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.
Tag Archives: dunglish
Qualitative
In English, this word is almost only ever used as the counterpart of “quantitative”: it doesn’t mean “high-quality”.
An enormous wealthy individual
Remember that you need to use an adverb (-ly) when describing how an action is done or when modifying an adjective.
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.
Sensitive to
A nice simple one today: it’s “sensitive to” and not “sensitive for”.
Brackets for alternatives
“A five-point scale of (strongly) disagree, neutral, (strongly) agree.” That makes no sense in English, where brackets add detail rather than expressing alternatives.
Superlative for two
Dutch says “the biggest” of two things (superlative), but English says “the bigger” (comparative).
Well-equipped
This mask is equipped with an elastic band. This playground is equipped with a slide. This jacket is equipped with large pockets. What’s wrong with “has”?
Comma splices
Separate sentences shouldn’t be glued together with commas, this is poor style.
Playing for keeps
There are a few small words that bespeckle native English yet are rarely used by non-natives. A very useful one is “keep”.
Advanced Dunglish 