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REDUCTION / RÉDUCTION (*) Reduction is the opposite of lengthening out : - "Elle" is a weekly magazine : « Elle » est un hebdomadaire (instead of « Elle » est une revue hebdomadaire) Reduction is far less frequent than lengthening out when translating from English into French. More examples : - his fellow students (AM 87) : ses condisciples (instead of ses camarades d'études) - Thunder could be heard : On entendait le tonnerre (instead of On pouvait entendre le tonnerre) - fourth place on the scale of what matters (AM 83) : la quatrième place sur l'échelle des priorités (instead of ce qui importe) - High-tech industries can't singlehandedly lift the economy out of recession : Les industries de pointe ne peuvent, à elles seules, faire sortir l'économie de la crise (the English verb lift is not rendered in French, being unnecessary) - You should not have made a fool of him before his friends : Tu n'aurais pas dû le ridiculiser devant ses amis (instead of le faire passer pour un idiot) Reduction should not be mistaken for omission, a practice for which a heavy penalty may be inflicted. (*) Also called "concentration" in French.
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