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d'accordo abbastanza/così così

English translation: agree/tend to agree

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
Italian term or phrase:d'accordo abbastanza/così così
English translation:agree/tend to agree
Entered by: carly kelly

07:02 Jul 11, 2008
Italian to English translations [PRO]
Marketing - Marketing / Market Research / questionnaire
Italian term or phrase: d'accordo abbastanza/così così
This is questionnaire for a market survey about electrical appliances. Plain sailing really until I got to this bit where interviewees are asked to say to what extent they agree with a list of statements, on a scale of 1 to 5 where 1 is "non sono d'accordo per niente" and 5 is "sono completamente d'accordo"., which I've translated as "I don't agree at all" and "I totally agree" (with no. 2 "sono poco d'accordo" as "I don't really agree"). But now I'm stuck on the seemingly straightforward 3: "Sono d'accordo così così" and 4: "sono abbastanza d'accordo".
Any suggestions?
carly kelly
Italy
Local time: 03:35
tend to agree
Explanation:
The middle rating on a 5 point agreement scale is normally "tend to agree" so: 5= Strongly agree, 4= agree, 3= tend to agree, 2= tend to disagree, 1= strongly disagree

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 36 mins (2008-07-11 07:38:45 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Other scales can be used where the mid point is "neither agree nor disagree" but your Italian wording is closer to my first suggestion.
Selected response from:

Pauline Teale
United Kingdom
Local time: 02:35
Grading comment
Of all the answers given, I felt this was the best one since it did in fact maintain that hint of agreement - as PTeale said - that was in the Italian version, however odd it may be in comparison with standard agreement scales (as Trish, Grey and MBosco pointed out). Thanks to all for your suggestions.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
5 +4tend to agree
Pauline Teale
4 +3Somewhat agree/slightly agree
ivanamdb
4 +1agree/undecided
Grey Drane (X)
4I agree slightly
Katie Roberts
3I fairly agree/I sometimes agree
Gad Kohenov
3I fairly agree / I partially agree
Katia DG
3 -1I quite agree/I fairly agreee
Silvia Nigretto
3 -1to a certain extend
Lise Leavitt


Discussion entries: 6





  

Answers


29 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
I fairly agree/I sometimes agree


Explanation:
I am just translating a Spanish > Hebrew text, a questionnaire and I came across the same problem. The client is not satisfied on any suggestion (including those of the proofreader). So these are not easy to translate!

Gad Kohenov
Israel
Local time: 04:35
Native speaker of: Native in FrenchFrench, Native in HebrewHebrew
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4 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): -1
I quite agree/I fairly agreee


Explanation:
This is what I find in a feedback questionnaire of a training course.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 32 min (2008-07-11 07:34:36 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

http://www.collinslanguage.com/results.aspx
quite
Definition Resultsquite
ADVERB

1 (not used with a negative) to a greater than average extent, somewhat ⋄ he found her quite attractive

2 absolutely ⋄ you're quite right

3 in actuality, truly

4 ⋄ quite a or an of an exceptional kind ⋄ she is quite a girl

5 ⋄ quite something a remarkable thing or person

INTERJECTION
an expression used to indicate agreement

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/quite

quite


Main Entry: quite
Pronunciation: \ˈkwīt\
Function: adverb
Etymology: Middle English, from quite, adjective, quit
Date: 14th century
1 : wholly, completely <not quite finished>
2 : to an extreme : positively <quite sure> —often used as an intensifier with a<quite a swell guy><quite a beauty>
3 : to a considerable extent : rather <quite near>
usage see plenty
— quite a bit : a considerable amount
— quite a few : many


So "quite" as an alternative to "rather"...

Silvia Nigretto
Local time: 03:35
Native speaker of: Native in ItalianItalian

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  Grace Anderson: As Carly points out, and as all native English speakers know, "I quite agree" means "I completely agree".
1 hr
  -> Hi Grace! Thanx for pointing out! A new thing learnt!
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31 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +4
d\'accordo abbastanza/così così
tend to agree


Explanation:
The middle rating on a 5 point agreement scale is normally "tend to agree" so: 5= Strongly agree, 4= agree, 3= tend to agree, 2= tend to disagree, 1= strongly disagree

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 36 mins (2008-07-11 07:38:45 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Other scales can be used where the mid point is "neither agree nor disagree" but your Italian wording is closer to my first suggestion.

Example sentence(s):
  • Over 10 years working in market research
Pauline Teale
United Kingdom
Local time: 02:35
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 4
Grading comment
Of all the answers given, I felt this was the best one since it did in fact maintain that hint of agreement - as PTeale said - that was in the Italian version, however odd it may be in comparison with standard agreement scales (as Trish, Grey and MBosco pointed out). Thanks to all for your suggestions.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Andrea Alvisi (X)
14 mins
  -> Thanks
agree  Grace Anderson
38 mins
  -> Thanks
agree  Arcangela Minio
45 mins
  -> Thanks
agree  Maria Luisa Dell'Orto
2 hrs
neutral  TrishCivitella: What would you tick if completely neutral?
3 hrs
  -> I agree that there is no neutral option here, which is why I used to prefer a scale with "neither agree nor disagree" when I was working in Market Research but the Italian scale used here doesn't have a neutral option therefore neither should the English.
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41 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
I fairly agree / I partially agree


Explanation:
another possibility
fairly for level 4, partially for level 3

Katia DG
Italy
Local time: 03:35
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in ItalianItalian, Native in GermanGerman
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +3
Somewhat agree/slightly agree


Explanation:
ecco anche i my 2 cents su questa, dato che ogni tanto mi diverto con i market surveys, e ne ho fatto uno proprio oggi.
in genere, quando si tratta della scala di 4/5, quelli in mezzo sono:
Agree somewhat/ I somewhat agree
Agree slightly/ I slightly agree

ivanamdb
Local time: 02:35
Native speaker of: Native in CroatianCroatian, Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 7

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Valeria Lattanzi
2 hrs
  -> grazie Valeria
agree  Leslie Hart
3 hrs
  -> thanks Leslie
agree  _Vivi_
6 hrs
  -> grazie
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
agree/undecided


Explanation:
The standard scale in English is:

1 - strongly disagree / 2 - disagree / 3 - undecided / 4 - agree / 5 - strongly agree

FWIW

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 4 hrs (2008-07-11 11:59:59 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

But yeah, how you actually translate it will depend on the overall tone of the questionnaire (colloquial, non-standard or formal, standard) and the purpose of the translation (is it actually going to be completed by English-speakers? or is it just being translated as an FYI kind of thing for someone?).

Grey Drane (X)
United States
Local time: 21:35
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 16

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  TrishCivitella: Yes! This is the only way it can be because there has to be a neutral/undecided choice.
3 hrs
neutral  Pauline Teale: This would be appropriate if designing a questionnaire for use in an English speaking country but if translating results from Italian market research it should reflect the fact that no neutral option was allowed.
3 hrs
  -> "così così" sounds pretty undecided to me, actually. like "yes and no".
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6 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
d\'accordo abbastanza/così così
I agree slightly


Explanation:
Beacuse it is a 5 point scale then the mid point should allow a neutral answer from a quantitative perspective (I have a market research background for my sins!) so the English should read 'I neither agree nor disagree' however the Italian does render this as it says 'I slightly agree' which tips the scale towards the positive and puts it out of balance - perhaps you should point it out to the client.

Katie Roberts
Local time: 02:35
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
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7 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): -1
d\'accordo abbastanza/così così
to a certain extend


Explanation:
I agree/disagree to a certain extend
http://missunpredictable.blogspot.com/2007/12/how-much-do-yo...
I don't know if that would be too long as an answer? =)

Lise Leavitt
United States
Local time: 21:35
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in DanishDanish
PRO pts in category: 4

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  _Vivi_: I'm afraid that the word is extent and not extend and I'm sorry to say that the text you took it from (stated above) is not written in good English but understandabale seeing as it was not written by a native speaker of English
49 mins
  -> You are absolutely right, certain extenT. I admit I didnt read the full text! And I found another link with the same error, lol a dictionary http://www.eudict.com/?lang=engger&word=to a certain degree,...
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