# على أن



## licinio

من جهتها, اعلنت المجموعة الاقتصادية لدول غرب افريقيا ايضا تشكيل قوة مؤلفة من 2000 الى 3000 آلاف رجل وضعوا في حالة استنفار, *على ان* تناقش هذه المسألة خلال اجتماع لرؤساء اركانها بدأ الخميس في ابيدجان

​What's the meaning of على أن in the above sentence?
Thanks.


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## ayed

It connotes"provided that/ on condtion that".That is, that issue shall be discussed


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## AndyRoo

Usually this would be translated as "provided that" or "on the condition that", but perhaps here it could be translated as "pending".


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## cherine

I agree with Andy. I think "provided/on the condition that" wouldn't work in this context. Pending is more appropriate and closer to the meaning: it's part of the plan or the agreement.


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## Interprete

I was redirected here from another thread concerning على أن
Here I don't really understand the explanations you give, because the supposedly 'pending' meeting had already taken place by the time this sentence was written, it was actually held the day before (see here, for an account of said meeting: http://www.gouv.ci/actualite_1.php?recordID=2232 )...
So are you sure that 'given that', as a possible translation, should still be discarded?

Thanks


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## cherine

Why do you say that the meeting had already taken place? Is it because بدأ? I read the sentence several times, and this verb is the only problem I found with it. I think it could be a typo for سيبدأ or, if it is not, the meeting had started on Thursday but is still going on and they were expected to continue the discussion in the following days.
But, as far as I know, there is no other possible meaning of على أن than the ones provided by Ayed and Andy: provided that or pending.


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## Interprete

Thank you Cherine, but when I try to translate it into English, I can't come up with a sensible translation:
'ECOWAS has announced that a force composed of 2 to 3 thousand mobilised men had been (or would be???) put together, (على أن) talks regarding this issue during the meeting of Chiefs of General Staff started on Thursday in Abidjan'.
What can I write between the brackets which would make sense?

Thanks


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## AndyRoo

Hi,

I amended your translation a bit. Hopefully this will help:


'ECOWAS has announced that a force composed of 2 to 3 thousand mobilised men had been put together, pending a discussion regarding this issue during a meeting of Chiefs of General Staff which started on Thursday in Abidjan'.

The meeting must still be in progress otherwise the writer would not have used بدأ.


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## Interprete

Thank you AndyRoo, but I don't understand how you get to this translation.
The fact that على is immediately followed by أن to me necessarily implies that تناقش is the subject of the verb بدأ because it's the only verb that comes after it, and تناقش needs a verb because of أن, at least to my knowledge. I would have understood your interpretation if there was no أن after على if you see what I mean...


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## AndyRoo

تُناقش is a verb, not a subject. It's in the passive and its subject is المسألة.

على أن تناقش هذه المسألة = "provided that this matter be discussed". But "provided that" isn't very natural here; I think "pending" works better.


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## Interprete

Oh right, I was reading it تَناقُش which is why I couldn't understand what you were trying to tell me. It suddently makes a lot more sense now  Now I'm thinking that تناقُش probably can't even have a direct object anyway, but it hadn't occured to me until now.
Thanks!


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## AndyRoo

You're welcome.


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## francescodelè

I read all of your posts, but I am still confused about the usage and meaning of *على أن* in this sentece. It's used twice, and I think with different meanings. Can anyone help?

يتلخص مضمونه فى: الموافقة الضمنية على القانون ، وتحميل الفلاحين بقيمة شراء الأرض التى يستأجرونها من الملاك *على أن* تقوم الدولة بدفع ثمن شراء الأرض (من خلال صندوق مخصص لذلك) *على أن* تسترده من الفلاحين بالتقسيط.

My tentative translation is:
"Its content could be summarized as: an implicit agreement with the law, and the charging of farmers with the purchase value of the land they rented from the owners, provided that the state payed for the land price (through a specific fund set up for it) [_I have no idea about what *على أن* could mean in this second occurrance_]"

Thanks​


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## AndyRoo

Hi,

You could use "although" in both cases, or to make it flow better you could say:

... although the state shall pay the purchase price of the land (through a special fund allocated for this), and then reclaim this from the farmer in instalments.


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## francescodelè

Thanks AndyRoo,

it makes a lot more sense now.


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## AndyRoo

You're welcome.


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## cherine

I don't see why or how "although" would make a sense in this sentence.
The sentence is a bit confusing in itself (the state pays and the farmers also pay) but here's how I understood it:
الدولة ستدفع ثمن شراء الأرض ثم تسترده من الفلاحين بالتقسيط
the state will pay for the land and will be reimbused by farmers in the form of installments.

We can skip the direct/literal translation to make a meaningful sentence in English (or any other language). Or if you want to keep your phrasing, we can drop the second على أن to make it like this:
provided that the state pays for the land (through a specific fund) and be reimbursed by farmers in installmenets.



francescodelè said:


> يتلخص مضمونه فى: الموافقة الضمنية على القانون ، وتحميل الفلاحين بقيمة شراء الأرض التى يستأجرونها من الملاك *على أن* تقوم الدولة بدفع ثمن شراء الأرض (من خلال صندوق مخصص لذلك) *على أن* تسترده من الفلاحين بالتقسيط.
> 
> My tentative translation is:
> "Its content could be summarized as: an implicit agreement with the law, and the charging of farmers with the purchase value of the land they rented from the owners, provided that the state payed for the land price (through a specific fund set up for it) [_I have no idea about what *على أن* could mean in this second occurrance_]"​


​


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## AndyRoo

Hi Cherine,

I don't think "provided" works here, because it would imply that the farmers are only charged if the state pays, which I don't think is the meaning.

I think my translation above gives the meaning: the farmers are charged, but the state pays for them up front and then reclaims the amount in instalments from the farmers.


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