Great language to learn (even atrociously), I regret no longer having much chance to practise it although those I used to converse with are probably relieved. One great piece of advice regarding genders (also happens in French) that my daughter passed onto me and she got from her spanish teacher was to learn nouns including the tensed pronoun as a single entity, not seperately
Same in Dutch. As a near native speaker despite not being Dutch born, it's weird. There seems neither rhyme nor reason to the choice of which gender belongs to which object.
Both male and female nouns are "de". Neutral nouns are "het".
A boat is DE boot (pronounced the same as the English word boat). A ship is HET schip. To me they are exceedingly similar objects so why is one deemed to be female/male and the other neutral? Dutch people know it is as it is, they don't know why. There isn't a logic to it.
They do, however, have a workaround. You can "minimise" a female/male noun by adding "je" to the noun or "tje" if the noun ends in a vowel or a "y". If unsure you use this as a trick. If you don't know if BOOT is a de or a het word, you simply "cheat" by adding "je" and, hey presto, it becomes a neutral noun. So, DE boot becomes HET bootje.
In modern day Dutch language, they tend to use BOOT for smaller craft, generally used for pleasure. SCHIP is used for freight, commercial vessels. There is, however, no hard and fast, generally accepted grammar rule. Basically it is what it it and you need to know which is which, unless you use the cheat.
So Lineker wins his tax case over IR35 and contractor status. Worth best part of 5 million. Wonder if twittergate influenced that decision, if so a good punt on his part. We may never know if he meant what it said but it did at least show he was independent of bbc thought wise in
Not entirely sure what has been ‘suspiciously convenient’ or ‘strategic’ but it seems he can win against his employers, win his tax case but still can’t win you over.
After events of the last fortnight I’d suggest one of your short essays might be in order, ‘Lineker and Johnson, Contrast and Compare’...special attention should be given to examples of integrity and honesty.
No I’d compare and contrast Lineker with maybe 100, maybe more, ‘contractors’ who I’ve had the ‘pleasure’ of paying as contractors only after they stage managed some of the necessary steps to differentiate themselves from mere ‘employees’ (and therefore reduce their tax exposure, and, by extension, increase your tax burden and/or reduce the public services you obtain). Excuse my cynicism but unlike you I’ve ‘been there’. And strangely enough, no-one mentioned Boris!