A title with an adjective and adjective clause

English grammar questions, answered by Alan

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paulto
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A title with an adjective and adjective clause

Post by paulto »

I am trying to accurately translate the title of an elementary algebra book section from another language. My best try so far has been

"Solving The Convertible-To-Linear Equations in One Variable"

; but I feel those dashes are not necessarily standard English (may be wrong).

An almost word-by-word translation from the original language would be

"Solving Equations In One Variable, Convertible To Linear" (the comma appears in the original title) -- which in English would likely be something like:
"Solving The Equations in One Variable That Are Convertible To Linear"

The above feels more like standard English to me but does it not bind "That Are Convertible to Linear" clause to the word "Variable" instead of "Equations" (which is the intention)? If it does, would replacing dashes to blanks in my "best try" above make a good English tittle? Or, is there a better way?

Thank you!
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Alan
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Re: A title with an adjective and adjective clause

Post by Alan »

I think you need to think this out for yourself, but I would just point out that, since 'variable' is a singular noun, the relative clause relating to it would have to read 'that IS convertible to linear'.
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