# Swedish: störste / largest



## Miss Bellasis

Hello

I'm struggling with the translation/phrasing of the bit in italics, hope someone can help. 

Original:
Efter första världskriget var frakt av spannmål från Australien till Europa nästan den enda traden där segelfartygen kunde konkurera med maskindrivna fartyg. Åland var en av få platser i världen där man ännu hade segelfartyg och därför dominerades den här traden av åländska skutor. _Den störste segelfartygsredaren var Gustaf Erikson. _
My translation: 
After the First World War the transport of grain from Australia to Europe was nearly the only trade in which sailing ships could compete with machine driven vessels.  Åland was one of the few places in the world which still had a sailing fleet and it was these ships that dominated the grain trade.  _The largest shipowner was Gustaf Erikson._

What I mean is that Gustaf Erikson was the owner of the most ships.  What it sounds like (in English anyway) is that he was taller/fatter than any of the othership owners.  Can anyone suggest how else this could be written?  It's relatively important to keep the word shipowner in the text.

I'm translating from Swedish to English for an exhibition text, so can't stray too far from the original, which someone else wrote, though some leeway is acceptable if it makes it flow better in English.

Thanks in advance : )


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## NoMoreMrIceGuy

The most substantial shipowner?


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## Renaissance man

Simply "the greatest shipowner" would do the job just fine.


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## Havfruen

I think in the context your translation is fine. alternatively:

_The owner of the largest fleet was Gustaf Erikson.
The largest fleet was owned by Gustaf Eriks_on.

Replace largest with most substantial or greatest if you like.


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## Dan2

Havfruen said:


> I think in the context your translation is fine.


I agree.  Sentences like "Bill Gates is Microsoft's largest stockholder" are common in English.


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## cocuyo

And "most prominent" might perhaps also be used?


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## Dan2

cocuyo said:


> And "most prominent" might perhaps also be used?


That would be perfectly good English, but the meaning is a little different from "largest".

Suppose Bill Gates were a very private individual, never appearing in public or making public statements.  He'd still be Microsoft's _largest_ shareholder, but he wouldn't be _prominent_.

It's very likely that Gustaf Erikson both owned the most ships _and _was a very prominent person, so several translations are possible.  In my previous post I just wanted to emphasize that in the business world, _largest_ can be said about a person without worrying that it will be taken as referring to personal physical characteristics.


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## e2efour

There is nothing wrong with writing "largest". It can hardly be interpreted as referring to the person's size.
However, you should replace "nearly" with "almost", at least in British English.


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## Miss Bellasis

Thanks for all your suggestions.  I'll stick with 'largest' in this case and will bear in mind the other suggestions/nuances if something similar comes up in the rest of the texts.



e2efour said:


> However, you should replace "nearly" with "almost", at least in British English.


Thanks for pointing this out too.


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## JohanIII

Don't forget the "sailing" part, as there might have been larger shipowners, counting motorised ships.


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