likely candidate 
[noun]
[de kans-heb-ber, de kans-heb-bers]
Literally a "kanshebber" is a "chance haver": someone who has a chance at winning or gaining something. This may vary from money, a prize, a position or job, etc.
In a sentence you use the idiom "kanshebber zijn voor/op": to be a likely candidate for. (Note that the indefinite article "een" can be left out in Dutch.)
If you’re in the running for something, you can use the idiom "kans maken op" (lit.: to make chance at).
Examples:
– "De premier van Nederland was tot het laatste moment kanshebber voor de positie van Europees president."
("The Dutch prime minister was a likely candidate for the position of European president until the last moment.")
– "De kanshebbers op deze prachtige prijs zijn: Monica, Frank en Daniel!"
("In the running for this beautiful prize are: Monica, Frank en Daniel!" Lit.: "The likely candidates for this beautiful prize…")
– "De jury heeft de kandidaten beoordeeld, en er zijn nog twee kanshebbers over."
("The jury has assessed the candidates, and there are still two people in the running.")
Expressions:
– "Nieuwe ronde nieuwe kansen": (lit.: new round new chances) better luck next time.
Related words:
– Kans: chance, opportunity [noun] [de kans, de kansen].
– Kansloos: hopeless, desperate, without chance [adjective].
Example:
– "Frank komt altijd te laat op afspraken, hij is echt kansloos."
("Frank’s always late for appointments, he’s really hopeless.")
– Gelegenheid: opportunity [noun] [de gelegenheid, de gelegenheden].
Example:
– "Ik heb nog geen gelegenheid gehad om de fout op te sporen."
("I haven’t had the opportunity yet to track down the bug.")
We need more dirty dutch words of the day!
I think you mean PRIZE not PRICE in the English translation 🙂
PS. Ik houd van jullie website!
@Adam,
oops. Changed it to ‘prize’…thnx! M
> positie van Europees president
Should it be “Europees” or “Europese”?
President is a de-woord, so the adjective should have “-e” added to it according to this article:
http://dutchcentre.group.shef.ac.uk/beginners.dutch.grammar/adjectives.php
BTW, Google gives 64k results for “europees president” and 83k for “europese president”.
@ Egor,
both are possible, but the difference is very subtle. If you refer to a (formal) position or function you will use the adjective WITHOUT the -e. If you refer to a qualification in general, you will decline the adjective WITH the -e. In case of “Europees president” I refer to the (one and only) position of president of the European Union. In case of “Europese president” I would (hypothetically) refer to a president from Europe (of which there can be more than one).
For example, one could say: “Sarcozy is een Europese president, die niet kandidaat is voor de positie van Europees president.” (Sarcozy is a president from Europe who is not a candidate for the position of European president). This is of course a very artificial example…
In daily speech, this subtle difference is often neglected.
There are more exceptions like this: fixed combinations, (formal) positions, official denominations, e.g.:
– het bijvoeglijk naamwoord: the adjective.
– het oudheidkundig museum: the archaeological museum.
– het kort geding: the legal suit.
– een plastisch chirurg: the plastic surgeon.
– de algemeen directeur: the general director.
– het economisch verbond: the economical pact.
– het Nederlands olympisch Team: the Dutch olympic team.
– het koninklijk besluit: the royal decree.
Hope this helps, Marc