Beslissen x Besluiten

[Guest]

I know beslissen is regular and besluiten is irregular but :

1. Is there any difference in use ?
2. Which preposition goes with each of them ?




Thank you



celso8

[Wim]

Hallo Celso8,

Ther is hardly any difference between beslissen and besluiten. If combined with a second verb (the usual way) both verbs will be followed by te.

Vader besliste dat we zouden gaan verhuizen - Father decided (= took the decision, resolved) that we'd move house.
We besloten te gaan vissen - We decided to go fishing.

In very fomal and official jargon beslissen is combined with op: beslissen op een aanvraag - to decide (on) an application; in more usual circumstances beslissen over is used. In these cases we prefer beslissen over the verb besluiten. Instead of besluiten we usually say een besluit nemen (over iets) - to take a decision (on something).

Met vriendelijke groeten,
Wim

[celso8]

Het spijt me !! I forgot to log in for my previous question....

Still regarding beslissen x beluiten.
I have come across the following sentences:


....."Daar schrok ze ervan. En ze BESLOOT liever dan sterven toch maar achter de arme man ANN TE gaan"...
DE ARME MAN EN DE DRIE GRANAATAPPELS VAN DE RIDDER
SPROOKJES UIT SOVJET-UNIE


....."Ik BESLOOT OM TE soliciteren BIJ DE BAC"....
http://www.linea-aesthetica.com/gastric/testimonials


My questions are:

1. besluiten om te/aan te could I switch them in the previous sentences then ?

2. Would zich afmaken bear this same meaning ?


Thank you

[Wim]

I have come across the following sentences:

....."Daar schrok ze ervan. En ze besloot liever dan te sterven toch maar achter de arme man aan te gaan"...

DE ARME MAN EN DE DRIE GRANAATAPPELS VAN DE RIDDER
SPROOKJES UIT DE SOVJET-UNIE


....."Ik BESLOOT OM TE solliciteren BIJ DE BAC"....

Hallo Celso8,

If besluiten is followed by an infinitive, te should be used. I don't understand why it has been dropped in your first example. It may be a Flemish translation; in cases like this the Belgian Dutch is sometimes a little different from the Netherlands Dutch.

In the sentence ik besloot om te gaan solliciteren the word om could be dropped, not te (the Belgians however... ).

Then the om te/aan te problem. I'm afraid you're misreading the sentence. Achter iemand aan = following somebody, so achter iemand aan gaan = to follow, to chase somebody. I intentionally now drop the problem if aangaan should be written in one or two words , as this would make the discussion unnecessarily complicated.

So the translation of En ze besloot liever dan te sterven toch maar achter de arme man aan te gaan would be And she decided rather than to die to chase/follow the poor man.

Zich afmaken is a wording we don't use. We could afmaken (kill, put down) an animal in pain, or soldiers might afmaken their enemies in a war, but the separable verb afmaken is always a rather rude or cruel expression for 'to kill.' The litteral meaning is 'to finish' which is a normal verb without any special connotations.

If someone takes his/her own life, we would call it zelfmoord plegen 'to commit suicide' although there are many other expressions, from politically correct and very euphemistic to very rude. But please don't think that taking our own lives is a Dutch hobby !

I hope this answered your questions.

Met vriendelijke groeten,
Wim

[celso8]

The infinitive om te/te is nothing new.
What about beslissen ???
om te/te too?


I went back to the book and in the ...liver dan sterven ... the te is not there.
De sovjet Unie, Ann/ soliciteren Daar schrok ze ervan(These were my mistakes, sorry!!!)

Can you help me with this ?

..."Als je bij een rivier staat en er komt iemand naar je toe die vraagt of daar een doorwaadbare plaats is, en jij maakt je ervan af door te zeggen van ja, en hij stapt het water in en verdrinkt - dan is dat niet goed.
How do you translate it ?


celso8

[Wim]

The infinitive om te/te is nothing new.
What about beslissen ???
om te/te too?

..."Als je bij een rivier staat en er komt iemand naar je toe die vraagt of daar een doorwaadbare plaats is, en jij maakt je ervan af door te zeggen van ja, en hij stapt het water in en verdrinkt - dan is dat niet goed.
How do you translate it ?

celso8

Hallo Celso8,

Beslissen followed by an infinitive works just like besluiten, so te will be necessary. We often use beslissen followed by a subordinary clause starting with dat. The missing te in your book may simply be a mistake, or as I mentioned earlier, it may be a Belgian translation. Don't lose any sleep over it . To make it very complex: we could take sterven for a noun as well (so te wouldn't be necessary), but as achter ... aan te gaan in the second part of the sentence is definitely an infinitive, I'd think such a 'solution' hardly appropriate.

Now your second phrase. Zich van iets afmaken = to wave something aside, to get rid of a problem in a simple way

I would translate the sentence as follows:

If you'd be at a river and someone would approach you asking if there'd be a ford and you would wave his question aside by saying yes, and he'd step into the water and drown - [then] it wouldn't be all right.

Met vriendelijke groeten,
Wim