Would anyone please help paraphrase this?

[peteryoung]

Thanks.


But as contentious as this issue is, there is likely to be a long, hard debate before any proposal is approved.

I've come up with the following paraphrases:

1) Although this issue is contentious enough, it is going to be even more contentious as a long, hard debate gets underway.

2) There's likely to be a long, hard debate equally contentious as that issue.


Any reply will be appreciated.

[Mister Micawber]

Neither of your two seem to express the same meaning. Closer to the mark would be:

'Because this issue is so contentious, there is likely to be... a debate...'

[peteryoung]

Thanks, Micawber!

For me, to reduce writings to their minimum words content is an obsession.

I will put that sentence this way:

But expect a long wait for any approved proposal on this very contentious issue.

Of course further reduction of words content is possible.

gerry

Originally Posted by peteryoung

Thanks.


But as contentious as this issue is, there is likely to be a long, hard debate before any proposal is approved.

I've come up with the following paraphrases:

1) Although this issue is contentious enough, it is going to be even more contentious as a long, hard debate gets underway.

2) There's likely to be a long, hard debate equally contentious as that issue.


Any reply will be appreciated.

[peteryoung]

Thank you, too, gerry. :)

[Steven D]

Originally Posted by peteryoung

Thanks.


But as contentious as this issue is, there is likely to be a long, hard debate before any proposal is approved.

I've come up with the following paraphrases:

1) Although this issue is contentious enough, it is going to be even more contentious as a long, hard debate gets underway.

2) There's likely to be a long, hard debate equally contentious as that issue.


Any reply will be appreciated.

Sentence number one is not a good paraphrase because "although" is used to express something contrary to what is normally expected. The original sentence expresses what is normally expected. In order to understand why "but" is used to start the original sentence, we would have to see what came before it.

Sentence number 2 is not a good paraphrase because it says the debate is going to be equally contentious as "that issue". "That issue" is the debate. Of course it will be "equally contentious". The debate will be about "that issue".

I would paraphrase the sentence as follows:

1. Contentious as this issue is, there will likely be an intense debate before a proposal is approved.

2. There will likely be a lengthy, difficult debate over this contentious issue before a proposal is approved.

I think those are good paraphrases. I can't see the reason to deviate further from the original. The meaning would then be lost. I would like to see any other suggestions that other posters might have.

Making revisions in writing takes some thought and effort. It's not often that it can be done "just like that".

Is this a writing exercise your teacher gave you?

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&l...s+approved.%22

Given the context, it does make sense to use "but" at the beginning of the sentence.

President Bush has proposed a guest-worker program to address the problem, and bills introduced in Congress this week aim towards a general reform of the system. But as contentious as this issue is, there is likely to be a long, hard debate before any proposal is approved.

1. But contentious as this issue is, there will likely be an intense debate before a proposal is approved.

2. However, there will likely be a lengthy, difficult debate over this contentious issue before a proposal is approved.

[Steven D]

Originally Posted by Mister Micawber

Neither of your two seem to express the same meaning. Closer to the mark would be:

'Because this issue is so contentious, there is likely to be... a debate...'

I would have to disagree.

"Because this issue is so contentious" does not say the same thing as "But as contentious as this issue is". A paraphrase should leave the meaning of the original sentence intact in my opinion. Also, the original sentence uses "but", which shows contrast. "Because" is used to tell the reason. "But" and "because" can't be used interchangeably.

"as contentious as this issue is" = to the degree that this issue is contentious

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/defi...4196&dict=CALD

I would use "because" as a paraphrase if the original sentence used just one "as".

"As this is a contentious issue......." = "Because this is a contentious issue.... "

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/defi...4204&dict=CALD

[Steven D]

Originally Posted by peteryoung

Thanks.


But as contentious as this issue is, there is likely to be a long, hard debate before any proposal is approved.

I've come up with the following paraphrases:

1) Although this issue is contentious enough, it is going to be even more contentious as a long, hard debate gets underway.

2) There's likely to be a long, hard debate equally contentious as that issue.


Any reply will be appreciated.

Here's another possibility:

However, contentious as this issue is, a long, hard debate will likely precede any approved proposal.

[peteryoung]

Hi, X Mode. Thanks for your kindness. I really appreciate it.
But excuse me for another question:
When you say
Contentious as this issue is, there will likely be an intense debate before a proposal is approved.,

It seems that the use of 'as' here coincides with that of another sense, as in

Sweet as he is, he doesn't pay his bills.
Much as I sympathize with your difficulties, there is little I can do to help you.

Are they totally different? When I encountered the original sentence, I tried to interpret it by assigning the 'though' sense to 'as', from which came my first paraphrase, which I myself considered wrong.

But then I found that I could not quite easily understand the 'to the same degree' sense of 'as'. Did you mean that

to the same degree that this issue is contentious, there is likely to be a long, hard debate before any proposal is approved.

says the same thing as


there is likely to be a long, hard debate (long and hard to such a degree that this issue is contentious) before any proposal is approved


? A billion Thanks!

[Steven D]

Originally Posted by peteryoung

Hi, X Mode. Thanks for your kindness. I really appreciate it.
But excuse me for another question:
When you say
Contentious as this issue is, there will likely be an intense debate before a proposal is approved.,

It seems that the use of 'as' here coincides with that of another sense, as in

Sweet as he is, he doesn't pay his bills.
Much as I sympathize with your difficulties, there is little I can do to help you.

Are they totally different? When I encountered the original sentence, I tried to interpret it by assigning the 'though' sense to 'as', from which came my first paraphrase, which I myself considered wrong.

But then I found that I could not quite easily understand the 'to the same degree' sense of 'as'. Did you mean that

to the same degree that this issue is contentious, there is likely to be a long, hard debate before any proposal is approved.

says the same thing as


there is likely to be a long, hard debate (long and hard to such a degree that this issue is contentious) before any proposal is approved


? A billion Thanks!

To reply to the first part of your next set of questions:

In "as contentious as this issuue is" the first "as" is not necessary. It can be omitted and the meaning is still the same. The same is true of your other example. You could put another "as" there at the beginning and the meaning would still be the same.

Does that make it clear to you? I think it sums up what you're asking.

To reply to the next part:

to the particular and specific degree that this issue is contentious - That's what I meant. This can be problematic because we can't measure the degree to which the issue is contentious. Therefore, we can't really put it into words. However, that's what "as...as" means in this case.

I hope that helps.

Sweet as he is, he doesn't pay his bills.
Much as I sympathize with your difficulties, there is little I can do to help you.

Are they totally different? When I encountered the original sentence, I tried to interpret it by assigning the 'though' sense to 'as', from which came my first paraphrase, which I myself considered wrong.

As I said above, you could put "as" at the beginning of those sentences, and the meaning would still be the same.

There are various words that can be used to show contrast. They might be used to express similar ideas, but they have different shades of meaning.

though - although - even though - contrary to what is normally expected

however - on the other hand

but - to show contrast in a general way

nevertheless nonetheless - anyway - just the same - still - even so
_______________________

as...as - comparison - comparison to the degree

as - because