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Basic Phrases
Goedemiddag khoo-duh-mih-dahkh Good Day Hoi / Hallo / Daag / Doei hoy / hah-loh / dahk / dooee Hi / Bye
Tot straks toht straks See you later (in the same day) Dank u wel / Dank je wel dahnk-ew-vehl / dahnkyuh-vehl Thank you
Alstublieft / Alsjeblieft ahlst-ew-bleeft / ahl-shuhbleeft Please Graag gedaan khrahkh khuh-dahn You're welcome (don't mention it)
Pardon, wat zei u? pahr-dohn, vat zay ew Pardon me (didn't understand) Hoe gaat het? hoo khaht ut How are you? (informal) Ik ben moe / ziek ik ben moo / zeek I'm tired / sick.
Hoe gaat het met u? hoo khaht ut meht ew How are you? (formal) Het gaat / Slecht uht khaht / slehkht So so / Bad
Goed / Heel goed khoot / hayl khoot Fine / Very well Ik heb honger / dorst ik heb hohng-ur / dohrst I'm hungry / thirsty.
Hoe heet je? hoo hayt yuh What's your name? (informal) Aangenaam (kennis te
Waar komt u vandaan? vahr kawmt ew fun-dahn Where are you from? (formal) Waar woont u? vahr vohnt ew Where do you live? (formal)
Waar kom je vandaan? vahr kawn yuh fun-dahn Where are you from? (informal) Waar woon je? vahr vohn yuh Where do you live? (informal) Hoe oud ben je? hoo owt ben yuh How old are you? (informal) Spreek je Engels? sprayk yuh ehng-uhls Do you speak English? (informal) Ik begrijp het [niet.] ik buh-khraip ut neet
Hoe oud bent u? hoo owt bent ew How old are you? (formal)
Ik ben ... jaar (oud). ik ben ... yahr owt I am ____ years old.
Spreekt u Nederlands? spraykt ew nay-der-lahnds Do you speak Dutch? (formal) Ik spreek niet zo goed... ik sprayk neet zoh khood
I don't speak ... very well. Wat kost het? vat kohst ut How much is it? Veel plezier! fayl pleh-zeer Have fun! Dat is geweldig / vreselijk! dat is khuh-vehl-duhkh / fray-zuh-likh That is great / terrible! Wat vreemd! vaht fraymt How funny / odd!
I [don't] understand. Ik wil graag... ik vil khrahk I'd like... Veel succes! fayl suk-sehs Good luck!
I [don't] know. Proost! prohst Cheers! Wees voorzichtig! vays fohr-zikh-tikh Be careful!
Wat is dit / dat? vut iss dit / dut What is this / that?
In the pronunciations, kh denotes a uvular guttural sound. Meneer, mevrouw and mejuffrouw are all written with a small letter when they precede a name. When typing, de Heer is used instead of meneer and Dhr. is used on envelopes. Mevrouw and mejuffrouw are abbreviated as Mevr. and Mej. In addition, Mw. can be used as an equivalent of the English Ms.
English sound guttural sound, made at back of mouth s followed by guttural ch sound same as ch, guttural sound from back of mouth like v before r, otherwise like w but with bottom lip against top teeth like v, but sometimes closer to f either rolled or guttural y as in yes sh as in ship ch as in chip ah as in father, but longer ay as in hail, but shorter ee as in neat, but shorter oh as in boat oo as in pool, but shorter ur as in hurt, but with lips rounded ew, but with lips rounded (sound not found in English) ah as in father, but shorter eh as in bed ih as in bit aw as in paw, with lips rounded ir as in dirt, but very short between the sounds in "light" and "late" combination of aa and ie combination of oe and ie combination of oo and ie like ow, as in house combination of ee and oe combination of ie and oe
ui
The consonants s, f, h, b, d, z, l, m, n, and ng are pronounced the same way in Dutch as in English. P, t, and k are pronounced without the puff of air (called aspiration.) Sometimes the g is pronounced like zh in words borrowed from French. One last vowel sound is found in various Dutch spellings. It is pronounced like uh, as in along or sofa. For example, this sound is found in de (the), een (a), aardig (nice), and vriendelijk (kind).
3. Alphabet
a b c d e f g h i
j k l m n o p q r
s t u v w x y z
4. Nouns and Gender All nouns have a gender in Dutch, either common (de words) or neuter (het words). It is hard to guess which gender a noun is, so it is best to memorize the genders when memorizing vocabulary. However, two-thirds of Dutch words are common gender (because the common gender has combined the former feminine and masculine genders.) So it may be easier to memorize which nouns are neuter, and then assign common gender to the rest. All diminutives (words ending in -je) and infinitives used as nouns, as well as colors, metals, compass directions, and all words that end in -um, -aat, -sel, -isme are neuter. Most nouns beginning with ge- and ending with -te are neuter, as are most nouns beginning with ge-, be-, and ver-. Common noun endings include: -aar, -ent, -er, -es, -eur, heid, -ij, -ing, -teit, -tie.
neuter het
een
common neuter Singular this that Plural these those deze die deze die dit dat
The definite article is used more in Dutch than in English. It is always used before the names of the seasons, street names and in an abstract sense. There are some idioms that
should be memorized, however: in het Nederlands (in Dutch), in de stad (in town), in het zwart (in black), met de auto (by car), met de tijd (in/with time); op tafel (on the table), in zee (in the sea), op kantoor (at the office), in bad (in the bath), op straat (in the street).
6. Subject Pronouns
ik
ik
wij (we)
vay
we
jij (je) u
yay ew
jullie
yew-lee
hay zay ut
zij (ze)
zay
they
Unstressed forms (shortened forms used in the spoken language) are in the parentheses. There are also unstressed forms of ik ('k), hij (ie) and het ('t) but these are not written.
7. To Be & to Have Present tense of zijn - to be (zayn) I am You are ik ben jij / u bent ik ben yay / ew bent hay, zay, ut is we are you are wij zijn jullie zijn vay zayn yew-lee zayn
He, she, it is
they are
zij zijn
zay zayn
Present tense of hebben - to have (heh-buhn) I have You have ik heb jij / u hebt ik hep yay / ew hept we have wij hebben vay heh-buhn yew-lee heh-buhn
He, she, it is
zay heh-buhn
Past tense of zijn - to be (zayn) I was You were He, she, it was ik was jij / u was hij, zij, het was ik vas yay / ew vas hay, zay, ut vas we were you were wij waren vay vah-ruhn
Past tense of hebben - to have (heh-buhn) I had You had He, she, it had ik had jij / u had hij, zij, het had ik haht we had wij hadden jullie hadden vay hah-duhn yew-lee hahduhn zay hah-duhn
they had
zij hadden
You must use the subject pronouns; however, I will leave them out of future conjugations since most verbs only have two forms for each conjugation. Expressions with zijn and hebben: Het/dat is jammer - It's/that's a pity jarig zijn - to have a birthday kwijt zijn - to have lost op het punt staan - to be about to van plan zijn - to intend voor elkaar zijn - to be in order honger / dorst hebben - to be hungry / thirsty gelijk hebben - to be right haast hebben - to be in a hurry het hebben over - to talk about het druk hebben - to be busy het koud hebben / warm - to be cold / warm
last hebben van - to be bothered by nodig hebben - to need slaap hebben - to be sleepy zin hebben in - to feel like
8. Useful Words
sometimes always never often usually now and but or very here there also much another already perhaps
soms altijd nooit vaak, dikwijls gewoonlijk nu en maar of zeer, heel hier daar ook veel een ander al misschien
9. Question Words who what why when how where where to where from which Isn't it?, etc.
Welk is used before het words, and welke is used before de words and plural nouns. Niet waar is a tag question, and is added to the end of statements to make them questions. It can translate several ways into English: isn't it?, doesn't it?, isn't he?, doesn't he?, isn't she?, doesn't she?, aren't we?, don't we?, aren't they?, don't they?, aren't you?, don't you?, right?, yes?, etc.
10. Numbers 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 nul een twee drie vier vijf zes zeven acht negen 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th eerste tweede drede vierde vijfde zesde zevende achtste negende
tien elf twaalf dertien veertien vijftien zestien zeventien achttien negentien twintig eenentwintig tweentwintig drientwintig dertig veertig vijftig zestig zeventig tachtig negentig honderd honderd en een honderd tien tweehonderd duizend
10th 11th 12th 13th 14th 15th 16th 17th 18th 19th 20th 21st 22nd 23rd 30th 40th 50th 60th 70th 80th 90th 100th 101st 110th 200th 1,000th
tiende elfde twaalfde dertiende veertiende vijftiende zestiende zeventiende achttiende negentiende twintigste eenentwintigste tweentwintigste drieentwintigste dertigste veertigste vijftigste zestigste zeventigste tachtigste negentigste honderdste honderd en eerste honderd tiende tweehonderdste duizendste
In the word for twenty-two, the is necessary because there are three of the same vowels in a row, and the accent mark shows that the third one needs to be pronounced separately. The use of commas and decimals is reversed in Dutch. Also note that I speak American English, so billion means 1,000,000,000 and not the British counterpart.
11. Days of the Week Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday day morning afternoon maandag dinsdag woensdag donderdag vrijdag zaterdag zondag dag ochtend middag
evening night today tomorrow tonight yesterday last night day after tomorrow day before yesterday week last week weekend daily weekly
avond nacht vandaag morgen deze nacht gisteren (de) afgelopen nacht overmorgen eergisteren week afgelopen week weekend dagelijks wekelijks
12. Months of the Year January February March April May June July januari februari maart april mei juni juli
August September October November December month year last year monthly yearly
augustus september oktober november december maand jaar het afgelopen jaar maandelijks jaarlijks
13. Seasons Winter Spring Summer Autumn de winter de lente / het voorjaar de zomer de herfst / het najaar
14. Directions Compass/Wind North South East West noord zuid oost west Location/Movement noorden zuiden oosten westen right left straight rechts links rechtdoor
15. Colors & shapes orange pink purple blue yellow red black brown gray white green silver gold beige light dark oranje roze paars blauw geel rood zwart bruin grijs wit groen zilver goud beige licht donker square circle triangle rectangle oval box sphere cube pyramid cone cylinder heart star diamond crescent vierkant cirkel driehoek rechthoek ovaal vak bol kubus piramide kegel cilinder hart ster diamant halvemaan
Licht and donker are added to the colors to mean light and dark: lichtbruin - light brown.
16. Time What time is it? It's 1:00 2:00 Hoe laat is het? Het is een uur. Het is twee uur.
3:30 5:45 7:03 at 9:30 noon midnight In the morning During the day In the evening At night
Het is half vier. Het is kwart voor zes. Het is drie (minuten) over zeven. om half tien twaalf uur 's middags twaalf uur 's nachts / middernacht 's ochtends 's middags 's avonds 's nachts Minuten can be omitted, just as in English.
17. Weather
How's the weather today? It's cold beautiful hot clear icy warm windy cloudy hazy
Wat voor weer is het vandaag? Het is koud Het is mooi Het is heet Het is helder Het is ijzig Het is warm Het is windig Het is bewolkt Het is mistig
Het is drukkend / benauwd Het is vochtig Het is mistig Het sneeuwt Het regent Het vriest
18. Family & Pets family parents mother father child / children son daughter brother Sister grandparents grandfather grandmother grandchildren grandson granddaughter niece / cousin (f) nephew / cousin familie ouders moeder / mamma vader / papa kind / kinderen zoon dochter broeder / broer zuster / zus grootouder grootvader / opa grootmoeder / oma kleinkinderen kleinzoon kleindochter nicht neef sister-in-law brother-in-law godmother godfather boy girl child man, husband woman, wife friend (m) friend (f) adult relative siblings twin birth death schoonzuster zwager meter peetvader jongen meisje (n) kind man vrouw vriend vriendin volwassene bloedverwant broers en zusters tweeling geboorte dood
(m) uncle aunt stepmother stepfather stepdaughter stepson stepsister stepbrother mother-in-law father-in-law daughter-in-law son-in-law oom tante stiefmoeder stiefvader stiefdochter stiefzoon stiefzuster stiefbroeder schoonmoeder schoonvader schoondochter schoonzoon dog cat bird goldfish gerbil hamster ferret horse pony hond poes vogel goudvis woestijnrat hamster fret paard pony marriage divorce huwelijk (n) echtscheiding
kennen - to know people Present: Past: ken kende ken kenduh kennen kenden ken-nuh weet ken-duh wist
20. Formation of Plural Nouns Most plural nouns are formed by adding either -en or -s. Remember that the definite article is always de before plural nouns. 1. -en (the n is pronounced softly) is added to most nouns, with a few spelling changes boek - boeken book(s) jas - jassen coat(s) haar - haren hair(s) huis - huizen house(s) Spelling changes: Words with long vowels (aa, ee, oo, and uu) drop the one vowel when another syllable is added. Words with the short vowels (a, e, i, o and u) double the following consonant to keep the vowels short. The letters f and s occur at the end of words or before consonants, while the letters v and z occur in the middle of words before vowels. (These spelling rules are also used for conjugating verbs, so it's best to memorize them as soon as possible.) 2. -s is added to nouns ending in the unstressed syllables -el, -em, -en, and -er (and aar(d), -erd, -ier when referring to people), foreign words and to most nouns ending in an unstressed vowel tafel - tafels table(s) jongen - jongens boy(s) tante - tantes aunt(s) bakker - bakkers baker(s) Nouns ending in the vowels -a, -o, and -u add an apostrophe before the s: foto's, paraplu's Irregular forms 3. Some nouns containing a short vowel do not double the following consonant in the plural before -en. The plural vowel is then pronounced as long. bad - baden bath(s) dag - dagen day(s)
spel - spelen game(s) (like the Olympics, smaller games are spellen) glas - glazen glass(es) weg - wegen road(s) 4. A few neuter nouns take the ending -eren (or -deren if the noun ends in -n) blad - bladeren leaf (leaves) kind - kinderen child(ren) ei - eieren egg(s) been - beenderen bone(s) [Note: been - benen leg(s)] lied - liederen song(s) volk - volkeren nation(s), people 5. Nouns ending in -heid have a plural in -heden. mogelijkheid - mogelijkheden possibility (possibilities) 6. Some other common irregular plurals are: stad - steden town(s) schip - schepen ship(s) lid - leden member(s) koe - koeien cow(s)