Glossary entry (derived from question below)
French term or phrase:
1 328,620 TM
English translation:
1,328.620 MT OR 1328.620 MT
French term
1 328,620 TM
I am asking for confirmation on how to set out numbers in translations (ie. commas in the place of decimal points etc).
Would 1 328,620 TM be 1,328.620 MT or 1328,620
and 550,340 be 550.340?
Thank you - I need to be spot on with these numbers (tonnage of cargo damaged!)
4 +2 | 1,328.620 MT OR 1328.620 MT | Dirgis (X) |
4 +2 | 1328·62 MT | Tony M |
3 | http://lamar.colostate.edu/~hillger/correct.htm | Jean-Claude Gouin |
Non-PRO (1): Sylvia Smith
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Proposed translations
1,328.620 MT OR 1328.620 MT
For the format, see link 1
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Note added at 3 hrs 55 mins (2005-12-10 21:55:43 GMT)
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You need the last decimal point because it indicates that you would have no other value than a zero if you rounded up or down on the next digit.
for instance, a result of 1.10 is precise to the 1/100 level, so the actual value could be at most 1.104 or 1.044, but not 1.105 or higher or even 1.1046(both of which would be rounded up to 1.11 to get two numbers behind the decimal point only).
In science, which I studied, the level of precision of a measurement is important, and I am sure that applies to engineering.
Besides, IMO it is certainly not up to the translator to change figures from the original, and even if you don't believe in it, would it hurt anything to leave the zero, just in case?
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Note added at 3 hrs 56 mins (2005-12-10 21:57:18 GMT)
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One more note, these figures may have been obtained by adding kg values and then expressing them in MT, so that would have been 1,328,620 kg.
1328·62 MT
To avoid ambiguity, it is probably better to leave out the comma as a thousands separator (typographically I prefer it, but it can lead to confusion if poorly-reproduced), and there is little justification for using a space as separator, at least until you get up into the 10 000s.
Personally, I also tend to suppress trailing zeroes, UNLESS one of your list of figures does actually have a third decimal digit
neutral |
Dirgis (X)
: you need the last digit
14 mins
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Why?
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agree |
Gina W
: uh yeah, why would you need the last digit "0" after a decimal point?:) [ETA]: I agree, Dusty
3 hrs
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Thnaks, Gad! There ARE times when it CAN be important, but I don't think that applies here
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agree |
Oliver Walter
: Agree with your comments, but why "MT": megatons?
18 hrs
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Thanks, Oliver! You're right, I was just following Asker's lead, but I guess it's probably just 'metric tonnes'
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