Of several small, versatile words that are widely used by English authors and hardly ever turn up in non-native texts, the one that’s missed most often is “let”.
Category Archives: Style
Answering your own questions
Want your English to sound natural? Then don’t keep answering your own questions. Want to know more? Read on!
So-called
Watch the overtones: it’s not only telling you a term is used but also implying that it’s incorrect. A so-called expert or so-called friend is not to be trusted!
By starting sentences like this…
… you are forced into a clumsy structure. Avoiding it lets you make the syntax snappier.
People persons
The plural of person is ‘people’, except in legalese and occasional old-fashioned texts.
We live on the Bovenweg
No, I’m afraid you don’t. You live on Bovenweg. There’s no article needed for a named street or road or square.
Noun stack order
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.
The prevention of longwindedness
Dutch writers love the structure “the + (verbal noun) + of” where English prefers the gerund: “preventing longwindedness”.
The minefield of academic titles
People are naturally very proud of their academic achievements and titles and want them stated in their communications. But it’s not as trivial as it might seem.
Overdoing short sentences
Dutch people like short sentences. More and more often nowadays. Very modern. Makes it impactful. Easy to write, surely?
Advanced Dunglish 