diff --git a/lib/i18n/tasks/translators/deepl_translator.rb b/lib/i18n/tasks/translators/deepl_translator.rb
index 5399b9ef..550b2e0a 100644
--- a/lib/i18n/tasks/translators/deepl_translator.rb
+++ b/lib/i18n/tasks/translators/deepl_translator.rb
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 require 'i18n/tasks/translators/base_translator'
 
 module I18n::Tasks::Translators
-  class DeeplTranslator < BaseTranslator
+  class DeeplTranslator < BaseTranslator # rubocop:disable Metrics/ClassLength
     # max allowed texts per request
     BATCH_SIZE = 50
     # those languages must be specified with their sub-kind e.g en-us
@@ -60,14 +60,14 @@ def options_for_plain
 
     # @param [String] value
     # @return [String] 'hello, %{name}' => 'hello, <i18n>%{name}</i18n>'
-    def replace_interpolations(value)
+    def original_replace_interpolations(value)
       value.gsub(INTERPOLATION_KEY_RE, '<i18n>\0</i18n>')
     end
 
     # @param [String] untranslated
     # @param [String] translated
     # @return [String] 'hello, <i18n>%{name}</i18n>' => 'hello, %{name}'
-    def restore_interpolations(untranslated, translated)
+    def original_restore_interpolations(untranslated, translated)
       return translated if untranslated !~ INTERPOLATION_KEY_RE
 
       translated.gsub(%r{</?i18n>}, '')
@@ -75,6 +75,87 @@ def restore_interpolations(untranslated, translated)
       raise_interpolation_error(untranslated, translated, e)
     end
 
+    # deepl does a better job with interpolations when it doesn't have to deal
+    # with <br> tags, so we replace all of them with meaningless asterisk chains
+    BR_REGEXP = %r{(<br\s*/?>\s*)+}i.freeze
+    BR_SINGLE_MARKER = ' *** '
+    BR_DOUBLE_MARKER = ' ***** '
+
+    # letting deepl 'read' the interpolations gives better translations (and
+    # solves the problem of interpolations getting pushed all the way to the
+    # front of the sentence), however, deepl will also try to translate
+    # the interpolations and that gets messy.
+    # we use nonsense three-letter acronyms so deepl will 'read' them and leave
+    # them alone (the letter X also works very well, except in sentences with
+    # several consecutive interpolations because that reads X X X and deepl
+    # doesn't handle that well)
+    # deepl also needs to know if an interpolation will be a word or a number,
+    # for romance languages it matters. a little Spanish lesson to illustrate:
+    # "%{foo} betalingen" translates either to "facturas %{foo}"
+    # (openstaande betalingen -> facturas pendientes) or to "%{foo} facturas"
+    # (5 betalingen -> 5 facturas)
+    # for interpolation keys that are usually numeric, we pick a number
+    # instead of the three-letter acronym (more consistency in how we name
+    # interpolation keys would help)
+    LETTER_SUBS = %w[RYX QFN VLB XOG DWP ZMQ JZQ WVS LRX HPM].freeze
+    NUM_SUBS = %w[17 19 23 29 31 37 41 43 47 53].freeze
+
+    def sub_for_handle(handle, index)
+      case handle.gsub(/[^a-z]/, '')
+      when 'count', 'minutes', 'hours'
+        NUM_SUBS[index % NUM_SUBS.size]
+      else
+        LETTER_SUBS[index % LETTER_SUBS.size]
+      end
+    end
+
+    # BEX version of replace_interpolation
+    def replace_interpolations(value)
+      index = 0
+      value.gsub(INTERPOLATION_KEY_RE) do |handle|
+        sub = sub_for_handle(handle, index)
+        index += 1
+        "<var handle=\"#{handle}\" sub=\"#{sub}\">#{sub}</var>"
+      end.gsub(BR_REGEXP) do |br|
+        if br.downcase.count('b') == 2
+          # never more than two <br> in a row, it gets messy
+          BR_DOUBLE_MARKER
+        else
+          BR_SINGLE_MARKER
+        end
+      end
+    end
+
+    # reversing our substitutions should be straight-forward, but it's not
+    # because deepl gets creative. cases are explained inline.
+    def restore_interpolations(untranslated, translated)
+      translated.gsub(%r{(.?)<var handle="([^"]*)" sub="([^"]*)">([^<]*)</var>}) do
+        char = ::Regexp.last_match(1)
+        handle = ::Regexp.last_match(2)
+        sub = ::Regexp.last_match(3)
+        body = ::Regexp.last_match(4)
+        if body == sub
+          # deepl kept the 'sub' text inside the <var> tag and nothing else, clean.
+          "#{char}#{handle}"
+        elsif body.index(sub)
+          # deepl took some letters from outside the <var> tag and placed them
+          # inside the <var> e.g. task <var>"RYX</var>"
+          before, after = body.split(sub, 2)
+          "#{before}#{handle}#{after}"
+        elsif "#{char}#{body}".downcase == sub.downcase
+          # deepl took the first letter from inside the <var> tag and placed it
+          # immediately before the <var> tag e.g. R<var>yx</var>
+          handle
+        else
+          # instead of trying to look normal the fallback prints something
+          # obviously wrong hoping to get some attention and a manual fix
+          "!!!!!#{sub.inspect} (#{char.inspect} #{body.inspect})!!!!!"
+        end
+      end.gsub(BR_DOUBLE_MARKER, '<br /><br />').gsub(BR_SINGLE_MARKER, '<br />')
+    rescue StandardError => e
+      raise_interpolation_error(untranslated, translated, e)
+    end
+
     def no_results_error_message
       I18n.t('i18n_tasks.deepl_translate.errors.no_results')
     end
diff --git a/spec/deepl_translate_spec.rb b/spec/deepl_translate_spec.rb
index 79494a68..aeb1f5b1 100644
--- a/spec/deepl_translate_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/deepl_translate_spec.rb
@@ -9,10 +9,10 @@
 
   text_test = [
     'key',
-    "Hello, %{user} O'Neill! How are you? {{ Check out this Liquid tag, it should not be translated }} \
-    {% That applies to this Liquid tag as well %}",
-    "¡Hola, %{user} O'Neill! ¿Qué tal estás? {{ Check out this Liquid tag, it should not be translated }} \
-    {% That applies to this Liquid tag as well %}"
+    "Hello, %{user} O'Neill! How are you? {{ Check out this Liquid tag, it should not be translated }} " \
+    '{% That applies to this Liquid tag as well %}',
+    "¡Hola, %{user} O'Neill! ¿Qué tal? {{ Check out this Liquid tag, it should not be translated }} " \
+    '{% That applies to this Liquid tag as well %}'
   ]
 
   html_test_plrl = [
@@ -92,4 +92,93 @@
       end
     end
   end
+
+  # Don't expect deepl's answers to be exactly the same each run
+  describe 'translating Dutch into other languages' do
+    let(:base_task) { I18n::Tasks::BaseTask.new }
+
+    before do
+      skip 'temporarily disabled on JRuby due to https://github.com/jruby/jruby/issues/4802' if RUBY_ENGINE == 'jruby'
+      skip 'DEEPL_AUTH_KEY env var not set' unless ENV['DEEPL_AUTH_KEY']
+    end
+
+    it 'tells time' do
+      german, english, spanish =
+        translate_dutch(hours_and_minutes: '%{hours} uur en %{minutes} minuten')
+      expect(german).to eq '%{hours} Stunden und %{minutes} Minuten'
+      expect(english).to eq '%{hours} hours and %{minutes} minutes'
+      expect(spanish).to eq '%{hours} horas y %{minutes} minutos'
+    end
+
+    it 'counts' do
+      german, english, spanish =
+        translate_dutch(other: '%{count} taken')
+      expect(german).to eq '%{count} Aufgaben'
+      expect(english).to eq '%{count} tasks'
+      expect(spanish).to eq '%{count} tareas'
+    end
+
+    it 'assigns' do
+      german, english, spanish =
+        translate_dutch(assigned: 'Taak "%{todo}" toegewezen aan %{user}')
+      expect(german).to eq 'To-dos "%{todo}" zugewiesen an %{user}'
+      expect(english).to eq 'Task "%{todo}" assigned to %{user}'
+      expect(spanish).to eq 'Tarea "%{todo}" asignada a %{user}'
+    end
+
+    it 'sings' do
+      german, english, spanish =
+        translate_dutch(verse: 'Ik zou zo graag een %{animal} kopen. Ik zag %{count} beren %{food} smeren')
+      expect(german).to eq 'Ich würde so gerne einen %{animal} kaufen. Ich sah %{count} Bären, die %{food} schmierten'
+      # greasing is a funny way to say smeren, but we let it slide
+      expect(english).to eq 'I would so love to buy a %{animal}. I saw %{count} bears greasing %{food}'
+      expect(spanish).to eq 'Me encantaría comprar un %{animal}. Vi %{count} osos engrasando %{food}'
+    end
+
+    it 'sends emails' do
+      german, english, spanish =
+        translate_dutch(
+          email_body_html: '{{ booking.greeting }},<br><br>Bijgevoegd ziet u een factuur van {{ park.name }} met ' \
+                           'factuurnummer {{ invoice.invoice_nr }}.<br />Volgens onze administratie had het ' \
+                           'verschuldigde bedrag van {{ locals.payment_collector_total }} op  ' \
+                           '{{ locals.payment_collector_deadline }} moeten zijn betaald. Helaas hebben we nog ' \
+                           'geen betaling ontvangen.<br>'
+        )
+      expect(german).to eq '{{ booking.greeting }},<br /><br />Anbei finden Sie eine Rechnung von {{ park.name }} ' \
+                           'mit der Rechnungsnummer {{ invoice.invoice_nr }}.<br />Laut unserer Verwaltung hätte der ' \
+                           'von {{ locals.payment_collector_total }} geschuldete Betrag ' \
+                           'am {{ locals.payment_collector_deadline }} bezahlt werden müssen. Leider haben wir die ' \
+                           'Zahlungen noch nicht erhalten.<br />'
+      expect(english).to eq '{{ booking.greeting }},<br /><br />Attached please find an invoice from {{ park.name }} ' \
+                            'with invoice number {{ invoice.invoice_nr }}.<br />According to our records, the amount ' \
+                            'due from {{ locals.payment_collector_total }} on ' \
+                            '{{ locals.payment_collector_deadline }} should have been paid. Unfortunately, we have ' \
+                            'not yet received payment.<br />'
+      expect(spanish).to eq '{{ booking.greeting }},<br /><br />Adjuntamos una factura de {{ park.name }} con el ' \
+                            'número de factura {{ invoice.invoice_nr }}.<br />Según nuestros registros, el importe ' \
+                            'adeudado por {{ locals.payment_collector_total }} debería haber sido abonado en ' \
+                            '{{ locals.payment_collector_deadline }}. Lamentablemente, aún no hemos recibido ' \
+                            'el pago.<br />'
+    end
+
+    it 'asks itself why are you even translating this' do
+      german, english, spanish =
+        translate_dutch(action: '%{subject} %{verb} %{object}')
+      expect(german).to eq '%{subject} %{verb} %{object}'
+      expect(english).to eq '%{subject} %{verb} %{object}'
+      expect(spanish).to eq '%{subject} %{verb} %{object}'
+    end
+
+    def translate_dutch(dutch_pair)
+      key = dutch_pair.keys.first
+      phrase = dutch_pair[key]
+      locales = %w[de en-us es]
+      branches = locales.each_with_object({}) do |locale, hash|
+        hash[locale] = { 'testing' => { key => phrase } }
+      end
+      tree = build_tree(branches)
+      translations = base_task.translate_forest(tree, from: 'nl', backend: :deepl)
+      locales.map { |locale| translations[locale]['testing'][key].value.strip }
+    end
+  end
 end