Glossary entry

Spanish term or phrase:

por imprimir un carácter en

English translation:

for / through its distinctive approach to

Added to glossary by Wordup (X)
Oct 27, 2014 19:50
9 yrs ago
1 viewer *
Spanish term

por imprimir un carácter en

Spanish to English Law/Patents Construction / Civil Engineering
The context is an agreement between two companies and this part of the agreement describes one of the companies involved:

"XXXXX es una entidad de reconocido prestigio dentro del sector concesional en España y a nivel internacional, por imprimir un carácter en sus negocios concesionales, que permiten la creación de grandes infraestructuras en un nivel de máxima calidad de materiales y acabados"

Many thanks for any help.

Proposed translations

+4
5 hrs
Selected

for / through its distinctive approach to

I do think Phil has a point here. The Spanish is poorly written, and it is tempting to trim back the verbiage and reduce it to something simpler and, arguably, more appropriate to the language of a legal agreement. However, if you simply remove "imprimir un carácter" I think you are undeniably removing an idea from the text that the writer of the ST has seen fit to include, and I don't think we are really entitled to do that if there is a satisfactory way of retaining it.

"Imprimir un carácter" really amounts here to the idea that this company has its own characteristic way of conducting its business, and that this is the key to its success and prestige. It's not just a question of being successful, but of achieving success though "carácter". This claim should somehow be reflected, I feel. So maybe you could do something like this:

XXXX is a company that has gained a high reputation [...] for/through its distinctive approach to concession business, which has enabled it to create [...].

I think "through" could be used instead of "for", taking "por" as expressing the means by which it has achieved its successes, rather than the quality for which it is admired.

My suggested version really corresponds to "que permite la creación", whereby the subject is of "permite" is "carácter", whereas the subject of "permiten" must be "negocios". However, I think this is a valid liberty, since frankly the latter doesn't make very good sense and the former is, I believe, what they really meant to say.

If you want to stay a little closer to the terms of the original you might say "characteristic approach", but I think "distinctive" sounds better and expresses what I see as the real point of "imprimir un carácter": that this firm does things its own way, not the way others do.
Peer comment(s):

agree Andy Watkinson : Thou art unfit for any place but hell. I was going to say the same thing, in that I believe the author was on automatic pilot. Had he/she written "implantar su modelo propio en los negocios......", it would have simplified matters
26 mins
Thanks, Andy. Terribly sorry to steal your thunder. Your suggestion for the original is spot on; I sense that you've read rather a lot of this kind of stuff :)
agree TravellingTrans : i agree with the logic and the essence of what you're aiming at and the fact that it does seem a bit much to just slice out a chunk of the language even if it is clumsy, especially since it is used as the basis of the text that directly follows
55 mins
Thanks very much, TravellingTrans. I'm glad you agree :)
agree franglish
6 hrs
Thanks, franglish ;)
agree neilmac
9 hrs
Thanks a lot, Neil ;)
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thank you very much"
12 mins

for affording/bestowing a unique character

Hoping this helps. Pls see links for examples.
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+2
1 hr

for

I feel that all the previous suggestions sound odd - they're too literal. I would leave out "imprimir un carácter" and say something like this:

"XXX enjoys an excellent reputation in Spain and abroad for large concession-based infrastructure projects involving high-quality materials and finishes."

Peer comment(s):

agree Karen Dinicola : yep --- less is more!
5 mins
Thanks! That's very gracious considering you submitted your own answer.
agree Elizabeth Joy Pitt de Morales
1 hr
neutral Jennifer Levey : 'dumbing down' doesn't seem appropriate in a text which, Wordup tells us, is part of an agreement between two companies. Can you be sure that Wordup will be able to 'dumb down' the (eventual) description of the other company to an equivalent extent?
2 hrs
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30 mins

for leaving its imprint on

The way I would put it ...

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Note added at 1 hr (2014-10-27 21:23:19 GMT)
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Am retracting this one -- agree with Phil.
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43 mins

for making its mark on

Plain English as she is spoke.

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Note added at 2 hrs (2014-10-27 22:09:02 GMT)
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... and respectful of the inherent verbosity so characteristic of plain Spanish.
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