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.
Category Archives: Advanced
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.
Writing in “the English language”
Speaking “the English language”. Mastery of “the English language”. Um… what’s wrong with just saying “English”?
Ellipsis and so forth…
Using three dots – an ellipsis – to mean “et cetera” isn’t normal English punctuation.
Eventually
Most Dutch writers are aware that “eventual” means “uiteindelijk”: in the end. But they’re still often unsure how to deal with the faux-ami “eventueel”.
Hanging prepositions
When two different prepositions are needed in a list of actions, it can read better if you repeat the noun (or use “it” or “them” as a placeholder).
A poor thing, but my own
Unlike in Dutch, the word “own” can’t stand alone. You’ve always got to make clear who it is referring to.
Allow to do something
This structure always needs to say who is being permitted to do something. It can’t stand alone.
New speaker, new line
If your text is to flow naturally, typographical conventions need to be observed as well. It’s not just about getting the wording right.
Advanced Dunglish 