# 초반 중반 후반



## Mack&Mack

Hello,

I am wondering how 초반, 중반, 후반 can be translated into Korean.

I know that when talking about one's age, you use the words like _early, mid, late_.

20대 초반 - in one's early twenties 

20대 중반 - in one's mid twenties 

20대 후반 - in one's late twenties 

What about these then?

5% 초반의 성장률 - the growth rate of early 5% 

5% 중반의 성장률 - the growth rate of mid 5% 

5% 후반의 성장률 - the growth rate of late 5% 

Would someone confirm these for me? 

Many thanks to you in advance.


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## 조금만

* 5% 초반의 성장률 - the growth rate of early 5% 

* 5% 중반의 성장률 - the growth rate of mid 5% 

* 5% 후반의 성장률 - the growth rate of late 5%

I'm afraid that those expressions, as they stand, aren't acceptable English usage. I don't currently have access to a lot of reference sources, so I'm not altogether sure what lies behind the Korean you give.  Could it be that the first example means "in the region of 5.1-5.3%", the second "around 5.4-5.6%" and the last one "in the region of 5.7-5.9%"?

If so, I still can't come up with a translation without paraphrase in the specific case of a percentage rate (with an implied decimal component), but in other cases, where English uses "early/mid(dle)/late" for ages (or dates, as in "the early 1930s") it uses (low/mid(dle)/high) for numerical scores.

e.g. My mark was in the high 60s (>67 but <70), in the low 40s (>40 but <44) or in the mid 40s(44-46)

Unfortunately, we don't use these with percentages. The best I can think of right now (assuming I'm right about the underlying sense) would be
"In the 5.1-5.3 percentage range" with the appropriate range boundaries substituted in each case.

I know this doesn't really answer the question, but maybe it will provide a bit of a pointer.

BTW, if anyone is wondering about 40s versus 40's etc. that's a matter on which there are a lot of forceful opinions, but no generally accepted "correct" usage. People wanting to submit an  article involving such usage to a journal, for example, need to consult whatever style sheet the journal specifies to find out whether they should write "in the 40s" or "in the 40's".


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## Mack&Mack

조금만 said:


> * 5% 초반의 성장률 - the growth rate of early 5%
> 
> * 5% 중반의 성장률 - the growth rate of mid 5%
> 
> * 5% 후반의 성장률 - the growth rate of late 5%
> 
> I'm afraid that those expressions, as they stand, aren't acceptable English usage. I don't currently have access to a lot of reference sources, so I'm not altogether sure what lies behind the Korean you give. Could it be that the first example means "in the region of 5.1-5.3%", the second "around 5.4-5.6%" and the last one "in the region of 5.7-5.9%"?
> 
> If so, I still can't come up with a translation without paraphrase in the specific case of a percentage rate (with an implied decimal component), but in other cases, where English uses "early/mid(dle)/late" for ages (or dates, as in "the early 1930s") it uses (low/mid(dle)/high) for numerical scores.
> 
> e.g. My mark was in the high 60s (>67 but <70), in the low 40s (>40 but <44) or in the mid 40s(44-46)
> 
> Unfortunately, we don't use these with percentages. The best I can think of right now (assuming I'm right about the underlying sense) would be
> "In the 5.1-5.3 percentage range" with the appropriate range boundaries substituted in each case.
> 
> I know this doesn't really answer the question, but maybe it will provide a bit of a pointer.
> 
> BTW, if anyone is wondering about 40s versus 40's etc. that's a matter on which there are a lot of forceful opinions, but no generally accepted "correct" usage. People wanting to submit an article involving such usage to a journal, for example, need to consult whatever style sheet the journal specifies to find out whether they should write "in the 40s" or "in the 40's".


 
Thank you, 조금만, for your help, indeed. I really appreciate it.

I, once in the past, used _low, mid,_ and _high_, and then later on I realised that they were not correct. Thank you for your in-depth explanation.

While I was reading your post, I got to wondering whether using the phrase _In the 5.1-5.3 percentage range _would change the shift of emphasis in the sentence where it is used.

Experts believe that the growth rate in the first quarter will drop to the 5.1 - 5.3 percentage range.

Experts believe that the growth rate in the first quarter will drop to around 5%. (assuming that the growth rate will be 5.2%)

In my humble opinion, the figures used in the first sentence might draw more attention than the verb _drop_, whereas, both the verb _drop_ and the figure _5%_ do in the second sentence.

To be honest, I, as a non-native speaker of English, do not have any sense of which word gets more focus in a sentence. I am just trying to have better understanding of English now. Please forgive me if I am splitting a fine hair.


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## 조금만

It never ceases to amaze me how sentences whose semantics are so plain can nevertheless defy elegant expression in one language or another. This is such a case. I really don't think there is an English expression to do the job with the same concision (and therefore lack of distracting unwarranted emphasis) as the Korean.

I have a son who writes this sort of sentence for a living as a government statistical analyst, and he couldn't come up with anything succinct either. But he will ask around the office when he goes into work on Monday and see if anyone else there has any suggestions.

He did point out, however that "to around 5%" might be construed to take the putative lower boundary of the assumed range down toward the 4.8% mark, which is probably not what you want here. (He also mentioned that, at least in his area of government, the preferred usage is "fall" not "drop", the latter being held to be over-dramatic.)

I certainly agree that my "in the 5.1-5.3 percentage range" suggestion would make the specified figures much more (unduly) prominent than they would be in a corresponding Korean phrase.  The only alternative I can come up with right now probably has a similar focus-stealing effect, though perhaps in a less intrusive way:

Experts believe that the growth rate in the first quarter will fall to 5% or a little above.

I fear I may be digging holes in your path rather than smoothing your way to a solution, but it's the best I can do so far.


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## Mack&Mack

I like your suggestion, 조금만, and you have been a big help. You are certainly smoothing my way to better English expressions. 

Thank you so much. =)

P.S. I feel bad about my short responses as opposed to your sincere, long, and informative responses. I wish I could be more expressive.


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