“A five-point scale of (strongly) disagree, neutral, (strongly) agree.” That makes no sense in English, where brackets add detail rather than expressing alternatives.
Author Archives: Mike Wilkinson
Superlative for two
Dutch says “the biggest” of two things (superlative), but English says “the bigger” (comparative).
Well-equipped
This mask is equipped with an elastic band. This playground is equipped with a slide. This jacket is equipped with large pockets. What’s wrong with “has”?
Comma splices
Separate sentences shouldn’t be glued together with commas, this is poor style.
Playing for keeps
There are a few small words that bespeckle native English yet are rarely used by non-natives. A very useful one is “keep”.
An Officer and a Gentleman
Nothing tricky about this one. A role or profession in the singular requires an article: “he is a teacher” or “she is the CFO”.
Power, force and strength
Three concepts with distinct, interrelated meanings in physics. And lines that are blurred in everyday usage in differing ways in the different languages. Tricky.
Zero Dark Thirty
There are all kinds of ways of expressing times and writing them down, but the commonest formats in English aren’t the same as the usual Dutch ones.
Alphas and betas
An “alpha” or “beta” person in Dutch refers to how scientifically-minded they are. In English, it is at best reminiscent of Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World”.
Trajectories are for ballistics
The curve taken under gravity by a thrown object, or a metaphorical upward progression such as a career. Not a generic synonym for a route or pathway.
