected response from:

Mark Nathan
Local time: 18:47
Grading comment
thanks

4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +9It is OK
Mark Nathan
4 +3at,,, listeningKen Cox
5as she was attending, she was listening
ntext
5when she was attending the first Saint-Simonian meeting, as she listened...
Carla Selyer
3at her first Saint-Simonian meeting, when she heard
Peter Linton


  

Answers


10 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
as she was attending, she was listening


Explanation:
Listening is a participle here and not conjugated. The clause beginning with "listening to ..." is a paranthesis.

ntext
United States
Local time: 11:47
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in GermanGerman
PRO pts in category: 44
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12 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +9
It is OK


Explanation:
while she was attending, (while she was) listening...

while she was doing something...something else happened.

Mark Nathan
Local time: 18:47
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 76
Grading comment
thanks

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Sheila Wilson: while she was doing two things simultaneously
23 mins
  -> Earlier his evening, when I was answering a kudoz question, reflecting on the finer points of English grammar, I suddenly realized that...

agree  Adde
33 mins
  -> Thanks

agree  cmwilliams: yes, it's fine
1 hr
  -> thanks

agree  Rachel Fell
3 hrs

agree  orientalhorizon
5 hrs

agree  sibsab
7 hrs

agree  Patricia Townshend
9 hrs

agree  BdiL: Not a big issue; and should you change to some of the correct grammatical option listed below, you'd change the rhythm of the sentence and that's WRONG! Maurizio
12 hrs

agree  Alfa Trans
16 hrs
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12 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +3
at,,, listening


Explanation:
It's not so much a case of tense as of usage. IMO the most natural wording is 'when she was at the meeting, listening to...'.

Ken Cox
Local time: 18:47
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 88

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Sheila Wilson: I'd probably use 'at' rather than 'attending' too, but there's nothing wrong with it as it is
20 mins

agree  Rachel Fell: and agreee with Sheila
3 hrs

agree  orientalhorizon
5 hrs
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11 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
when she was attending the first Saint-Simonian meeting, as she listened...


Explanation:
I agree with colleagues above, however this is another option you could consider:

when she was attending the first Saint-Simonian meeting , as she listened to Prosper Enfantin describe the messiah couple that would redeem the world, she promised herself...

Carla Selyer
Local time: 19:47
Native speaker of: Native in PortuguesePortuguese, Native in EnglishEnglish
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13 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
at her first Saint-Simonian meeting, when she heard


Explanation:
The whole paragraph sounds odd to me, and I am surprised that so many people think it is OK. I think there are too many '-ings', and it is in dire need of reviewing and proofreading. For example:

St Germain, not Saint-Germaine

the first Saint-Simonian meeting suggests she was attending the first ever such meeting, probably 200 years ago. More likely to mean "her first meeting" -- the first such meeting she attended.

messiah couple in English always capital M in Messiah

she promised herself, with assertiveness: a clumsy way of putting it. Best to leave out "with assertiveness"

messiah- woman should at least be Messiah woman

to place businessmen to rule the country The meaning is clear, but the phrasing is clumsy

So to get back to the main point, I think the tense is odd. I agree with those suggesting something like:

Like that afternoon at Saint-Germain, ten years ago, at her first Saint-Simonian meeting, when she heard Prosper Enfantin describing the Messiah couple that would redeem the world . . .

Peter Linton
Local time: 17:47
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 4
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Changes made by editors
Oct 7, 2008 - Changes made by Özden Arıkan:
FieldOther => Art/Literary
Oct 7, 2008 - Changes made by ntext:
LevelPRO => Non-PRO


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