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wilforside, cyanuricuoside
Apr 7, 2023 14:17
1 yr ago
46 viewers *
English term

Je or U? Term of address in a Travel and Expense policy

English to Dutch Bus/Financial General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
Dear Prozians,

Classic question when translating from English...

We are about to start on the translation of a Travel and expenses policy for employees of a hotel chain. It tells employees about maximum spend per night, for meals, travel guidelines. Clear and concise.

Would you use the informal of formal term of address for "you"? Je or U? Company is not the stuffy old-fashion type, but this is an official policy so it needs to sound serious. This question is therefore more of a quick poll than anything else.

Kind regards.
Proposed translations (Dutch)
4 +4 Je/jij/jouw

Discussion

Barend van Zadelhoff Apr 8, 2023:
Ask the client. As it is about a hotel chain (big company), and money :-), you might expect there is a big distance, both physically and emotionally, between the people developing and writing these policies and the people to whom these policies apply.

My vote goes to: formal.

Keep us posted. :-)
Kirsten Bodart Apr 7, 2023:
Ask the client Or circumvent the problem by either using 'we' or the passive. Personally I, and probably lots of slightly older people with me, find 'je' too informal and too in-your-face to be suitable yet for corporate policies. So I will only use it if the client insists.
Elma de Jong Apr 7, 2023:
Ask client This is something that normally would be for the client to decide, depending on their intern policy. Personally I think that, it being an internal company policy, it doesn't have to be overly formal and in that case 'je/jij/jouw' is fine. However, if it would be something else, like legal - as in terms and conditions - and for external use, I would go for a formal tone of voice.
Kitty Brussaard Apr 7, 2023:
Check with the client This is typically something that you should check with the client. Most companies have a style guide or a similar document with instructions for each of their locales regarding the form of address to be used in different types of communication (external/internal, marketing, legal, etc.). Or, at the very least, they should be able to give you instructions to this effect by email.

In general, Dutch people are not overly formal and quite used to being addressed informally, including by their employer.

Proposed translations

+4
28 mins
Selected

Je/jij/jouw

Both are possible, but when it is for employees of a hotel chain, it is a kind of intern policy (at least that is how I read it), and since the informal form is taking over in Holland, I would choose "Jij, Je, Jouw".
Peer comment(s):
agree Gerard de Noord
1 day 1 hr
agree Edith van der Have : Internal communication with employees is usually with 'je/jij/jou' nowadays, except perhaps for very formal workplaces.
2 days 18 hrs
agree Christine De Zwart
6 days
agree Erik Nusselder
27 days
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thanks. Suggestions saying "ask the client" made of course a lot of sense, but given deadlines, we simply cannot wait a few days for the quesion to be sent to the Netherlands and percolate back to us, so we need to make a decision based on a broad consensus."
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