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coordinating

English translation: efforts to coordinate

11:39 Feb 16, 2003

English to English translations [PRO]

English term or phrase: coordinating

So let your coordinating efforts be directed towards tax cuts for businesses, reform of the labour market, and reform of our social security systems.

This is part of a speech delivered by a MEP. The last person he addressed directly was Romano Prodi, president of the European Commission, hence the "your" could refer to him. Now, I don't know whether to read "coordinating" as a noun (and then it'd mean efforts to ensure coordination) or as an adjective (and then it'd mean coordinated efforts). First one would make more sense, right?

Rubén de la Fuente KudoZ activity Questions: 212 (none open) (2 without valid answers) Answers: 144 Spain
Local time: 03:07

English translation:efforts to coordinate

Explanation:
I don´t know if it´s a noun or a bird or a synechdoche, but I understand this as being equivalent to "direct your efforts to coordinate...", which is pretty much your first version, "efforts to ensure coordination".

Selected response from:

Chris Rowson
Germany
Local time: 03:07

Grading comment

a bird, a plane... thanks indeed
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

5 +6

efforts to coordinate

Chris Rowson

5 +2

a present participle used as a noun modifier

Fuad Yahya

4 +1

comments

Kardi Kho

4 +1

It's a gerund

Arthur Borges

Noun

Antonio Camangi

all / combined

jerrie

Answers

30 mins confidence:

Noun

Explanation:
In the context coordinationg is a noun.

Antonio Camangi
Italy
Local time: 03:07
Native speaker of:

Italian
PRO pts in pair: 3

35 mins confidence:

all / combined

Explanation:
So / therefore direct all your efforts towards ....

Direct your combined efforts towards...

Pull all your efforts together towards...

Is my understanding
hth

jerrie
United Kingdom
Local time: 02:07
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in pair: 773

1 hr confidence:

peer agreement (net): +6

efforts to coordinate

Chris Rowson
Germany
Local time: 03:07
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in pair: 243

Grading comment

a bird, a plane... thanks indeed

1 hr confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

It's a gerund

Explanation:
Looks like a verb, works like a noun.

FROM: http://www.chompchomp.com/terms/gerund.htm

Recognize a gerund when you see one.

Every gerund, without exception, ends in -ing. Gerunds are not, however, all that easy to pick out. The problem is that all present participles also end in -ing. What is the difference?
Gerunds function as nouns. Thus, gerunds will be subjects, subject complements, direct objects, indirect objects, and objects of prepositions. Present participles, on the other hand, complete progressive verbs or act as modifiers. Read these examples:

Since Francisco was five years old, swimming has been his passion.
Swimming = subject of the verb has been

Francisco's first love is swimming.

Swimming = subject complement of the verb is

Francisco enjoys swimming more than spending time with his girlfriend Diana.

Swimming = direct object of the verb enjoys

Francisco gives swimming all of his energy and time.

Swimming = indirect object of the verb gives

When Franciso wore dive fins to class, everyone knew that he was devoted to swimming.

Swimming = object of the preposition to

One day last summer, Francisco and his coach were swimming at Daytona Beach.

Swimming = present participle completing the past progressive verb were swimming

A great white shark ate Franciso's swimming coach.

Swimming = present participle modifying coach

Now Francisco only practices in swimming pools.

Swimming = present participle modifying pools

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Note added at 2003-02-16 13:07:36 (GMT)
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Lastly, your author might have written \"coordination efforts\" if s/he only knew the translation problems this form generates for translators of many languages. :-)

Arthur Borges
China
PRO pts in pair: 23

2 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

comments

Explanation:
Ruben, actually you can't use the word 'coordinating' as an adjective here because when present participles (-ing forms) are used like adjectives, they have similar meanings to active verbs.

a waiting train: a train that is waiting
a sleeping child: a child that is sleeping
working women: women who works
coordinating efforts: efforts that are coordinating(??)

About your second idea, coordinated efforts, the word 'coordinated' is indeed used as an adjective and the meaning is efforts that are coordinated (past participles have meanings similar to passive verbs). As the phrase here is 'coordinatING efforts, not 'coordinatED efforts; which are two different things, I'm afraid that your second idea is not a possible option here.

In your context, 'coordinating' is a gerund (noun-like -ing form) and it is used as a modifier to the noun 'efforts'. While present participles have meanings similar to active verbs, gerunds that used as modifiers have meanings that usually can be described in other ways using the word 'for'.

a waiting room: a room for waiting
a swimming pool: a pool for swimming
working conditions: conditions for working.
coordinating efforts: efforts for coordinating

So I think here you've got only one possible meaning, which is 'efforts to coordinate' (as suggested by Chris). According to Practical English Usage by Michael Swan, when there's a noun which has a similar meaning to an -ing form, it's better to use the noun. And I'm sure coordination effort, as suggested by Arthur, will clears up all the confusion here.

HTH

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Note added at 2003-02-17 00:02:35 (GMT)
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typo
clear for clears

Practical English Usage, Michael Swan

Kardi Kho
Indonesia
Local time: 09:07
Native speaker of:

Indonesian
PRO pts in pair: 35

8 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +2

a present participle used as a noun modifier

Explanation:
"Coordinating" is the present participle of "coordinate." That goes without saying.

It is used here as a noun, but this noun itself is used as a modifier of another noun, "efforts."

If "coordinating" modifies a noun, why do we than not call it an adjective?

To explain the concept, let me for a moment introduce the phrase "walking stick." The word "walking" certainly modifies "stick," but is it a noun or an adjective? If it were an adjective, it would mean that the stick itself does the walking, which is not the intended meaning. The intended meaning is that the stick is to aid walking.

another example: Think of the difference between a safe procedure and a safety procedure. In both constructions, the word "procedure" is modified, but the modifiers function differently. A safe procedure is one that is of relatively low risk. A safety procedure is one that is for the purpose of ensuring safety.

Likewise, If we think of coordinating efforts as efforts for the purpose of coodinating, which is the intended maning, then the word "coordinating" is a noun modifier. If, on the other hand, we think of the efforts themselves as performing an activity called "coordinating," which would be an odd meaning, then the word would be an adjective.

I know this is hair-splitting, but you asked for it.

Fuad

Fuad Yahya
United States
Native speaker of:

Arabic,

English
PRO pts in pair: 893