Glossary entry (derived from question below)
French term or phrase:
Faute d'être assez nombreux,
English translation:
Because they were so few
Added to glossary by
Rimas Balsys
Nov 7, 2008 17:01
15 yrs ago
French term
Faute d'être assez nombreux,
French to English
Bus/Financial
General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
Evening everyone...this is a sentence for an academic paper that I can't seem to get my head straight about:
faute d’être assez nombreux, les produits libres ne représentaient en 1982 que 5% des ventes de Carrefour qui les arrêta en 1984 pour les remplacer par des produits au nom de l’enseigne afin de restaurer ses marges.
Faute d'être assez nombreux: does that mean there were too many or not enough?
Thanks for your help!
faute d’être assez nombreux, les produits libres ne représentaient en 1982 que 5% des ventes de Carrefour qui les arrêta en 1984 pour les remplacer par des produits au nom de l’enseigne afin de restaurer ses marges.
Faute d'être assez nombreux: does that mean there were too many or not enough?
Thanks for your help!
Proposed translations
(English)
Change log
Nov 7, 2008 19:32: Stéphanie Soudais changed "Field (specific)" from "Retail" to "General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters"
Nov 10, 2008 10:53: Rimas Balsys Created KOG entry
Proposed translations
+2
24 mins
French term (edited):
Faute d\'être assez nombreux,
Selected
Because they were so few
Because they were so few / because there were so few of them...
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Sandra Mouton
: because there were few of them
4 hrs
|
| agree |
swanda
: so few of them
3 days 5 hrs
|
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
+2
1 min
Jonathan MacKerron
Native in English
Retired as of Jan 2019!
Native in: English
Works in: German to English, French to English
Related KudoZ points
:
32
because of the dirth of...
a place to start
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Note added at 6 mins (2008-11-07 17:07:40 GMT)
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given the small number of
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Note added at 6 mins (2008-11-07 17:08:18 GMT)
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sorry for the "dearth" typo!
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Note added at 6 mins (2008-11-07 17:07:40 GMT)
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given the small number of
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Note added at 6 mins (2008-11-07 17:08:18 GMT)
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sorry for the "dearth" typo!
Note from asker:
| Ahah! Otherwise known as "dearth" in US English |
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
Julie Barber
: I read it the other way around, although I just asked a French colleague who agrees with you and Emma.....so obviously I could be wrong here. I read it as "due to a fairly high number". Perhaps I should read my dictionary... ;-)
5 mins
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lack?
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| agree |
Emma Paulay
: I agree with you, but not with Julie. It's definitely too few.
9 mins
|
| agree |
liz askew
: Due to the dearth of...
28 mins
|
| neutral |
ormiston
: I don't think it actually means lack or dearth here, simply that there were not many of them
3 hrs
|
| neutral |
Sandra Mouton
: Agree with ormiston
4 hrs
|
+8
7 mins
Due to their insufficient numbers
"Due to the lack of..."
Or you could work around "As there were so few...", or "There being very few..."
Or you could work around "As there were so few...", or "There being very few..."
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Sheila Wilson
: In the minutes of many AGMs - insufficient attendees for a vote
14 mins
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True. Thanks, Sheila.
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| agree |
Enza Longo
16 mins
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Thanks, Enza.
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| agree |
Kate Deimling
: This seems to me to be the most straightforward translation with the right tone to discuss sales of products.
1 hr
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Thank you.
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| agree |
Vicky James
2 hrs
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Thanks, Vicky.
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| agree |
Gacela20
5 hrs
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Thanks, Gacela.
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| agree |
Simon Mac
5 hrs
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Thank you.
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| agree |
Mark Nathan
6 hrs
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Thanks, Mark.
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| agree |
lundy
: or, quite simply, because there were not enough of them
6 hrs
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Yes, but you couldn't begin the sentence like that.
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| neutral |
Charlie Bavington
: Agree with meaning. Some reviewers might still prefer to see "owing to...". While there is no difference in meaning here, there can be (see http://www.guardian.co.uk/styleguide/page/0,,184819,00.html) so I think we should try to use it properly :-)
22 hrs
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Thanks Charlie. I'm a great fan of the Guardian style guide but don't know it inside out yet. "Owing to" is definitely preferable.
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| neutral |
MatthewLaSon
: I just don't like the word "numbers" here.
23 hrs
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I made a couple of other suggestions too.
|
21 hrs
due to the inadequate number of....
mirroring Emma's answers but perhaps better than 'numbers' in the plural if built into the sentence like this
+1
23 hrs
Insufficient in quantity, these products
Hello,
My try...
The "due to" is clearly implied in my translation.
I hope this helps.
My try...
The "due to" is clearly implied in my translation.
I hope this helps.
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Helen Shiner
: I like this suggestion best
6 hrs
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Thanks, Helen! I appreciate it.
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Discussion