Glossary entry (derived from question below)
French term or phrase:
piliers
English translation:
Underpin/are underpinned by
French term
piliers
Hi everyone, I am actually translating a technical document for a website on paints and pigments, which so far was going well except for this last sentence, I just can't figure out how to translate it, I am not so good in marketing, does anyone have a suggestion?
| 3 +2 | Underpin/are underpinned by |
Marian Vieyra
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| 4 +1 | mainstays/fundamental parts |
Yvonne Gallagher
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| 4 | pillars |
Verginia Ophof
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Dec 15, 2017 09:21: Marian Vieyra Created KOG entry
Dec 15, 2017 11:31: Yvonne Gallagher changed "Level" from "PRO" to "Non-PRO"
Non-PRO (3): David Hayes, Carol Gullidge, Yvonne Gallagher
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Proposed translations
United Kingdom
WorldWideWords
Native in: English (Variant: UK) 
Works in: French to English, Spanish to English, Portuguese to English
Underpin/are underpinned by
Strong performance and excellence underpin all our developments
Pun intended...
| neutral |
B D Finch
: Not really. Underpinning is a remedial measure, so it implies a previous defect.
3 hrs
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In a building yes, but here it is used in the sense of supporting something abstract.
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| agree |
Carol Gullidge
: agree with this, in the sense of supporting. Or you cd perhaps use "underlying...": Underlying/Underpinning all our developments are excellence and strong performance
6 hrs
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Thank you, Carol.
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| agree |
Neeraj Jain
8 days
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Thank you, Nicky J.
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Ireland
right word, right place. everytime
Native in: English (Variants: US, Canadian, Irish, UK)
Works in: French to English, Spanish to English, English, and 1 more.
mainstays/fundamental parts
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Note added at 20 mins (2017-12-01 10:37:22 GMT)
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you could also use cornerstone, linchpin or key element in the same way. Or rephrase to:
The key elements/mainstays/cornerstones (etc.) of all our developments are excellence and performance
| agree |
David Hayes
: Any of these will do, although 'fundamental parts' doesn't sound very good to my ear.
2 hrs
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Thanks! Yes, I agree. "cornerstones" or "key elements" are a better fit. As always, context is vital and one sentence isn't enough.
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| neutral |
B D Finch
: I'd agree with "cornerstones".
4 hrs
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so why neutral?
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Belize
Near Native Proficiency in Source langua
Native in: English
Works in: Portuguese to English, Dutch to English, French to English
pillars
5 Pillars of Marketing
Discussion
https://www.proz.com/kudoz/french_to_english/business_commer...
Maybe the reason you didn't find them is that you searched for the plural rather than the singular.