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Category Archives: Wrong register

Social and societal

For some reason, Dutch writers love correcting “social” into “societal”.

Posted byMike WilkinsonFebruary 22, 2022Posted inAdvanced, Hypercorrectness, Style, Wrong registerTags:dunglish, engels, maatschappelijk, sociaalLeave a comment on Social and societal

A timely reminder

A project can be completed on time, or in good time, or as scheduled. But the nuances of “timely” aren’t always quite the same.

Posted byMike WilkinsonSeptember 15, 2021Posted inAdvanced, Style, US-UK issues, Wrong registerTags:dunglish, engels, Eurospeak, tijdigLeave a comment on A timely reminder

Cause and effect

“Causing something to take place” isn’t incorrect. But 99 times out of 100, the native speaker would say it was “made to happen”.

Posted byMike WilkinsonJuly 20, 2021Posted inAdvanced, Longwindedness, Overused words, Style, Wrong registerTags:dunglish, engels, plaatsvinden1 Comment on Cause and effect

Executing, accomplishing, performing

When a task is being done, far simpler alternatives are available. The one that is most commonly overlooked is to “carry out”.

Posted byMike WilkinsonJuly 6, 2021Posted inAdvanced, Style, Wrong registerTags:dunglish, engels, uitvoeren, uitvoeringLeave a comment on Executing, accomplishing, performing

A telling point

The verb “to tell” is quite widely used and versatile in English, but comparatively rarely used by non-natives.

Posted byMike WilkinsonApril 5, 2021Posted inAdvanced, Style, Underused words, Wrong registerTags:dunglish, engels3 Comments on A telling point

Youth and young people

“Youth” has several meanings but often with an old-fashioned, condescending, daddy-knows-best feel to it.

Posted byMike WilkinsonDecember 30, 2020Posted inAdvanced, Style, Wrong registerTags:dunglish, engels, jeugd, jeugdherbergLeave a comment on Youth and young people

Performance

“Performance” is the noun that comes from “to perform”. But it’s not the right word to use for carrying out tasks or doing work: the overtones are too confusing.

Posted byMike WilkinsonDecember 5, 2020December 16, 2020Posted inAdvanced, Overused words, Style, Wrong registerTags:dunglish, engels, prestatie, presteren, uitvoerenLeave a comment on Performance

Woods, forests and jungles

Your everyday, common-or-garden patch of countryside with trees is a wood or woodland. Forests are bigger, darker and nastier; jungles are definitely more exotic.

Posted byMike WilkinsonAugust 17, 2020Posted inAdvanced, Wrong registerTags:bos, dunglish, engels, oerwoud, regenwoudLeave a comment on Woods, forests and jungles

Hitting the right register

Dutch is rich in synonyms (often pairs with Germanic and Latinate roots). The nuances of usage aren’t quite the same – and it’s an issue in English too.

Posted byMike WilkinsonJuly 30, 2020July 30, 2020Posted inAdvanced, Style, Wrong registerTags:dunglish, engels, register, samenwerken2 Comments on Hitting the right register

They seek him here, they seek him there

To ‘seek’ is another of those words that are very similar to a much more everyday Dutch equivalent. It therefore gets heavily overused in Dunglish.

Posted byMike WilkinsonJuly 27, 2020July 27, 2020Posted inAdvanced, Overused words, Style, Wrong registerTags:dunglish, engels, zoekenLeave a comment on They seek him here, they seek him there

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