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rephrasing

English translation: the less

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
English term or phrase:the least
Selected answer:the less
Entered by: Fuad Yahya

20:01 Dec 17, 2003
English language (monolingual) [PRO]
Tech/Engineering
English term or phrase: rephrasing
"The closer the values are to zero, the least yield fluctuation they reflect."

This is a description of an index and its behavior. I guess the concept is clear, but for some reason I'm not happy with the construction.

Any suggestions?

TIA
Henrique Serra
United States
Local time: 08:41
the less yield fluctuation they reflect.
Explanation:
... or the smaller yield fluctuation they reflect.

This will ensure proper parallelism.
Selected response from:

Fuad Yahya
Grading comment
Thank you!

A Merry Christmas to all of you and a wonderful 2004 with lots of 100% hits!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED
5 +7the less yield fluctuation they reflect.
Fuad Yahya
4 +4Values closer to zero reflect a lower yield fluctuation.
Lia Fail (X)
4 +3anything with least is wrong
Armorel Young
4Values closer to zero reflect a lower yield fluctuation.
Lia Fail (X)


  

Answers


3 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +7
the less yield fluctuation they reflect.


Explanation:
... or the smaller yield fluctuation they reflect.

This will ensure proper parallelism.

Fuad Yahya
Native speaker of: Native in ArabicArabic, Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in pair: 893
Grading comment
Thank you!

A Merry Christmas to all of you and a wonderful 2004 with lots of 100% hits!

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Anna Haxen
2 mins
agree  Catherine Navarro
2 mins
agree  J. Leo (X)
41 mins
agree  Marie Scarano: this is closest to the original structure and maintains a sense of ratio that the other alternatives lack
1 hr
agree  Nado2002
2 hrs
agree  Refugio
4 hrs
agree  vixen
13 hrs
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5 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +4
Values closer to zero reflect a lower yield fluctuation.


Explanation:
"The closer the values are to zero, the least yield fluctuation they reflect."

The closer the values to zero, the less they reflect (the) yield fluctuation.

Values closer to zero reflect a lower yield fluctuation.

I think the second is more natural, straightforward English.

I'm not sure what exactly is meant by 'yield fluctuation' and if you provided an explanation it might be possible to improve on the above.

Lia Fail (X)
Spain
Local time: 16:41
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in pair: 86

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  lindaellen (X): The first option is the best, as it is clear and concise.
15 mins
  -> thank you:-)
agree  nyamuk
1 hr
  -> thank you:-)
agree  Nado2002
2 hrs
  -> thank you:-)
agree  Robschmidt (X): This is really a good one ! Would make sense to the reader!
2 hrs
  -> thank you:-)
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6 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
Values closer to zero reflect a lower yield fluctuation.


Explanation:
"The closer the values are to zero, the least yield fluctuation they reflect."

The closer the values to zero, the less they reflect (the) yield fluctuation.

Values closer to zero reflect a lower yield fluctuation.

I think the second is more natural, straightforward English.

I'm not sure what exactly is meant by 'yield fluctuation' and if you provided an explanation it might be possible to improve on the above.

Lia Fail (X)
Spain
Local time: 16:41
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in pair: 86
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +3
anything with least is wrong


Explanation:
The first part of your sentence describes a range of possible values ("the closer the values are to zero" - i.e. a range of values between some other point and zero). But least is an absolute - there can only be one "least" value, there can't be a range of "least" things. So if you use "least" the two halves of the sentence are incompatible. I think what the sentence is trying to say is "the closer the values are to zero, the lower the yield fluctuation they represent" (and that second "the" in the second part is important for the sense). Compare it with something similar but simpler like "the brighter the light, the further the distance you can see", or "the stronger the table, the greater the weight it can bear".

Armorel Young
Local time: 15:41
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in pair: 597

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Refugio: the clearer the better
3 hrs
agree  vixen
11 hrs
agree  Lia Fail (X): And note how the verb in the first half is omitted
16 hrs
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