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gegen unendlich gehen

English translation: to approach infinity

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
German term or phrase:gegen unendlich gehen
English translation:to approach infinity
Entered by: Beate Lutzebaeck

23:46 Nov 5, 2001
German to English translations [PRO]
Tech/Engineering - Mathematics & Statistics
German term or phrase: gegen unendlich gehen
The whole sentence reads: "Widerstand geht gegen unendlich."

Muret-Sanders offers: "to go on to infinity" (and beyond - yeah right) ...
Beate Lutzebaeck
New Zealand
Local time: 00:50
approaches infinity
Explanation:
The resistance (of an insulator e.g.) approaches infinity
Selected response from:

Alan Johnson
Germany
Local time: 14:50
Grading comment
Thanx to all of you and special thanx to Andrew who helped me understand which answer would be the best one for my purposes!
3 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
5 +6approaches infinity
Alan Johnson
5 +1go towards infinity
Sven Petersson
5 +1Tends to infinity
Andrew Morgan
4increases to near infinite
Ursula Peter-Czichi
3 -1grinds to a halt
Geoffrey Steinherz


  

Answers


30 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +1
go towards infinity


Explanation:
(but never reaching infinity)


    My geriatric brain.
Sven Petersson
Sweden
Local time: 14:50
Native speaker of: Native in SwedishSwedish, Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 8

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Barbara Schulten, MSc (OXON), DPSI
3 hrs
  -> Thank you very much!
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38 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): -1
grinds to a halt


Explanation:
if it's a scientific text, "resistance goes to infinity"; if not, why not "grinds to a halt"?

Geoffrey Steinherz
Local time: 14:50
Native speaker of: English

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  Andrew Morgan: I can think of no context where this would be right
5 hrs
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2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +6
approaches infinity


Explanation:
The resistance (of an insulator e.g.) approaches infinity

Alan Johnson
Germany
Local time: 14:50
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 18
Grading comment
Thanx to all of you and special thanx to Andrew who helped me understand which answer would be the best one for my purposes!

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Beth Kantus
39 mins

agree  Robin Ward: Sounds right to me!
2 hrs

agree  Sven Petersson: Your points!
2 hrs

agree  JózsefÁrpád Bende
3 hrs

agree  Michael Estes
3 hrs

agree  gangels (X)
15 hrs
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3 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
increases to near infinite


Explanation:
another way to say it(avoiding 'infinity').

none needed

Ursula Peter-Czichi
United States
Local time: 08:50

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Andrew Morgan: increases to (be) nearly infinite, if it is about increasing
2 hrs
  -> on second thought, it sounds strange, how's this: goes to (the) infinite
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6 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +1
Tends to infinity


Explanation:
I have nothing against the other answers here, I just think their grammar is often off. If you want the translation to sound scientific, use "tends toward". It will also depend on what the exact context is - If you are talking about a process that causes the resistance to increase, use my answer or "approaches infinity", If you are talking about a static state that just happens to have, for some reason, near infinite resistance, then say just that.

Andrew Morgan
Local time: 14:50
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Ursula Peter-Czichi: Sounds good to me!
18 mins
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