poder ser dueño de su vida

English translation: to take control of their lives

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)

Spanish term or phrase:	poder ser dueño de su vida
English translation:	to take control of their lives
Entered by:	Eugenio Llorente

10:14 Sep 14, 2011

Spanish to English translations [PRO]
Science - Environment & Ecology / Biocultura

Spanish term or phrase: poder ser dueño de su vida

The author previouly argued "that the more the society develops, the less the individual will develop." The term appears in this context:

"Solución: Potenciar al individuo. Dotarle de recursos para poder ser dueño de su vida."

This is how a see it, for the moment:

"Solution: Empowering the individual. Providing them with resources to become owners of their own lives. "

Note: I use the plural "them" to be gender-neutral.

Eugenio Llorente KudoZ activity Questions: 879 (none open) (14 closed without grading) Answers: 100 Spain
Local time: 15:21

to take control of their lives

Explanation:
Give them the resources they need to take control of their lives.

Selected response from:

Simon Bruni
United Kingdom
Local time: 14:21

Grading comment

Again, thank you very much, Simon!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

4 +3

to take control of their lives

Simon Bruni

4 +1

to take charge of their life

FVS (X)

4 +1

to take command of their life

Pamela Faber Benitez

to become owners of their own lives

Julie Waddington

to enable them to take control of their lives

Charles Davis

Answers

1 min confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

to take charge of their life

Explanation:
Is how I would put it.

FVS (X)
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 4

8 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +3

to take control of their lives

Explanation:
Give them the resources they need to take control of their lives.

Simon Bruni
United Kingdom
Local time: 14:21
Works in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 78

Grading comment

Again, thank you very much, Simon!

8 mins confidence:

to become owners of their own lives

Explanation:
I think the terms you opt for sound appropriate in this context. I would maybe change the gerunds to infinitives "Empower" and "Provide".
Gender neutral option is definitely good choice.
Best of luck.

Julie Waddington
Spain
Local time: 15:21
Works in field
Native speaker of: English

11 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

to take command of their life

Explanation:
My suggestion

Pamela Faber Benitez
Spain
Local time: 15:21
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 12

18 mins confidence:

to enable them to take control of their lives

Explanation:
It could be argued that "poder" need not be translated, on the grounds that "resources to take control/charge" implies "to be able to take control/charge". However, thinking about it I feel that it would be better to include it. To me, "to take control" implies, or could imply, "so that they take control", whereas "to be able to take control" does not necessarily mean that they do so, but simply that they can do so. OK, in practice there's not much difference, I agree, but I think there's no harm in including it. I feel "enable" is the natural way to do it, and that the result reads well.

I take your point about gender-neutral "they/them", but I still try to find ways of avoiding it. In particular, as the previous answers show, there is some doubt about whether one should put "life" or "lives" in this construction. The former is logical (an individual has only one life), but "their life" grates on me. "Their lives" sounds right, but logically conflicts with the singular individual. So I'd suggest putting "providing people with resources to enable them to take control of their lives". I think this reads naturally and is quite consistent with the original.

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Note added at 1 hr (2011-09-14 11:17:43 GMT)
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When I say "avoid gender-neutral "they/them", I mean avoid using it explicitly in the singular. This is the problem with "their life", for me: the combination plural-singular. It's quite common now and we're all getting used to it, but the problem can often be avoided entirely by finding an acceptable way to express it in the plural. That was my point.

Charles Davis
Spain
Local time: 15:21
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 96

Notes to answerer

Asker: Dear Charles, I appreciate very much your comments. Thank you very much.

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