Le rapport

English translation: ratio

15:30 Dec 13, 2020
French to English translations [PRO]
Mathematics & Statistics / Social psychology article
French term or phrase: Le rapport
Hello all,
This comes from a social psychology article on gifted children, from the statistics section. Would "rapport" mean ratio in this context? Thanks for any help.
Le rapport du nombre d'associations verbales différentes, divisé par le nombre total d'associations produites est un indicateur classique de la diversité d'un corpus lexical
Anne Greaves
United Kingdom
Local time: 20:17
English translation:ratio
Explanation:
Yes, logically it would here


--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 16 mins (2020-12-13 15:46:08 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

« le rapport de... divisé par.... est un indicateur... »

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 5 hrs (2020-12-13 20:42:21 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

I think there is an important difference here between the way FR uses 'rapport' compared to the way 'ratio' at least ought to be correctly used in EN.
Although we usually think of 'rapport' as meaning 'ratio', and as such, expect it to be used rigorously in the same way as it would be in EN, it's perhaps important not to forget that it can also mean more loosely 'relationship' (etc.). As such, its mathematically precise meaning as a ratio tends to give way to a slightly more fleixble interpretation than is possible in EN.
Selected response from:

Tony M
France
Local time: 21:17
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +7ratio
Tony M


  

Answers


12 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +7
rapport
ratio


Explanation:
Yes, logically it would here


--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 16 mins (2020-12-13 15:46:08 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

« le rapport de... divisé par.... est un indicateur... »

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 5 hrs (2020-12-13 20:42:21 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

I think there is an important difference here between the way FR uses 'rapport' compared to the way 'ratio' at least ought to be correctly used in EN.
Although we usually think of 'rapport' as meaning 'ratio', and as such, expect it to be used rigorously in the same way as it would be in EN, it's perhaps important not to forget that it can also mean more loosely 'relationship' (etc.). As such, its mathematically precise meaning as a ratio tends to give way to a slightly more fleixble interpretation than is possible in EN.

Tony M
France
Local time: 21:17
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 39
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  philgoddard: I think the sentence is badly written, because "x divided by y" is a ratio, so "ratio" is unnecessary. It's either "x divided by y" or "the ratio of x to y".
11 mins
  -> Thanks, Phil! / Yes, I agree.

agree  Thomas Miles
54 mins
  -> Thanks, Thomas!

agree  SafeTex
1 hr
  -> Thanks, S/T!

agree  chris collister: Phil is right: if x is not "divisé" by y, then it's not a ratio; so either "ratio" or "divisé" is redundant.// Yes, it's not at all uncommon.
1 hr
  -> Thanks, Chris! I think 'rapport' sometimes gets used in this rather 'loose' fashion in FR.

agree  Mpoma: Yes, it should be "rapport de X au nombre de Y ... ". The prevalence of such mathematical/numerical illiteracy (as distinct from innumeracy) is probably very similar to that which you find in English! ("ratio of X divided by Y ...")
3 hrs
  -> Thanks, Mpoma!

agree  Alissa Chevallier
6 days
  -> Thanks, Alissa!

agree  AcornTr_US: https://www.alloprof.qc.ca/fr/eleves/bv/mathematiques/les-ra...
45 days
  -> Thanks, Acorn!
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)



Login or register (free and only takes a few minutes) to participate in this question.

You will also have access to many other tools and opportunities designed for those who have language-related jobs (or are passionate about them). Participation is free and the site has a strict confidentiality policy.

KudoZ™ translation help

The KudoZ network provides a framework for translators and others to assist each other with translations or explanations of terms and short phrases.


See also:
Term search
  • All of ProZ.com
  • Term search
  • Jobs
  • Forums
  • Multiple search