News & Insights

A Dutch miljard (1,000,000,000 or 10⁹) is a billion in US English. A Dutch biljoen (1,000,000,000,000 or 10¹²) is a trillion, while a Dutch biljard is a quadrillion. These terms are also used these days in British government publications and most British newspapers. Formerly, in UK English billion was used for 10¹², just like Dutch biljoen, and a Dutch miljard was a thousand million. Summing up:

Note that the term milliard for Dutch miljard officially exists in UK English, but is virtually never used.

If you need to abbreviate either million or billion, note that the most widely used abbreviations are m for million and bn for billion: e.g., 24m, 35 bn. For some unknown reason, m follows the number without a space, while bn is normally preceded by a space. The abbreviation mio, sometimes seen in European languages, does not exist in English.

© 2014 Baxter Publishing, Hilversum, The Netherlands

The paired phrases on the one hand… (but) on the other hand are used in English to present two opposing sides of an argument, or conflicting pieces of evidence. For example:

On the one hand, I’d love another cake. But on the other hand, I need to lose weight.
On the one hand, this book is very good, but on the other hand, it’s hard to read.
On the one hand, we want freedom for our children, but on the other hand, we’re increasingly frightened to let them out.

Although the equivalent phrases in Dutch (aan de ene kant…, aan de andere kant) are also often used to present a contrast, you sometimes find them used to loosely link two items or remarks:

Wij hopen op deze wijze twee doeleinden te bereiken. Aan de ene kant helpt uw gift ons de campagne voort te zetten. Aan de andere kant verzekert de site dat onze organisatie goed te vinden blijft.

In such cases, English would use a different construction, such as not only… but also; first(ly)… second(ly); or simply and. So watch out: make sure that when you use on the one hand… on the other hand in English, you are really using these phrases to express a contrast or opposition.

© 2014 Baxter Publishing, Hilversum, The Netherlands

Busy and bezig are false friends in at least two ways. First, they behave slightly differently in terms of the structures they participate in. In Dutch, if someone is doing something, you can say that person is bezig met the activity in question:

Jan is bezig met zijn huiswerk.
Jan is bezig met opruimen.

Here, bezig met can be followed by a noun phrase (zijn huiswerk) or a verb phrase with an infinitive (opruimen). In English, you can also use busy with if a noun phrase follows:

John is busy with his homework.
John is busy with a new film.

But if a verb phrase follows, you can only use busy:

John is busy clearing out his papers.
John is busy making a new film.

Busy and bezig also differ slightly in meaning. In Dutch, if you are bezig met something, you are doing it, but not necessarily making hard work of it. In English, if you are busy, you are fully involved in it – what would be described in Dutch as druk bezig. To express the normal Dutch level of busy-ness in English, we would probably simply use the continuous tense of the verb:

John is clearing out his papers.
John is making a new film.

© 2014 Baxter Publishing, Hilversum, The Netherlands

Watch out! In English, unlike Dutch, almost all nouns that end in the vowels a, i, o or u form their plural by simply adding an -s. Don’t be tempted to put in an apostrophe. For example:

The only exceptions are i’s (as in dotting the i’s) and do’s (as in the do’s and don’ts). Here the apostrophe helps to prevent confusion (particularly with is).

Some nouns that end in a consonant + o, however, add -es. For example, potatoes, tomatoes, volcanoes, cargoes.

© 2014 Baxter Publishing, Hilversum, The Netherlands

Electric is usually used before the name of a specific appliance: an electric drill, an electric iron, an electric toothbrush, an electric shaver. Your car may have electric windows, and if you drive an electric car, it is powered by an electric motor. You may play the electric guitar, but you may get an electric shock from the electric current if you play with wet hands. The electric light was a great invention, but the same can’t be said of the electric chair. An atmosphere can also be electric – very tense and exciting. Your words may have an electric effect on others, leaving them shocked and excited.

Electrical, however, is used when you’re talking about more general categories of objects or more abstract things: electrical equipment, electrical goods, electrical products, electrical appliances, electrical components, electrical machinery. The part of the shop where you buy electrical goods is the electrical department. We also talk about electrical energy, the electrical industry, electrical signals, and electrical impulses. If you’re involved with electricity as a profession, you may be an electrical engineer (although for simpler work, you’re more likely to be an electrician).

© 2014 Baxter Publishing, Hilversum, The Netherlands

The correct form is:

I look forward to hearing from you.
We look forward to meeting you soon.
Our department looks forward to receiving your feedback.

In look forward to, to is a preposition. After a preposition you always use the -ing form of a verb.

© 2014 Baxter Publishing, Hilversum, The Netherlands

A tricky pair, especially if they sound the same to you! Advice is a noun (something you give), while advise is a verb (something you do).

The noun is spelt with -c- and pronounced with a sharp s, rather like a poisonous snake:

Can you give me some advice (advaaiSSS)?
When I want your advice I’ll ask for it.

The verb, on the other hand, is spelt with -s- and pronounced with a buzzing sound, rather like – yes, you guessed it – a busy bee:

I’d be grateful if you could advise (advaaiZZZZZ) me on this matter.
Ask Mary: she’ll be able to advise you.

 © 2014 Baxter Publishing, Hilversum, The Netherlands

Despite what many non-native speakers of English think, the only correct word to slot in here is to: Welcome to Amsterdam, Welcome to our company, Welcome to my home – always Welcome to… Not surprising, really, because your visitors have come from somewhere else to wherever you are now.

© 2014 Baxter Publishing, Hilversum, The Netherlands

Don’t confuse shortly and briefly.

Shortly normally means ‘soon, in a little while’, as in:

We will shortly be arriving at our destination
The plane crashed shortly after take-off
I’ll be dealing with that shortly.

Briefly means ‘for or in a short space of time’, as in:

We will be stopping briefly at Cairo.
Could you briefly explain what that means in practice?
He briefly served as Vice President.

Shortly only means ‘briefly’ in the predominantly British phrase to put it shortly, introducing a summary:

To put it shortly, it’s a mess.
To put it shortly, I disagree with your proposition entirely.

In short is also a popular way of introducing a summary in all varieties of English.

© 2014 Baxter Publishing, Hilversum, The Netherlands

If something is of the highest class of its type, suggesting or establishing a standard, then it’s classic: Fawlty Towers –– the classic British comedy. Similarly, a classic novel is one that’s become part of the canon (or recognised list of masterpieces) of serious literature, and a book like Great Expectations is a classic ––– it ranks among the classics of English Literature. When it comes to cars, definitions vary, but generally speaking, especially in the US, classic cars are ‘fine or unusual motor cars’ built between about 1920 and 1960. The British reserve the term for those built after about 1945. Cars built before 1916 are veteran cars (UK) or antique cars (US), while cars built after 1916 and before about 1945 are called vintage cars (UK). There’s nothing special about a classic error, a classic example, or a classic pattern, however: it’s simply archetypical.

Classical is most often used in relation to serious music (Mozart is a classical composer, for instance). It’s also the adjective used to describe things belonging to or derived from Ancient Greece and Rome, which is often referred to as the Classical World or Classical Antiquity (usually with capitals). Latin and Ancient Greek (or Classical Greek) are known as the Classical languages. In a university context, this may be shortened to Classics: John read Classics at Cambridge, for instance, means ‘John studied Latin and Greek (and possibly Ancient History) at Cambridge’. Classical Arabic, on the other hand, is the language of the Koran. It is still used in official contexts in Arab countries, as opposed to colloquial Arabic, which varies from country to country.

©2014 Baxter Publishing, Hilversum, The Netherlands