{"id":9934,"date":"2022-08-01T16:51:45","date_gmt":"2022-08-01T14:51:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nllanguagep-bali.savviihq.com\/?p=9934"},"modified":"2025-06-18T14:02:18","modified_gmt":"2025-06-18T12:02:18","slug":"dutchisms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/languagepartners.nl\/en\/blog\/english\/dutchisms\/","title":{"rendered":"Dutchisms, Dunglish & Denglish"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cDuring 32 years I was employed by Heineken, for many years responsible for the Asia Pacific. During most of those years I either travelled fifty percent of my time or lived and worked in the outside country.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

What you\u2019ve just read is the \u2018Before Word\u2019 from the book <\/span>I Always Get My Sin<\/span><\/i> by Dutch author, Maarten Rijkens. You may notice some mistakes in his writing. That is part of his style and the basis for his book – he writes in a way that might confuse and annoy native English speakers while Dutch readers may not even catch his intentional mistakes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Dutch are famous for their ability to speak multiple languages, with many speaking Dutch, English and another foreign language. However, sometimes when people are learning a new language, they can\u2019t help but directly translate their thoughts into the other language, even if they know it’s wrong. In the Netherlands this Dutch influence on English is known colloquially as Dunglish, Denglish or Dutchisms.<\/span><\/p>\n

Do the Dutch actually speak English well?<\/b><\/h2>\n

The Dutch do in fact speak English quite well, I\u2019ve never had an issue in making sure my colleagues and I clearly understand what is being said, though sometimes it may require some additional questions. This isn\u2019t to say that they don\u2019t make mistakes. Though they are far from being the only culture to translate directly into English, due to its widespread use in the Netherlands, these mistakes are often accepted or go unnoticed. Of course, it doesn\u2019t help that English can be quite confusing. A good example of this can be seen in the poem <\/span>The Chaos<\/span><\/i><\/a>, written by Gerard Nolst Trenit\u00e9.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As an organisation which specialises in language training, we\u2019ve seen our share of Dutchisms. Some of the popular ones that come to mind include:<\/span><\/p>\n