Oct 10, 2005 13:07
18 yrs ago
11 viewers *
English term
follow ... very closely
English
Bus/Financial
Linguistics
In this edition, published in collaboration with ....., ten factors fo economic freedom in 161 countries are analysed in order to follow the process that leads to economic prosperity very closely.
is this expression correct? or should I say follow very closely the process that leads to.....?
is this expression correct? or should I say follow very closely the process that leads to.....?
Responses
Change log
Oct 10, 2005 13:12: Lakasa Stnorden changed "Language pair" from "English to Spanish" to "Spanish to English"
Oct 10, 2005 13:12: Lakasa Stnorden changed "Language pair" from "Spanish to English" to "English to Spanish"
Oct 10, 2005 13:19: Walter Landesman changed "Language pair" from "English to Spanish" to "English" , "Field (specific)" from "Economics" to "Linguistics"
Responses
+12
2 hrs
Selected
Options
in order to follow the process that leads to economic prosperity very closely: correct, but the object is too long (the process that leads to economic prosperity) and, as a result, you lose track of what the adverb (very closely) refers to.
in order to follow very closely the process that leads to economic prosperity: put the adverb between the verb and the object. Some people highly disapprove of this (I don't like it myself).
in order to very closely follow the process that leads to economic prosperity: Split the infitive. Some people would rather you stabbed them in the back.
Rephrase:
in order to keep a close watch on the process that leads to economic prosperity (My preference)
or: keep tabs on
monitor
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Note added at 5 hrs 2 mins (2005-10-10 18:09:28 GMT)
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Lakasa, I was concentrating too much on the syntactic aspect (what does one do with the adverb in a case like this) that I failed to read the whole sentence properly.
"To follow ... closely" normally means "to keep a close watch on something", but this is not what they mean to say here, as Kenneth and Brie have already pointed out.
What these people do is to study every step of the process. And another problem crops up here: Normally the (implied) subject of the infinitive (after "in order to") should be the same as the subject of "are analysed" (i.e factors etc.).
So my adjective+noun version would be:
...are analysed in order / so as to allow for a careful study / close examination of the process that leads to economic prosperity.
And I'm sure there are other ways of rephrasing this, but I'm sticking to the syntactic principles here.
in order to follow very closely the process that leads to economic prosperity: put the adverb between the verb and the object. Some people highly disapprove of this (I don't like it myself).
in order to very closely follow the process that leads to economic prosperity: Split the infitive. Some people would rather you stabbed them in the back.
Rephrase:
in order to keep a close watch on the process that leads to economic prosperity (My preference)
or: keep tabs on
monitor
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Note added at 5 hrs 2 mins (2005-10-10 18:09:28 GMT)
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Lakasa, I was concentrating too much on the syntactic aspect (what does one do with the adverb in a case like this) that I failed to read the whole sentence properly.
"To follow ... closely" normally means "to keep a close watch on something", but this is not what they mean to say here, as Kenneth and Brie have already pointed out.
What these people do is to study every step of the process. And another problem crops up here: Normally the (implied) subject of the infinitive (after "in order to") should be the same as the subject of "are analysed" (i.e factors etc.).
So my adjective+noun version would be:
...are analysed in order / so as to allow for a careful study / close examination of the process that leads to economic prosperity.
And I'm sure there are other ways of rephrasing this, but I'm sticking to the syntactic principles here.
Peer comment(s):
agree |
cmwilliams (X)
: Yes, I'd rephrase it if possible. 'To follow very closely the process...' doesn't sound natural to me in English.
47 mins
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Thanks for sharing my sensibilities ;-}
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agree |
Ken Cox
: personally, I'd say 'closely examine/study the process'
1 hr
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I'm an infinitive splitter myself when I have to. The non-splitter's alternative would be "in order very closely to follow"... / And you're quite right about the *meaning* of the sentence too.
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agree |
Brie Vernier
: with Kenneth, but nicely put, Nick
1 hr
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I was too engrossed in the problem of the syntax to consider semantics :-}
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agree |
Alexandra Tussing
1 hr
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Thanks, Alexandra.
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agree |
Johan Venter
2 hrs
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Thank you!
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agree |
Dave Calderhead
: I should have read you full explanation first, Nick! I can do nothing else but agree with you on this, but, as a Startrek lover (but not a "Trekkie") I also like my split infinities/sorry infinitives, like Kenneth. (:-{)>// to seriously divide?/or hairs!
2 hrs
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Thanks, Dave. Linguistically, I have no problem with split infinitives. But as a non-native speaker of English, I try very hard not to stomp on people's sensibilities in a matter that has split a nation. // Oh stop it! This is side-splitting!
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agree |
Vicky Papaprodromou
5 hrs
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Thanks, Vicky!
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agree |
María Roberto (X)
: Kata edra, as always, thanks, Nick!
7 hrs
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Thanks, María (got it right this time).
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agree |
------ (X)
8 hrs
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Thank you!
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agree |
transparx
15 hrs
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Thanks, Nino.
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agree |
Camelia Frunză
17 hrs
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Thank you, Camelia.
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agree |
Saleh Chowdhury, Ph.D.
2 days 44 mins
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:-}
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Gracias Nick. Excelente tu explicación. Gracias a todos. salud.."
+9
3 mins
seguir...muy de cerca; hacer un seguimiento muy estricto
ok
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Note added at 4 mins (2005-10-10 13:11:48 GMT)
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The expression is correct.
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Note added at 4 mins (2005-10-10 13:11:48 GMT)
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The expression is correct.
Peer comment(s):
agree |
cameliaim
1 min
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Muchas gracias, cameliaim.
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agree |
Maria Luisa Duarte
3 mins
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Gracias, Ma. Luisa.
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agree |
Tomás Cano Binder, BA, CT
: Sí Walter. Me parece una buena opción.
5 mins
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Gracias, Tomás.
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agree |
Marsha Wilkie
1 hr
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thanx a lot.
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agree |
Marina Soldati
1 hr
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tante grazie, Marina.
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agree |
Fabiana Yampolsky
1 hr
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gracias a lot.
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agree |
Maria Itati Encinas
: seguir de cerca
3 hrs
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Muchas gracias.
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agree |
Yvonne Becker
3 hrs
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Muchas gracias, Yvonne.
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neutral |
Dave Calderhead
: I might be able to agree if I could understand all of your answer!
5 hrs
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Muchas gracias.
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agree |
Marina56
: Si, seguir...... muy de cerca......
5 hrs
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Muchas gracias.
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+3
4 mins
follow very closely
I think it is clearer if you leave the phrase together (though it is possible to understand it as it is)
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Note added at 11 mins (2005-10-10 13:19:06 GMT)
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in order to follow very closely the process that leads to economic prosperity
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Note added at 11 mins (2005-10-10 13:19:06 GMT)
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in order to follow very closely the process that leads to economic prosperity
Peer comment(s):
agree |
María Roberto (X)
3 mins
|
thanks María :)
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agree |
Alexandra Tussing
3 hrs
|
thanks Alexandra :)
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agree |
transparx
17 hrs
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3 mins
para darle seguimiento muy de cerca a la prosperidad económica....
Está correcto en la oración.
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Note added at 12 mins (2005-10-10 13:19:44 GMT)
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Está bien la expresión de esa manera. Es otra forma de decirlo.
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Note added at 12 mins (2005-10-10 13:19:44 GMT)
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Está bien la expresión de esa manera. Es otra forma de decirlo.
Peer comment(s):
neutral |
Dave Calderhead
: might be able to agree if I could understand all of your answer!
5 hrs
|
+1
19 mins
to study/ trace carefully
to study / trace those factors carefully as well as in detail.
28 mins
track or document
precisely document / track / follow
Or you could say "in order to closely follow", for some reason, it sounds strange to my ears to have "very closely" at the end.
Or you could say "in order to closely follow", for some reason, it sounds strange to my ears to have "very closely" at the end.
4 hrs
rewrite
are analyzed in order to reproduce the process that leads to
are analyzed with the goal of reproducing the process
are analyzed with the goal of reproducing the process
4 hrs
very closely monitor
... in order to very closely monitor the process that leads to economic prosperity
References:
Finally, the Union will very closely monitor the process of democratic transition in Indonesia, the elections in East Timor and its access to independence. ...
europa-eu-un.org/articles/el/article_162_el.htm
"We are going to very closely monitor the process and the prices of land sales.
www.cdi.org/russia/johnson/5362.html
... It's absolutely incumbent this time that those of us responsible for writing the Law very closely monitor the process," said Rep. ...
secure.edweek.org/ew/newstory.cfm?slug=26esea.h21
References:
Finally, the Union will very closely monitor the process of democratic transition in Indonesia, the elections in East Timor and its access to independence. ...
europa-eu-un.org/articles/el/article_162_el.htm
"We are going to very closely monitor the process and the prices of land sales.
www.cdi.org/russia/johnson/5362.html
... It's absolutely incumbent this time that those of us responsible for writing the Law very closely monitor the process," said Rep. ...
secure.edweek.org/ew/newstory.cfm?slug=26esea.h21
Discussion