# Dutch: wel (special use)



## olives

Dag,

Hier is een kort passage van een gesprek:
A : Ik lees het dossier vanmiddag wel.

Hoe moet ik "wel" vertalen? Mijn vraag ist een beetje moeilijk, weet ik.
Ik weet dat we gewoonlijk "well" zeggen maar hier ist dat ander (different).

Ander voorbeeld : "Dit is het cv van Mira. Ik lees haar cv vanavond wel."

Dank je wel,
Tot ziens alleman


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## jippie

Like in the other thread on 'maar', 'wel' is used here as a partikel. Sorry, I don't know the English word for partikel, but it refers to small words (usually one sylabus) that express certain feelings, intentions, emotions. 
In this example, 'wel' expresses certain indifference, there's no hurry to do it right now. You could translate "I will read the file somewhere this afternoon" or "I will read the file this afternoon". The first one shows more indifference, the second one is neutral, and it depends from the context which one is best.


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## olives

I see, great! Thanks.

Can anyone complete what Jippie said or better, can anyone give me an example with a translation? In French or in English (Italian/Spanish too)

Thanks.


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## optimistique

I think the difficulty in translating 'wel' is that it indicates something that most other languages manifest through prosody (if at all). In my opinion, in French and English it is best not translated.

"Ici le cv(?) de Mira. Je le lis ce soir."
"Here is Mira's cv. I'll read it tonight."

The colouring of 'wel' is very subtle and I don't think translates well in written texts, for even in Dutch it can vary, depending on the prosody. 
For example, if said with a happy voice, it'd mean: "Je le lis ce soir, je m'en rejouis!" (Ik lees het vanavond wel, ik heb er zin in!)
While with an indifferent voice: "je le lis ce soir, si je le lis (donc peut-être même pas)." (Ik lees het vanavond wel, als ik het überhaupt lees).


PS: olives, ik heb net die thread over terug antwoorden in het Engels op in de doeltaal gestelde vragen gelezen. Hadden wij in het Nederlands moeten reageren?


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## Abu Bishr

In Afrikaans "wel" in this context is used for emphasis, and can be translated in English by emphasising the auxilliary verb (e.g. "did", "do", "will", etc.), e.g. "Ek het wel baie goed daaroor gedink" (I _did_ think very well about it) as opposed to "Ek het baie goed daaroor gedink" (I thought very well about it). Sometimes it can also have the meaning of "though" plus emphasis, e.g. "Hy is nou wel my vriend, maar ek sal nie aanraai dat jy vir hom moet vra nie" (He _is_ my friend though / Though he _is_ my friend, I won't suggest that you ask him).

I don't know whether Dutch would be similar to "wel" in these contexts.


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## Jeedade

Abu Bishr said:


> In Afrikaans "wel" in this context is used for emphasis, and can be translated in English by emphasising the auxilliary verb (e.g. "did", "do", "will", etc.), e.g. "Ek het wel baie goed daaroor gedink" (I _did_ think very well about it) as opposed to "Ek het baie goed daaroor gedink" (I thought very well about it). Sometimes it can also have the meaning of "though" plus emphasis, e.g. "Hy is nou wel my friend, maar ek sal nie aanraai dat jy vir hom moet vra nie" (He _is_ my friend though / Though he _is_ my friend, I won't suggest that you ask him).
> 
> I don't know whether Dutch would be similar to "wel" in these contexts.


Yes, in Dutch "wel" can be used the same way:
"Ik heb er wel goed over nagedacht"
"Hij is n(o)u wel mijn vriend, maar ik raad niet aan dat je hem moet vragen" ("nou" is colloquial in Dutch, "nu" is normally used).
This however is not the way "wel" is used in the examples from olives.


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## ALOV

olives said:


> Dag,
> 
> Hier is een kort passage van een gesprek:
> A : Ik lees het dossier vanmiddag wel.
> 
> Hoe moet ik "wel" vertalen? Mijn vraag ist een beetje moeilijk, weet ik.
> Ik weet dat we gewoonlijk "well" zeggen maar hier ist dat ander (different).
> 
> Ander voorbeeld : "Dit is het cv van Mira. Ik lees haar cv vanavond wel."
> 
> Dank je wel,
> Tot ziens alleman


 
Hello, 

your knowledge of Dutch is very good, but let me suggest some spelling changes ; )
- "well" is english, in dutch it's always "wel"
- "ist" is german, in dutch 3rd p.sg. is "is"
- "different" = anders
- "everybody" is not "alleman", but "iedereen"

I think in French, this "wel" is translated as:
- J'ai reçu son CV. Je le lirai bien ce soir.
That is, there is no hurry, I'll read it when I have time tonight.

Idem: Waar gaan we eten deze middag? Ik weet het niet, we zien wel.
French: On mange où ce midi? Je ne sais pas, on verra bien.


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