1. Use italics... athough that is simply emphatic. 2. Use the verb "can" - " I can exert discretion and dignity".

Do you mean without any typographic emphasis or would bold/italic work?

@Greybeard point 2 is actually a nice solution but it feels like a workaround and definitely not as strong as it feels in Dutch. There's a loss of weight in communication that can only and again be compensated by using capitals or indeed italics which are just not elegant enough. I hope this makes sense.

I (not a native speaker; hence, risky advice) think that including "do" could somehow work. "Because as opposed to my employer, I do have the capability to exert discretion and dignity."

@Laurel yes, without typographic use. I feel that's modern text message use which I dislike (I'm 49yo) and it's just not elegant in the same way how exclamation marks are at times 'not done'.

It's being capable of finding the right tag, not to find. You could put stress on the negated and non-negated can's to emphasize the difference with something like You can't do that, but I can. But you don't really want to be speaking like that to the boss (it sounds more than a bit presumptuous to me). Besides, the actual contrast is really between the people, not the ability, so it's probably more natural to stress the pronouns: You can't do that, but I can.

Another option is "I really can" -- "really" adds emphasis.

We don't really have a word like you describe in Dutch. When speaking we use tone of voice, and when writing we translate this into typography. Traditionally it was italics, and online ALL CAPS has been used in environments that don't have italics (like plaintext email and text messages).

@DjinTonic Do you mean this? "Because I can exert discretion and dignity − as opposed to my employer." Note that with the Dutch "wel" or "wél", you wouldn't even need the " − as opposed to my employer"

Here's a another attempt. "Because I can − but my employer cannot − exert discretion and dignity."

@FumbleFingers thank you for the correction of "to find' /"of finding". At first I doubted your correction (which I admit is a bit presumptuous as a non-native speaker) but then I read your completely irrelevant opinion regarding the authenticity of the context in which I claimed to have run into this issue and more importantly your typical refrained English sentiment regarding authority and I knew for sure you were a native speaker, so I'll take your word on that ;) However as for your offered workaround I expect a native speaker to be able to come up with a more elegant solution so...nah.

@Barmar no, that implies a better or higher level as opposed to a can / cannot context.

@WishPlay But Fumble was right about focusing on the pronouns. "Ik wel. [En dus: jij niet.]" Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a good antonym for "not" in English.

@Řídící 'do' would probably work. Let me check. Yes. In the end I left it but I felt dissatisfied I wasn't able to give it the emphasise one can do in Dutch. You're right that the adding of an acute accent is even a doubling of the emphasis.

Should anyone wish to read the message I sent (as apparently empirical contextual proof is needed to address a linguistic problem) you can find the anonimized letter here: justpaste.it/hrnjn

I want to say I really love the input of everyone and find it interesting to discuss the idiom of language but I would like to ask if we can stick to the topic and refrain from irrelevant comments. This is an issue becoming more and more common on any forum. One asks for a solution to a coding line problem and someone suggests to write in another language. It's annoying and distracting. I hope that my letter clarifies any questions and can provide a sharper answer as, while I have read some very good points, I feel there is a better solution yet to be found.

Writing advice is off-topic, but English has the similar 'well'. "I am well able to act with discretion and dignity". (One doesn't exert discretion or dignity, but might display those qualities.)

@WeatherVane Is that 100% correct what you say about not exerting discretion? I work in management in hotels and this line is a copy/paste from our handbook : 'As a manager, it is important to exert discretion when handling confidential information about your employees'. Also someone correct me should I be wrong but I think your 'well' doesn't work in my sentence as it lacks the opposing element and only emphasises my ability.

Perhaps the author half-remembered exersise discretion.

We exercise discretion.

... and saying "well able" doesn't emphasize any negative, it makes a point without being confrontational. I don't speak Dutch, but google translates wel to well, and using 'well' is certainly an emphasis that doesn't need capitalising. If your employer doesn't understand that then you can save the rudeness for later, unless you are actually having a heated argument with them.

Thanks. The half remembering of 'exercise' seems plausible and since you're a native speaker I have no reason to doubt you. On the other hand the author is also an (academic) native and it's a big company. I'll look into it. The 'well' is really different though as in the context of my sentence I wished to express an opposing quality as in 'unlike you' which with the Dutch 'wel' is expressed and can be doubled by writing 'wél'. We're going to a tribunal, possibly even civil and while I'm aware I may seem rude here I can only assure you my employer has topped me at least thrice in that regard.

From the Brittanica Dictionary: exert [britannica.com/dictionary/…](britannica.com/dictionary/…. Could it be that it's use has gotten out of fashion?

Your statement contains a strong criticism of your employer, and cannot is difficult to prove. Some may think it proves you are not exercising discretion or dignity.

@TimR since the question title includes the phrase "without using typography," it seems safe to say that it isn't about typographic emphasis whatsoever.

@phoog not sure what OP meant with "which essentially is a capitalised preposition expressing capability." Is OP using "capitalised" to mean "emphatic"?

@TimR Here I was a bit unclear. 'Wel' is an adverb and not a preposition but because a preposition can also express a relation to another word or element I used it with the addition of 'essentially' and added a more descriptive image in an attempt to explain it should be read as 'with capitals' and in this context expresses a 'capability'. I'm not a linguist but have a masters in philosophy so as such I think I think about and appoach language differently. Sorry for the confusion.