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Dutch to English translations [Non-PRO]
Other | | Dutch term or phrase: kunnen | The 'kunnen' in the second of these sentences.
Die "volkeren" kunnen er natuurlijk niet naast kijken dat de Europese opbouw, de uitbouw van de EU momenteel nog steeds exclusief verloopt via "statelijkheid". We kunnen dit met z'n allen diep betreuren maar, in dit stadium gebiedt de redelijkheid noch min noch meer dat naties, volkeren, regios die vanuit hun eigen specifieke kontekst de mogelijkheid zien om aan staatsvorming toe de komen geen ogenblik mogen aarzelen om resoluut die weg in te slaan. |
| stephkgKudoZ activityQuestions: 1070 ( 9 open) ( 53 closed without grading) Answers: 3
United Kingdom
| Local time: 08:12
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| | may | Explanation:
Pro or non-pro, you simply do not say "can" in this context in English. If I had a euro for every time I have translated the Dutch word "kunnen" as "may", I would be quite rich, I think. The word "kunnen" very often means "may" rather than "can" and I think that translators should not hesitate to translate it by "may" where appropriate.
Thus:
We kunnen dit met z'n allen diep betreuren maar,
means:
We may all strongly deplore this, but... |
| Selected response from:
  Textpertise
United Kingdom
Local time: 08:12
| Grading comment | 4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer |
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The translation workplace 
peer agreement (net): +1