If you are reading this article, chances are you are passionate about the Dutch language. Otherwise, you would not have clicked.
Well, I don’t know about you this past week, but as a copywriter in Antwerp I got the shock of my life. National newspapers like Het Laatste Nieuws and De Standaard announced that the grammar rules of the Dutch language have been relaxed, and that constructions like ‘groter als’ and ‘nooit geen’ are now correct.
However, all nausea is unfounded, as research shows
Language whiners like me can rest assured: these mistakes remain wrong. But what is really going on?
‘Bigger than’ approved? ‘Never no’ no longer Our how to phone number data is taken from human being so that we have pure database with 100% accuracy. We aim to bring you all-things-essence full database ultimately so that your business gets how to build phone number list improved by leaps and bounds. We also keep our database up to date as often as Tips. All our database are fresh & recently updated 2024 My all databases are GDRP base so you can buy here low price an example of incorrect Dutch? If we were to believe the Flemish mia, the following four language errors were no longer incorrect with immediate effect:
These language errors should now be corrected
‘Greater than’ : To create a superlative, you can now use ‘greater than’ and ‘greater as’.
‘Hen’ : ‘I have given them a book’ is now possible. Previously, only ‘I have given them a book’ was consider correct.
Double negation : the double negation ‘He never has any money’ is no longer a language error.
A ‘very’ big car : we are now allow to decline some adverbs. ‘A very big car’ is now just as correct as ‘a very big car’.
‘Bigger than’ is approv: what did the newspapers base this on?
The message that these language errors are now okay, however, was nothing more than a careless piece of journalism. The m ia in our little Belgium had misinterpret a new version of the Algemene N erlandse Spraakkunst (ANS) . This book, which also has an online version , is a detail description of Dutch grammar. The ANS has been adjust this year for the first time in 24 years. The reference work was first publish in colombia telegram material 1984 and, until this year, had only been updat once − in 1997. Language evolves, so it was due for revision.
It is this revision that has confus the m ia, because the new ition does inde mention terms such as the double negative and ‘greater than’.
The ANS does not determine language rules
The m ia overlook a crucial aspect: the ANS only shows which language constructions are us in practice and therefore does not show what is right or wrong. The ANS is a descriptive book. .
It remains linguistically incorrect to say ‘I know aob directory the Dutch language better than Wim’. Nor does a Dutch teacher approve of a pupil writing that he ‘never makes any language mistakes’.
Do not interpret the ANS as a document that tells you what the Dutch language rules are, that is today’s message.
‘Never again’ mistakes: should grammar rules be relax ?
Voila, ‘bigger than’ is not approv and ‘never no’ is not approv either. But is that conclusion the end of the discussion? Because of course it is always an interesting question whether we should not really count such errors as good. After all, you can argue that there must be a reason that they are made so often. Marten van der Meulen already rais this issue in his article on Neerlandistiek.nl .
Double negatives? Oh… in Italian it is also correct to use them. ‘Non ho mai’ is a perfectly correct construction in that language, so why not in Dutch?
The evolution of language
Language evolves. My uncle, who went to primary school in the 1950s, told me that he was taught back then that the word ‘meererdere’ (several) should not be us because it is a Germanism; he should say ‘verscheidene’ (several).
No one actually follow this rule
And in 2021 no one gets the shivers anymore when someone uses this word. If today we simply say that ‘groter als’ is good, will this decision not seem more than self-evident to people in the future?
On the other hand, you could say that the floodgates have open when you have to count every language error as correct ‘because people make them’.
The same conversation can be had about English loanwords in the Dutch language
I wrote extensively about this topic on Frankwatching , resulting in dozens of heat reactions from readers.
Where do you draw the line? If you have a passionate opinion that I absolutely ne to know, drop me an email .
