Questions about Dutch sentences

[tarvos]

"keer per seconde", "malen per seconde"

Keer and malen seem to be very interchangeable. Is there a preference for various situations?

Alternating current frequency:

50 (60) keer per seconde, 50 (60) malen per seconde

General:

10 keer per jaar, 10 malen per jaar

Other:

10 keer op rij, 10 malen op rij

10 keer 5 is 50, 10 malen 5 is 50

What is the difference between keer and keren, and between maal and malen?

Keer and maal are synonyms. It's "maal" by the way, and "10 maal op een rij". There's no difference other than that I would usually use keer more often.

"De twintiger van nu verdient minder dan een leeftijdgenoot voor de crisis van 2008 mee naar huis nam. De dertiger ook trouwens, maar die boerde toch minder hard achteruit."

The person in their twenties now earns less than a contemporary took home before the crisis of 2008. The person in their thirties also, by the way, but who farmed less hard on the other hand.

I'm quite sure "farmed" is incorrect but I can't figure out what else it could mean. Also, "on the other hand" might mean "in contrast" or literally "in reverse".

So I need some help. Any suggestions?

this is definitely not literal. Goed boeren = to earn a lot of money. I find this a very weird construction, but would take it to mean that people in their 30s didn't suffer as much as people in their 20s do...

"We leven in een wereld van getallen en cijfers."
We live in a world of numbers and numbers.
We live in a world of numbers and figures.

In English, numbers and figures are very similar. Numbers are more common. Figures sometimes refer to groups of numbers. The statistic figures this month were good. Figures can also refer more generally to drawings, shapes, diagrams, etc.

What is the essential difference between getallen and cijfers in Dutch?

getallen means amounts, cijfers means numbers. They are usually interchangeable but not always. Cijfers also refer to the grades you get, which getallen can never do.

Getallen also refers to the mathematical set of numbers such as real numbers etc.

[trui]

My Prisma dictionary says that achteruitboeren = to go downhill and vandale defines it as 'achteruitgaan in zijn zaken' which I assume means 'go backwards in its affairs'.

[tommus]

Keer and maal are synonyms. It's "maal" by the way, and "10 maal op een rij".

It seems that "malen per seconde" occurs quite frequently in a variety of publications:

"Als bij digitalisering van een analoog signaal er op regelmatige tijdstippen een 'steekproef' van het analoge signaal wordt genomen, een signaalmonster, dan wordt het aantal malen per seconde dat dit plaatsvindt de bemonsteringsfrequentie genoemd."
Wikipedia

"Omdat de magnetische polen meestal niet samenvallen met de rotatieas van de neutronenster, zwiepen die bundels vele malen per seconde door het heelal, als de lichtbundels van een vuurtoren. Wanneer de aarde zich in de baan van een van die rondzwiepende bundels bevindt, is een zogeheten pulsar (van pulsating star) te zien: het kleine neutronensterretje vertoont dan vele malen per seconde korte pulsjes van zichtbaar licht, radiostraling of röntgenstraling."
http://www.allesoversterrenkunde.nl

Als je elke golftop telt als één tik, vormt zo’n atoom een metronoom die vele miljarden malen per seconde tikt.
https://dekennisvannu.nl

[tarvos]

I would never phrase that as such. I would prefer "maal" there, to me that is plural already.

No one says "tien malen tien" for example. Doesn't happen. And I generally think keer is more commonly used.

[tommus]

"Of we zo’n echte buitenaardse boodschap net zo snel kunnen ontcijferen, is natuurlijk zeer de vraag."

Whether we could just as quickly decipher such a real alien message is of course very much the question.

Not sure about "zeer" being "very much". It could be "really". Either is probably good. But I have never seen "zeer" used alone like that before. So the question is: Is that the correct translation, and how common is such a usage?

Source in Scientias.nl

[tarvos]

"Zeer" is not "very much", rather it is just "very" or "really", and it's common in more educated, formal texts (in colloquial Dutch it is often interchanged with heel or erg, which are both not dependent on register).

Zeer sounds a little formal to my ears, but it's good Dutch and finding it in such a text is normal.

Here it emphasizes that the question is extremely doubtful. Not just a little bit, but extremely.

In a phrase such as "zeer de vraag" you can't use any other synonyms though, it has to be written with zeer.

[tommus]

"Maar als het gaat waaien, dan zijn we de sjaak."

But if it's going to get windy, then we are in trouble

"Dat wordt zo online gezet, dan zijn ze meteen de sjaak."

If that is put online, then they are in trouble.

I'm not sure about the expression "dan zijn we de sjaak". Any guidance?

Source 1

Source 2

[tarvos]

Colloquial way of saying "They're in trouble".

Equivalents are "ze zijn de sigaar, de pisang, de l*l, etc)...

This form is not vulgar, though.

English equivalent would be something like saying "they're screwed"

[tommus]

"De auto wil niet starten."

The car doesn't want to start.

"Willen" is a false friend in English. It means "to want", not "will". However, occasionally, there seems to be a grey area, as in the sentence above. In English, you would usually say "The car will not start". There is a subtle difference because "The car doesn't want to start" could mean it is showing some signs of starting but just can't make it, whereas "The car will not start" means it really will not.

I wonder in Dutch if "De auto wil niet starten" does have the connotation that it "doesn't want" to start, as opposed to something more definite such as "De auto start niet"?

[tommus]

"Wat is het nieuwe product van Apple cool!"

How cool is Apple's new product!

English has some separable expressions, such as: "I may throw all those things out." But of course, people would also say: "I may throw out all those things."

But Dutch expressions like "Wat cool!" being used as "Wat is het nieuwe product van Apple cool!" seems strange, and very difficult for an L2 speaker to construct in conversation.

Is that expression the normal way that a Dutch speaker would use "Wat cool!" in everyday conversation?