control, check, inspection
[noun]
[de con-tro-le, de con-tro-les]
“Controle” is used for the act of checking/inspecting with the purpose of verification, but you can also use it to say that you have something “under control” or are “controlling” something. Sometimes it also refers to the location where the “controle” takes place, such as a check point. The related verb “to control” is “controleren”. You can be more specific about the kind of control by adding the appropriate noun, for example “paspoortcontrole”, “tassencontrole” or “alcoholcontrole”.
Note that the second ‘o’ in ‘controle’ is a short (but slightly prolonged) vowel despite only one occurrence of the consonant ‘l’.
Examples:
– “Ik heb bijna mijn vlucht gemist want er stond een enorme rij bij de paspoortcontrole.”
(“I almost missed my flight due to a huge queue/line at passport control.”)
– “Na een voetbalwedstrijd van het Nederlands elftal is er vaak alcoholcontrole langs de wegen.”
(“After a football/soccer match by the Dutch football/soccer team drivers are often tested for alcohol along the roads.”)
– “Het winkelpersoneel wordt onderworpen aan een tassencontrole, want er wordt veel gestolen.”
(“The shop/store personnel is subject to bag inspection, because there is a lot of theft.”)
– “Ik ben ingehuurd om controle uit te oefenen op het proces, dus dat ga ik ook doen!”
(“I have been hired to exercise supervision over the process, so that’s what I’m going to do!”)
– “Het spijt me, maar ik heb geen controle meer over mijn kinderen, ze zijn totaal losgeslagen!”
(“I’m sorry, but I no longer have control of my children, they have gone completely wild”)
– “De voetballer stond erom bekend dat hij elke bal onder controle kon krijgen.”
(“The football/soccer player was known for his ability to get every ball under control.”)
– “De jonge bestuurder verloor de controle over het stuur en botste tegen een boom.”
(“The young driver lost control of the steering-wheel and crashed into a tree.”)
Expressions:
– “Alles onder controle?!”: everything ok / under control?!
Related words:
– Controleren: to control, to check [verb] [controleerde, gecontroleerd].
Example:
– “Ik reis dagelijks met de trein, maar ik word zelden gecontroleerd. Ze zouden eens moeten controleren of de controleur zijn werk wel goed doet!”
(“I travel by train daily, but it rarely happens that my ticket is inspected. They should check to see whether or not the ticket inspector is doing his job properly!”)