Practijken

Practijken is not a standard Dutch word. In modern Dutch the correct plural of praktijk is praktijken. The spelling practijken may appear as a typographical error or, rarely, as an older or regional variant. It is not recognized as a separate term in contemporary dictionaries.

Praktijk has several related meanings. It can denote a professional office or business where services are provided, such as a doctor’s practice or a lawyer’s practice. It can also refer to the activity itself—the practice of a profession, craft, or discipline. Additionally, praktijk describes established methods, procedures, or routines within an organization or field, as in the phrase in de praktijk meaning in practice.

The plural praktijken is used in different senses. It can refer to multiple professional offices (for example, “tientallen praktijken in de regio”) or to a set of customary methods or procedures used by a group or institution. The expression in de praktijk is common in both the Netherlands and Flanders and is often contrasted with theorie (theory) in discussions of applied versus theoretical knowledge.

Overall, praktijk and praktijken function as core terms in Dutch for professional activity, service provision, and the established ways of doing things. The nonstandard form practijken should be avoided in formal writing, where praktijken is the preferred orthography.