Skip to content

Advanced Dunglish

Valkuilen voor gevorderden…

  • Home
    • More
    • Disclaimer
  • Blog
    • Popular posts
    • Words to avoid
    • Words you don’t use enough
  • Categories
  • Search
  • About
  • Contact

Category Archives: Plurals

0.5 tons

English use of plurals with numeric (decimal) fractions is peculiar, particularly in the spoken form.

Posted byMike WilkinsonFebruary 8, 2022Posted inAdvanced, PluralsTags:decimale punt, dunglish, engels, gebruik meervoudLeave a comment on 0.5 tons

Twins

A twin is a single person, who happens to have been born alongside another. That’s different from Dutch, in which “a twin” refers to the identical twosome.

Posted byMike WilkinsonNovember 11, 2021November 11, 2021Posted inAdvanced, Cultural, PluralsTags:dunglish, engels, tweeling1 Comment on Twins

The singular of criteria…

…is “criterion” in English, not “criterium”.

Posted byMike WilkinsonJuly 9, 2021July 9, 2021Posted inAdvanced, Fake English, PluralsTags:criterium, dunglish, engelsLeave a comment on The singular of criteria…

Fireworks

Dutch treats the broad concept of pyrotechnics as a singular noun, “vuurwerk”. English doesn’t: fireworks are in the plural.

Posted byMike WilkinsonMarch 2, 2021March 3, 2021Posted inAdvanced, Grammar, PluralsTags:dunglish, engels, vuurwerkLeave a comment on Fireworks

The singular ‘they’

“If the patient can’t sleep, ask them if they need pain-killers.” This usage is perfectly acceptable.

Posted byMike WilkinsonDecember 10, 2020Posted inAdvanced, Grammar, PluralsTags:dunglish, engels, singular they1 Comment on The singular ‘they’

“Check out the brain on Brad”

You’ve only got one brain, even if you’ve got a lot of brains. Uh?

Posted byMike WilkinsonNovember 27, 2020January 14, 2022Posted inAdvanced, PluralsTags:dunglish, engels, hersenen, hersensLeave a comment on “Check out the brain on Brad”

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”.

Posted byMike WilkinsonJuly 16, 2020Posted inAdvanced, Articles, Grammar, PluralsTags:dunglish, engelsLeave a comment on An Officer and a Gentleman

Generalized case plurals

“I had a phone conversation with ten dentists” in English is a conference call, but in Dutch it would usually mean ten separate calls, one with each.

Posted byMike WilkinsonJune 18, 2020June 23, 2020Posted inAdvanced, PluralsTags:dunglish, engels1 Comment on Generalized case plurals

People persons

The plural of person is ‘people’, except in legalese and occasional old-fashioned texts.

Posted byMike WilkinsonJune 16, 2020Posted inAdvanced, Grammar, Plurals, Wrong registerTags:dunglish, engels, personen1 Comment on People persons

Training

There’s no such thing as “a training”. You either receive training – a general, uncountable noun – or take a training course.

Posted byMike WilkinsonJune 6, 2020June 13, 2020Posted inAdvanced, Articles, Fake English, Grammar, PluralsTags:dunglish, engels, training5 Comments on Training

Posts navigation

1 2 Older posts

Site search

Advanced Dunglish, Blog at WordPress.com.
  • Follow Following
    • Advanced Dunglish
    • Join 99 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Advanced Dunglish
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar