Glossary entry (derived from question below)
Apr 14, 2003 16:07
21 yrs ago
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English term
Bonding thru Words
Native in: Spanish 
Works in: English to Spanish, French to Spanish, Danish to Spanish, and 2 more.
complementing that
English
Art/Literary
This is a new measure agreed on in November. After some hesitation, we are glad that the Greek Presidency, during the most recent consultation with Parliament, undertook to make available to Parliament all the information that had initially been withheld, including that on costs and personnel. I see this as an important decision and as **complementing that** on the political principle of involving Parliament.
Does it make sense in terms of grammar? I find it a bit hard to make sense of it. Thanks beforehand.
Does it make sense in terms of grammar? I find it a bit hard to make sense of it. Thanks beforehand.
Responses
Change log
Dec 21, 2005 16:08: Fuad Yahya changed "Field" from "Other" to "Art/Literary"
Responses
+3
9 mins
Selected
It is not as much the grammar that is amiss as the coherence.
Using the word "that" as a substitute for something else is very tricky, just like using pronouns in place of nouns. One needs to make sure the word refers to something unmistakable.
The word "that" is used in this fashion twice in a row in the given paragraph, which makes matters even more confusing:
- ". . . all the information that had initially been withheld, including that on costs and personnel."
all the information that had initially been withheld, including information on costs and personnel.
- "I see this as an important decision and as complementing that on the political principle of involving Parliament."
I see this as an important decision and as complementing the decision on the political principle of involving [the] Parliament.
That would be the "natural" way to interpret the meaning, unless there is something hidden.
Fuad
The word "that" is used in this fashion twice in a row in the given paragraph, which makes matters even more confusing:
- ". . . all the information that had initially been withheld, including that on costs and personnel."
all the information that had initially been withheld, including information on costs and personnel.
- "I see this as an important decision and as complementing that on the political principle of involving Parliament."
I see this as an important decision and as complementing the decision on the political principle of involving [the] Parliament.
That would be the "natural" way to interpret the meaning, unless there is something hidden.
Fuad
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thanks, Fuad."
+1
9 mins
Klaus Dorn (X)
Native in English
&
English
Klaus Dorn (X)
We love languages!
Native in: English , German
Works in: German to English, English to German, Turkish to English, and 3 more.
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Related KudoZ points
:
35
...and complementing the political principle of involving...
...that's how I think it should be written, if we want to stick with it closely, but I would rephrase the entire sentence:
I feel it is an important decision and I think it's complemeting the political principle of...
I feel it is an important decision and I think it's complemeting the political principle of...
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Ino66 (X)
2 mins
|
| agree |
Antonio Camangi
1 hr
|
| disagree |
Paul Stevens
: that = the one OR the decision, which you have left out, or made no allowance for in your answer
5 hrs
|
2 hrs
It´s OK ...
It´s OK, but it´s unnecessarily high-style, when the challenge should be to express ideas clearly and simply, particularly in the multi-lingual context of the EU.
"I see this as
a) an important decision, and
b) as complementing that [= the decision] on the political principle ..."
"I see this as
a) an important decision, and
b) as complementing that [= the decision] on the political principle ..."
+1
6 hrs
Paul Stevens
Native in English
&
English
Accurate and reliable translations
Native in: English 
Works in: Spanish to English, French to English
Related KudoZ points
:
4
As Chris says, it is OK (in terms of not being grammatically incorrect),
but my suggestion for slightly rephrasing it would be:
I see this as an important decision that complements the one regarding the political principle of involving Parliament.
HTH
I see this as an important decision that complements the one regarding the political principle of involving Parliament.
HTH
15 hrs
grammatically it is OK,
but I agree with the others that the construction is a bit awkward.
To make it simple, you can rephrase the sentence like this (with more or less the same meaning):
This decision is important and complements that decision on the political principle of involving the Parliament.
So, the main point here is 'This decision complements that decision'.
As we all know, nouns that have already been mentioned are sometimes dropped after determiners (and THAT in 'that decision' is a determiner).
For that reason, the second 'decision' is dropped and there you are with the sentence:
This decision is important and complements THAT on the political principle of involving the Parliament.
To make it simple, you can rephrase the sentence like this (with more or less the same meaning):
This decision is important and complements that decision on the political principle of involving the Parliament.
So, the main point here is 'This decision complements that decision'.
As we all know, nouns that have already been mentioned are sometimes dropped after determiners (and THAT in 'that decision' is a determiner).
For that reason, the second 'decision' is dropped and there you are with the sentence:
This decision is important and complements THAT on the political principle of involving the Parliament.
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