A sequence of nouns for the sake of brevity, to make a snappy title or newspaper headline. Like the one above. The order in English isn’t the same as in Dutch, though.
Category Archives: Grammar
Training
There’s no such thing as “a training”. You either receive training – a general, uncountable noun – or take a training course.
The prevention of longwindedness
Dutch writers love the structure “the + (verbal noun) + of” where English prefers the gerund: “preventing longwindedness”.
“How to” isn’t a question
The word “hoe” and a verb in the infinitive can be used in Dutch to fomulate a short and snappy question. The same structure in English describes a set of instructions.
Plurals are in the mind’s eye
Singular subjects require singular verbs and plural subjects require plural verbs… except when they don’t.
Using “a” and “an”
Whether to use “a” or “an” depends on if a vowel follows. But remember: that’s determined by the spoken sound, not the alphabetical letter.
The Netherlands
Um… surely not. The Dutch don’t make mistakes when referring to their own country, do they? It turns out to be a surprisingly tricky one.
A dull-as-ditchwater subject
A dull-as-ditchwater subject, but a not-to-be-missed topic: hyphenation of compound adjectives before nouns.
Data
A singular noun. Yes, the origin of the word is the Latin plural of datum, but that’s not the point. Languages are dynamic and changing; if you don’t go with the flow, it can sound hypercorrect.
In a manner, way or fashion
If you want to write English in an efficient manner, in a smart way and in a natural fashion, then don’t forget your adverbs. Do it efficiently, smartly and naturally.
Advanced Dunglish 