1.

BASIC PHRASES
Goedemorgen
khoo-duh-mawr-ghuh
Good Morning
Goedemiddag
khoo-duh-mih-dahkh
Good Day
Goedenavond
khoo-duh-nah-fohnt
Good Evening
Goedenacht
khoo-duh-nahkht
Good Night
Hoi / Hallo / Daag / Doei
hoy / hah-loh / dahk / doo-
ee
Hi / Bye
Tot ziens
toht zeens
Goodbye
Tot straks
toht straks
See you later (in the
same day)
Tot zo
toht zoh
See you soon
Alstublieft / Alsjeblieft
ahlst-ew-bleeft / ahl-shuh-
bleeft
Please
Dank u wel / Dank je
wel
dahnk-ew-vehl / dahnk-
yuh-vehl
Thank you
Hartelijk bedankt
hahr-tuh-lik buh-dahnkt
Thank you very much
Graag gedaan
khrahkh khuh-dahn
You're welcome (don't
mention it)
Sorry
saw-ree
I'm sorry / Excuse me
Pardon, wat zei u?
pahr-dohn, vat zay ew
Pardon me (didn't
understand)
Ja / Nee
yah / nay
Yes / No
Hoe gaat het met u?
hoo khaht ut meht ew
How are you? (formal)
Hoe gaat het?
hoo khaht ut
How are you? (informal)
Goed / Heel goed
khoot / hayl khoot
Fine / Very well
Het gaat / Slecht
uht khaht / slehkht
So so / Bad
Ik ben moe / ziek
ik ben moo / zeek
I'm tired / sick.
Ik heb honger / dorst
ik heb hohng-ur / dohrst
I'm hungry / thirsty.
Hoe heet u?
hoo hayt ew
What's your name?
(formal)
Hoe heet je?
hoo hayt yuh
What's your name?
(informal)
Ik heet...
ik hayt...
My name is (I'm called)...
Ik ben...
ik ben
I am...
Aangenaam (kennis te
maken)
ahn-guh-nahm (ken-nis
tuh mah-kuh)
Nice to meet you.
meneer / mevrouw /
mejuffrouw
muh-nayr / muh-frow /
muh-yuh-frow
Mister / Misses / Miss
Waar komt u vandaan?
vahr kawmt ew fun-dahn
Where are you from?
(formal)
Waar kom je vandaan?
vahr kawn yuh fun-dahn
Where are you from?
(informal)
Ik kom uit Nederland.
ik kawm owt nay-der-lant
I am from the
Netherlands.
Waar woont u?
vahr vohnt ew
Where do you live?
(formal)
Waar woon je?
vahr vohn yuh
Where do you live?
(informal)
Ik woon in Amerika.
ik vohn in ah-meh-ree-kah
I live in America.
Hoe oud bent u?
hoo owt bent ew
How old are you?
(formal)
Hoe oud ben je?
hoo owt ben yuh
How old are you?
(informal)
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)
Spreek je Engels?
sprayk yuh ehng-uhls
Do you speak English?
(informal)
Ik spreek [geen]...
ik sprayk [khayn]
I [don't] speak...
Ik spreek niet zo goed...
ik sprayk neet zoh khood
I don't speak ... very well.
Ik begrijp het [niet.]
ik buh-khraip ut neet
I [don't] understand.
Ik weet het [niet.]
ik vayt ut [neet]
I [don't] know.
Wat kost het?
vat kohst ut
How much is it?
Ik wil graag...
ik vil khrahk
I'd like...
Proost!
prohst
Cheers!
Veel plezier!
fayl pleh-zeer
Have fun!
Veel succes!
fayl suk-sehs
Good luck!
Wees voorzichtig!
vays fohr-zikh-tikh
Be careful!
Dat is geweldig /
vreselijk!
dat is khuh-vehl-duhkh /
fray-zuh-likh
That is great / terrible!
Ik hou van je.
ik how fahn yuh
I love you. (informal)
Ik hou van jullie.
ik how fahn juh-lee
I love you (all).
Wat vreemd!
vaht fraymt
How funny / odd!
Wat jammer!
vaht yah-mer
What a pity!
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.

2. PRONUNCIATION
Dutch
letters
English sound
ch
sch
g
w
v
r
j
sj
tj
aa
ee
ie
oo
oe
eu
uu
a
e
i
o
u
ei / ij
aai
oei
ooi
ou / au
eeuw
ieuw
uw
ui
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
combination of uu and oe
combination of a and uu
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 ah j yay s ess
b bay k kah t tay
c say l ell u ew
d day m emm v fay
e ay n enn w vay
f eff o oh x eeks
g khay p pay y ee-grek
h hah q kew z zett
i ee r air


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.

5. ARTICLES & DEMONSTRATIVES


common neuter
Singular "the" de het
Plural "the" de
Indefinite "a" or
"an"
een

common neuter
Singular
this
that

deze
die

dit
dat
Plural
these
those

deze
die
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 I wij (we) vay we
jij (je)
u
yay
ew
you (singular
informal)
you (formal)
jullie
yew-
lee
you (plural
informal)
hij
zij (ze)
het
hay
zay
ut
he
she
it
zij (ze) zay they
Unstressed forms (shortened forms used mostly in the
spoken language) are in parentheses. There are also
unstressed forms of ik ('k), hij (ie) and het ('t) but these are
not written in the standard language. You will see them in
informal writing, however (such as on internet forums or
sometimes in film subtitles.)

7. TO BE & TO HAVE
Present tense of zijn - to be (zayn)
I am ik ben ik ben we are wij zijn vay zayn
You are jij / u bent
yay / ew
bent
you are jullie zijn yew-lee zayn
He, she, it is hij, zij, het is
hay, zay, ut
is
they are zij zijn zay zayn
Present tense of hebben - to have (heh-buhn)
I have ik heb ik hep we have wij hebben vay heh-buhn
You have jij / u hebt yay / ew hept you have jullie hebben yew-lee heh-buhn
He, she, it
is
hij, zij, het
heeft
hay, zay, ut
hayft
they have zij hebben zay heh-buhn
U heeft rather than u hebt is also possible.
Past tense of zijn - to be (zayn)
I was ik was ik vas we were wij waren vay vah-ruhn
You were jij / u was yay / ew vas you were jullie waren
yew-lee vah-
ruhn
He, she, it
was
hij, zij, het
was
hay, zay, ut
vas
they were zij waren zay vah-ruhn
Past tense of hebben - to have (heh-buhn)
I had ik had ik haht we had wij hadden vay hah-duhn
You had jij / u had
yay / ew
haht
you had jullie hadden
yew-lee hah-
duhn
He, she, it
had
hij, zij, het
had
hay, zay, ut
haht
they had zij hadden zay hah-duhn

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 soms
always altijd
never nooit
often vaak, dikwijls
usually gewoonlijk
now nu
and en
but maar
or of
very zeer, heel
here hier
there daar
also ook
much veel
another een ander
already al
perhaps misschien

9. QUESTION WORDS
who wie where waar
what wat where to waar... naartoe
why waarom where from waar... vandaan
when wanneer which welk / welke
how hoe Isn't it?, etc. niet waar?
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 nul

1 een 1st eerste
2 twee 2nd tweede
3 drie 3rd drede
4 vier 4th vierde
5 vijf 5th vijfde
6 zes 6th zesde
7 zeven 7th zevende
8 acht 8th achtste
9 negen 9th negende
10 tien 10th tiende
11 elf 11th elfde
12 twaalf 12th twaalfde
13 dertien 13th dertiende
14 veertien 14th veertiende
15 vijftien 15th vijftiende
16 zestien 16th zestiende
17 zeventien 17th zeventiende
18 achttien 18th achttiende
19 negentien 19th negentiende
20 twintig 20th twintigste
21 eenentwintig 21st eenentwintigste
22 tweentwintig 22nd tweentwintigste
23 drientwintig 23rd drieentwintigste
30 dertig 30th dertigste
40 veertig 40th veertigste
50 vijftig 50th vijftigste
60 zestig 60th zestigste
70 zeventig 70th zeventigste
80 tachtig 80th tachtigste
90 negentig 90th negentigste
100 honderd 100th honderdste
101 honderd en een 101st honderd en eerste
110 honderd tien 110th honderd tiende
200 tweehonderd 200th tweehonderdste
1,000 duizend 1,000th duizendste
1,001 duizend en een 1,001st duizend en eerste
million een miljoen millionth miljoenste
billion een miljard billionth miljardste

de helft half een keer once
een derde one third twee keer twice
een kwart one quarter drie keer three times
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 maandag
Tuesday dinsdag
Wednesday woensdag
Thursday donderdag
Friday vrijdag
Saturday zaterdag
Sunday zondag
day dag
morning ochtend
afternoon middag
evening avond
night nacht
today vandaag
tomorrow morgen
tonight deze nacht
yesterday gisteren
last night (de) afgelopen nacht
day after tomorrow overmorgen
day before yesterday eergisteren
week week
last week afgelopen week
weekend weekend
daily dagelijks
weekly wekelijks


12. MONTHS OF THE YEAR
January januari
February februari
March maart
April april
May mei
June juni
July juli
August augustus
September september
October oktober
November november
December december
month maand
year jaar
last year het afgelopen jaar
monthly maandelijks
yearly jaarlijks

13. SEASONS
Winter de winter
Spring de lente / het voorjaar
Summer de zomer
Autumn de herfst / het najaar

14. DIRECTIONS

Compass/Wind Location/Movement

North noord noorden right rechts
South zuid zuiden left links
East oost oosten straight rechtdoor
West west westen


15. COLORS & SHAPES
orange oranje square vierkant
pink roze circle cirkel
purple paars triangle driehoek
blue blauw rectangle rechthoek
yellow geel oval ovaal
red rood box vak
black zwart sphere bol
brown bruin cube kubus
gray grijs pyramid piramide
white wit cone kegel
green groen cylinder cilinder
silver zilver heart hart
gold goud star ster
beige beige diamond diamant
light licht crescent halvemaan
dark donker

Licht and donker are added to the colors to mean light and
dark: lichtbruin - light brown.

16. TIME
What time is it? Hoe laat is het?
It's 1:00 Het is een uur.
2:00 Het is twee uur.
3:30 Het is half vier.
5:45 Het is kwart voor zes.
7:03 Het is drie (minuten) over zeven.
at 9:30 om half tien
noon twaalf uur 's middags
midnight
twaalf uur 's nachts /
middernacht
In the morning 's ochtends
During the day 's middags
In the evening 's avonds
At night 's nachts
Minuten can be omitted, just as in English.

17. WEATHER
How's the weather today? Wat voor weer is het vandaag?
It's cold Het is koud
beautiful Het is mooi
hot Het is heet
clear Het is helder
icy Het is ijzig
warm Het is warm
windy Het is windig
cloudy Het is bewolkt
hazy Het is mistig
muggy Het is drukkend / benauwd
humid Het is vochtig
foggy Het is mistig
It's snowing Het sneeuwt
It's raining Het regent
It's freezing Het vriest

18. FAMILY & PETS
family familie sister-in-law schoonzuster
parents ouders brother-in-law zwager
mother moeder / mamma godmother meter
father vader / papa godfather peetvader
child / children kind / kinderen boy jongen
son zoon girl meisje (n)
daughter dochter child kind
brother broeder / broer man, husband man
Sister zuster / zus woman, wife vrouw
grandparents grootouder friend (m) vriend
grandfather grootvader / opa friend (f) vriendin
grandmother grootmoeder / oma adult volwassene
grandchildren kleinkinderen relative bloedverwant
grandson kleinzoon siblings broers en zusters
granddaughter kleindochter twin tweeling
niece / cousin (f) nicht birth geboorte
nephew / cousin
(m)
neef death dood
uncle oom marriage huwelijk (n)
aunt tante divorce echtscheiding
stepmother stiefmoeder

stepfather stiefvader dog hond
stepdaughter stiefdochter cat poes
stepson stiefzoon bird vogel
stepsister stiefzuster goldfish goudvis
stepbrother stiefbroeder gerbil woestijnrat
mother-in-law schoonmoeder hamster hamster
father-in-law schoonvader ferret fret
daughter-in-law schoondochter horse paard
son-in-law schoonzoon pony pony
In the vocabulary lists, (n) after the noun means that the
gender is neuter and the definite article is het (rather than
de.)

19. TO KNOW PEOPLE AND FACTS
kennen - to know people weten - to know facts
Present: ken ken kennen
ken-
nuh
weet vayt weten vay-tuh
Past: kende
ken-
duh
kenden
ken-
duh
wist vist wisten vist-uh

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)

21. POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES
Singular

Plural

mijn (m'n)
jouw (je)
uw
my
your (informal)
your (formal)
ons / onze
jullie (je)
uw
our
your (informal)
your (formal)
zijn (z'n)
haar
zijn (z'n)
his
her
its
hun their
Ons is used before singular neuter/het nouns, and onze is
used elsewhere (before singular common/de nouns, and all
plural nouns.) Je, the unstressed form of jouw, is commonly
used in spoken and written Dutch, unless the speaker/writer
wants to stress the pronoun. In the plural, jullie is the norm,
unless jullie has already been used in the sentence, then je
is used to avoid the redundancy. The other unstressed forms
are not commonly written in the standard language, but are
commonly spoken and written in informal communication.
Like in English, Dutch possessive adjectives are used in
front of a noun to show possession: mijn boek (my book).
There are a few ways to express the -'s used in English too.
-s can be added to proper names and members of the
family: Jans boek (John's book) The preposition van can be
used to mean of: het boek van Jan (the book of John =
John's book) And in more colloquial speech, the unstressed
forms in parentheses above (agreeing in gender and
number) can be used in place of the -s: Jan z'n boek
(John's book)
To form the possessive pronouns, add -e to the stressed
forms (except for jullie) and use the correct article. The only
way to show possession with jullie is to use van jou (literally
meaning "of you"), although all the others can be used with
van too.
de/het mijne, jouwe, uwe, zijne, hare, onze, hunne (mine,
yours, yours, his/its, hers, ours, theirs)

22. TO DO AND TO MAKE
doen - to do maken - to make
doe doo doen doon maak mahk maken mah-kuh
doet doot doen doon maakt mahkt maken mah-kuh
doet doot doen doon maakt mahkt maken mah-kuh
Expressions with doen:
doen alsof - to act as though
doen denken aan - to remind of
dichtdoen - to close
opendoen - to open
pijndoen - to hurt, cause pain

23. WORK

male
female (if different from
male)
actor acteur actrice
actor (stage) toneelspeler toneelspeelster
author/writer schrijver schrifster
baker bakker bakster
bookkeeper boekhouder boekhoudster
bookseller boekhandelaar boekhandelaarster
butcher slager

cashier kassajongen kassameisje
dentist tandarts

doctor dokter

engineer ingenieur

hairdresser kapper kapster
journalist journalist journaliste
judge rechter

lawyer advocaat

mail man postbode

mechanic monteur

musician muzikant muzikante
nurse verpleger verpleegster
office worker kantoormedewerker kantoormedewerkster
officer officier

painter schilder schilderes
photographer fotograaf fotografe
salesperson verkoper verkoopster
secretary secretaris secretaresse
singer zanger zangeres
soldier soldaat

surgeon chirurg

teacher leraar lerares

24. PREPOSITIONS
about over in in, over (used with time)
above /
over
boven / over in front of voor
according
to
volgens inside / within binnen
after na in spite of ondanks
against tegen near bij
along langs next to naast
around rond(om) of van
at bij, om, aan on top of / on op / aan
because of vanwege opposite tegenover
before voor out (of) uit
behind achter since sinds, sedert
between tussen through door
by met, door to
aan, naar(toe) (direction
towards something)
during gedurende, tijdens under onder
except for behalve voor until tot, totdat
for voor with met
from van, uit, vandaan without zonder
At translates as bij when it's a personal location, such as ik
ben bij Jan (I'm at Johns place/I am with John). Om refers
to time: om 12 uur (at noon); and aan refers to an
impersonal location: aan tafel (at the table). By is met in the
sense of ik doe het met de hand (I do it by hand) or ik ga
met het vliegtuig (I go by plane). From is van when it refers
to a person, een kado van jou (a gift from you); and uit
when it is a location, ik kom uit Japan (I come from Japan.)
Vandaan indicates from where, as in waar kom jij vandaan
(where are you from?)

25. COUNTRIES AND NATIONALITIES

Country Nationality (masc. / fem.)
Africa Afrika Afrikaan / Afrikaanse
America Amerika Amerikaan / Amerikaanse
Argentina Argentini Argentijn / Argentijnse
Asia Azi Aziaat
Austria Oostenrijk Oostenrijker / Oostenrijkse
Belgium Belgi Belg / Belgische
Brazil Brazili Braziliaan / Braziliaanse
China China Chinees / Chinese
Denmark Denemarken Deen / Deense
England Engeland Engelsman / Engelse
Europe Europa Europeaan
France Frankrijk Fransman / Franaise
Germany Duitsland Duitser / Duitse
Great Britain Groot Brittani Brit / Britse
Greece Griekenland Griek / Griekse
Holland Holland Hollander / Hollandse
Hungary Hongarije Hongaar / Hongaarse
India India Indir / Indische
Ireland Ierland Ier / Ierse
Italy Itali Italiaan / Italiaanse
Japan Japan Japanner / Japanse
Netherlands Nederland Nederlander / Nederlandse
Norway Noorwegen Noor / Noorse
Poland Polen Pool / Poolse
Portugal Portugal Portugees / Portugese
Russia Rusland Rus / Russin
Spain Spanje Spanjaard / Spaanse
Sweden Zweden Zweed / Zweedse
Switzerland Zwitserland Zwitser / Zwitserse
Turkey Turkije Turk / Turkse
United States Verenigde Staten Amerikaan / Amerikaanse
The feminine form of many occupations and nationalities is
indicated by one of five endings. For most nationalities, -e is
added, as in Nederlandse (Dutch woman). The endings -in, -
es, -esse and -ster are also used to form female
counterparts. -ster is added to verbs while -esse replaces
the -is ending of some nouns.
boer - boerin (farmer - female
farmer/farmer's wife)
leeuw - leeuwin (lion - lioness)
koning - koningin (king - queen)
Rus - Russin (Russian man -
Russian woman)
leraar - lerares (male teacher -
female teacher)
prins - prinses (prince -
princess)
student - studente (male student -
female student)
secretaris - secretaresse (male
secretary - female secretary)
bibliothekaris - bibliothekaresse (male
librarian - female librarian)
schrijfer - scrijfster (write - female
author)
verpleeger - verpleegster (nurse -
female nurse)

26. NEGATIVE SENTENCES
The word niet (not) is used to negate sentences, and is
generally placed at the end of the clause. However, niet
precedes a preposition, an adjective that follows a noun, and
the words binnen (inside), buiten (outside), beneden
(downstairs), boven (upstairs) and thuis (at home).
Een is usually not preceded by niet or any phrase ending
with niet (ook niet - not either, nog niet - not yet). Instead,
geen, ook geen and nog geen replace the article. Geen is
translated by not a, not any or no when followed by a noun in
English. Geen also negates nouns that cannot be counted,
such as water, bier and wijn.
Jan leest niet. Jan does not read.
Hij werkt volgende week ook niet. He is not working next
week either.
Ik wil geen kopje koffie. I don't want a cup of coffee.
Zij hebben nog geen huis gevonden. They have not found
a house yet.

27.TO COME AND TO GO
komen - to come gaan - to go
kom kawm komen
koh-
muh
ga gah gaan gahn
komt kawmt komen
koh-
muh
gaat gaht gaan gahn
komt kawmt komen
koh-
muh
gaat gaht gaan gahn
Expressions with komen and gaan:
Hoe komt het dat.. ? How is it that.. ?
Hoe gaat het met u? How are you?
Het gaat goed met me. I am fine.
gaan zitten - to sit down, be seated

28. TO AND FROM COUNTRIES AND CITIES
to
from
naar
uit
Ik kom uit Nederland. I come from the Netherlands.
Zij gaat naar New York. She's going to New York.

29. CONJUGATING REGULAR VERBS
English has three ways of expressing the present tense,
such as I run, I am running, I do run. All three of these
tenses are translated as one tense in Dutch. Most verbs are
regular in Dutch in the present tense, and it is formed by
using the verb stem (the infinitive minus the -en), and adding
these endings (Note that there is no ending for the first
person singular form, and all the plural forms are identical to
the infinitive):
Verb
endings
drinken - to
drink
-
-t
-t
-en
-en
-en
drink
drinkt
drinkt
drinken
drinken
drinken
There is, however, an alternative present tense to express
an action that is currently happening: use zijn aan het with
the infinitive. Ik ben aan het koken would translate as I am
cooking (right now.)
The perfect tense in English of expressions of "for," "since"
and "how long?" are rendered by the present tense in Dutch:
Ik woon hier al vijf jaar. I have lived here for five years.
Hij werkt sinds april met zijn broer. He has been working
with his brother since April.
Graag is an adverb used with verbs to express "to like to.."
instead of using the verb houden van, which literally means
to like or love.
To form questions, simply invert the subject and verb. For
the second person singular form (jij), the -t ending of the
conjugated verb is dropped. Dutch does not have an
equivalent of the English "do" in questions, so Woon jij in
Rotterdam? means Do you live in Rotterdam? although it
literally is Live you in Rotterdam?

30. IRREGULARITIES IN REGULAR VERBS
When you add the present tense endings, you must observe
the regular spelling rules in Dutch. 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. Notice how the infinitive is still identical
to the plural conjugations for wij, jullie, and zij, and the stem
is identical to the ik form.
Infinitive

Stem & ik
form
jij, hij, etc. wij, jullie, etc.
betalen
blijven
hopen
raden
geloven
schrijven
kiezen
haten
leven
lezen
praten
rijden
wassen
gaan
staan
slaan
to pay
to stay
to hope
to guess
to believe
to write
to choose
to hate
to live
to read
to talk
to ride
to wash
to go
to stand
to hit
betaal
blijf
hoop
raad
geloof
schrijf
kies
haat
leef
lees
praat
rijd
was
ga
sta
sla
betaalt
blijft
hoopt
raadt
gelooft
schrijft
kiest
haat
leeft
leest
praat
rijdt
wast
gaat
staat
slaat
betalen
blijven
hopen
raden
geloven
schrijven
kiezen
haten
leven
lezen
praten
rijden
wassen
gaan
staan
slaan
One verb that does not follow the spelling rule is komen.
The singular forms are all written and pronounced with the
short o, while the plural forms are written and pronounced
with the long o: kom, komt and komen. (According to the
spelling rules, the singular forms should be the long o, but
they are not.)
There are five verbs whose ending is only -n: gaan (to go),
staan (to stand), slaan (to hit), doen (to do) and zien (to
see); the first three change according to the spelling rules.
If a stem ends in -t, you do not add another -t for the second
and third person singular forms. zitten - to sit; hij zit - he sits
Verb stems that end in -oud and -ijd drop the -d in the first
person singular and in question forms of the second person
singular form. The -d can be written, but it is not pronounced.
rijden - to ride; ik rij(d) - I ride; rij(d) jij? - do you ride?

31. MODAL VERBS
In Dutch, there are four modals: kunnen - to be able to, can;
moeten - to have to, must; mogen - to be allowed to, may;
and willen - to want to. Modals can be used with other
infinitives without the use of prepositions.


kunnen moeten mogen willen
ik
jij / u
hij / zij / het
wij
jullie
zij
kan
kan / kunt
kan
kunnen
kunnen
kunnen
moet
moet
moet
moeten
moeten
moeten
mag
mag
mag
mogen
mogen
mogen
wil
wil / wilt
wil
willen
willen
willen
The -t of kunt and wilt are dropped in inversions with jij, but
not with moet. Kan and kunt are used interchangeably for
the second person singular form of kunnen, so jij kan and jij
kunt as well as jij wil and jij wilt are both possible. The
main difference is that kan and wil are considered slightly
more informal with jij than kunt or wilt.
Common verbs, such as doen and gaan, can be omitted in
Dutch after modals, but not in the English translation. In
addition, impersonal constructions with het/dat + modals are
used.
Dat kan. That's possible/can be done.
Het moet. It must be done.
When modals are used with other verbs, the other verb is in
the infinitive and placed at the end of the clause or
sentence.

32. REFLEXIVE VERBS
Reflexive verbs express an action that reciprocates back to
the subject. In other words, whoever is speaking is doing an
action to himself. Examples in English would be: I wash
myself, he hurts himself, we hate ourselves. The reflexive
pronouns always follow the subject and verb.
Reflexive Pronouns
me
je / u
zich
ons
je
zich
The reflexive pronoun u is often replaced by zich to avoid the
double occurrence of u.
Verbs that are always reflexive:
zich
afvragen
zich
bevinden
zich ergeren
zich
gedragen
zich generen
zich haasten
zich
herinneren
zich
herstellen
zich
schamen
voor
zich
vergissen in
zich
verheugen
op
zich
verslapen
zich
voorstellen
ask oneself
find oneself
get annoyed by
behave
be
embarrassed
hurry
remember
recover
be ashamed of
be mistaken
about
look forward to
oversleep
imagine,
introduce
oneself

Verbs that can be reflexive or used with other direct objects
aankleden
amuseren
bewegen
ergeren
opwinden
scheren
snijden
uitkleden
verbazen
verdedigen
verkleden
get dressed
enjoy oneself
move
make angry
get excited
shave (oneself)
cut oneself
undress (oneself)
be amazed
defend oneself
change clothes
verontschuldigen
verschuilen
vervelen
voelen
wassen
excuse
oneself/apologize
hide (oneself)
to be bored
feel
wash (oneself)
Emphatic Forms
mezelf
jezelf
zichzelf
onszelf
jezelf
zichzelf
The emphatic forms of the reflexive pronouns can only be
used with the verbs that can be reflexive or used with other
direct objects, and never with verbs that are always reflexive.
Elkaar is used when there is a reciprocal meaning of "each
other" in English.

33. VERBS FOLLOWED BY PREPOSITIONS
afhangen van depend on
bang zijn voor be afraid of
deelnemen aan take part in
denken aan think of/about
feliciteren met congratulate on
gebrek hebben aan be short of
herinneren aan remind
houden van like, love (things or people)
huilen om cry at/about
kijken naar look at/watch
lachen om laugh at
letten op pay attention to
lijden aan suffer from
luisteren naar listen to
praten/spreken met talk to
reageren op react to
rekenen op rely on
sterven aan die of
trek/zin hebben in want
trouwen met marry
twijfelen aan doubt
vragen om ask for
weten van know about
zeggen tegen say to
zorgen voor care for

34. SEPARABLE PREFIXES
aan- af- binnen- in- na- onder- over- toe- voor-
achter- bij- door- mee- om- op- tegen- uit- -weg
When verbs with separable prefixes are conjugated, the
prefixes go to the end of the clause or sentence. For
example, uitgaan (to go out) and weggaan (to go away):
Gaan jullie niet meer uit? Don't you go out anymore?
Hij gaat vandaag weg. He's going away today.

35. INSEPARABLE PREFIXES
be- ont- ge-
her- ver- er-
These prefixes always remain attached to their infinitives.
The inseparable prefixes are unstressed syllables, as
compared to the separable prefixes, of which most can stand
alone as prepositions. -ann, -onder, -over, -door, -voor and -
om can also be inseparable prefixes if they are unstressed.

36. PRESENT PERFECT OR PAST INDEFINITE TENSE

This tense is used more often than the simple past,
especially in conversation, and is equivalent to I have asked
or I asked. Regular verbs use a form of hebben or zijn and a
past participle. Past participles are made by adding ge- to
the beginning of the verb stem and -t or -d to the end. Verb
stems are the infinitives minus the -en, with the appropriate
spelling changes. The stems are identical to the first person
singular present tense form.
-t is added to stems ending in t, k, f, s, ch, and p (note that if
the stem ends in -t already, you do not double the
consonant), while -d is added to all other stems, except
those already ending in -d. (If a stem ends in -f or -s, but the
infinitive contained -v or -z, then still add a -d)
Verbs with inseparable prefixes do not add ge- in this tense.
Verbs with separable prefixes add the ge after the prefix and
before the stem (afgemaakt).
Verb

Stem Past Participle
hopen to hope hoop gehoopt
maken
blaffen
missen
dromen
bellen
loven
vrezen
praten
koken
blaffen
kuchen
bouwen
horen
branden
bedoelen
bepraten
geloven
verhuizen
afmaken
to make
to bark
to miss
to dream
to ring
to praise
to be afraid
to talk
to cook
to bark
to cough
to build
to hear
to burn
to mean
to discuss
to believe
to move house
to finish
maak
blaf
mis
droom
bel
loof
vrees
praat
kook
blaf
kuch
bouw
hoor
brand
bedoel
bepraat
geloof
verhuis
af...maak
gemaakt
geblaft
gemist
gedroomd
gebeld
geloofd
gevreesd
gepraat
gekookt
geblaft
gekucht
gebouwd
gehoord
gebrand
bedoeld
bepraat
geloofd
verhuisd
afgemaakt
Hebben vs. Zijn
Some verbs of motion can take either hebben or zijn
depending on whether it is the action that is stressed
(hebben) or the destination/direction (zijn.) Verbs taking zijn
are generally intransitive (they do not take direct objects)
and denote a change in motion/position or change in
state/condition. Most verbs derived from zijn verbs also take
zijn in the perfect tense.
Modals
The past participles of the modals (kunnen: gekund;
moeten: gemoeten; mogen: gemoogd, willen: gewild) are
only used when the modal is used independently of another
verb.
Ik heb het gemoeten. I had to (do it).
If the perfect tense of a modal is used with another verb,
then the past participle of the modal is replaced by its
infinitive. This double infinitive construction (infinitive of
modal + other infinitive) is always placed at the end of the
clause or sentence.
Ik heb gisteren kunnen komen. I was able to come
yesterday.

37. IRREGULAR PAST PARTICIPLES

Infinitive
Past
Participle
Infinitive
Past
Participle
begin beginnen begonnen walk lopen gelopen
understand begrijpen begrepen
must, have
to
moeten gemoeten
offer bieden geboden may mogen gemogen
remain blijven gebleven call roepen geroepen
break breken gebroken write schrijven geschreven
bring brengen gebracht sleep slapen geslapen
think denken gedacht hit slaan geslagen
do doen gedaan stand staan gestaan
drink drinken gedronken speak spreken gesproken
eat eten gegeten die sterven gestorven
go gaan gegaan forget vergeten vergeten
give geven gegeven lose verliezen verloren
have hebben gehad find vinden gevonden
help helpen geholpen ask vragen gevraagd
be called heten geheten know weten geweten
hold houden gehouden show wijzen gewezen
look kijken gekeken want willen gewild
come komen gekomen become worden geworden
buy kopen gekocht say zeggen gezegd
get krijgen gekregen see zien gezien
can, be able
to
kunnen gekund be zijn geweest
let laten gelaten sing zingen gezongen
read lezen gelezen sit zitten gezeten
lie liggen gelegen look for zoeken gezocht

38. ZIJN VERBS
A few common verbs take zijn instead of hebben in the
present perfect tense:
blijven
blijken
gaan
gebeuren
komen
to stay
to
appear/seem
to go
to happen
to come
stoppen/ophouden
verdwijnen
verschijnen
worden
zijn
to stop
to
disappear
to appear
to
become
to be

39. FOOD AND MEALS
breakfast ontbijt (n) bread brood (n)
lunch
middagmaal (n),
lunch
pepper peper
dinner avondeten (n) salt zout (n)
glass glas (n) ice ijs
fork vork vinegar azijn
spoon lepel oil olie
knife mes (n) sugar suiker
napkin servet (n) butter boter
plate bord (n) table tafel
silverware bestek (n) dish schotel
tea thee juice sap
steak biefstuk water water
cake taart / cake / koek wine wijn
ice cream roomijs (n) beer bier (n)
coffee koffie beverage drank
pie vlaai milk melk
mustard mosterd egg ei (n)
rice rijst honey honing
jam jam snack snack, tussendoortje
soup soep cheese kaas
salad salade cookies koekje

40. FRUITS, VEGETABLES AND MEATS
fruit vrucht cabbage kool
pineapple ananas pumpkin pompoen
apple appel olive olijf
apricot abrikoos radish radijs
banana banaan lettuce sla
pear peer tomato tomaat
strawberry aardbei onion ui
raspberry framboos meat vlees (n)
cherry kers veal kalfsvlees (n)
lime limoen lamb lam (n)
lemon citroen beef rundvlees (n)
orange sinaasappel ham ham
peach perzik pork varkensvlees (n)
grapes druif bacon bacon
vegetables groente sausage worst
cauliflower bloemkool poultry pluimvee (n)
bean boon duck eend
pea erwt goose gans
cucumber komkommer chicken kip
carrot wortel, peen turkey kalkoen
potato aardappel fish vis

The National Anthem of the Netherlands: Wilhelmus van
Nassouwe
By Marnix van St. Aldegonde (2 stanzas out of 15)
Wilhelmus van Nassouwe ben ik van Duitsen bloed
den vaderland getrouwe blijf ik tot in den dood.
Een Prinse van Oranje ben ik, vrij onverveerd,
den Koning van Hispanje heb ik altijd geerd.
Mijn schild ende betrouwen zijt Gij, o God mijn Heer,
op U zo wil ik bouwen, verlaat mij nimmermeer.
Dat ik doch vroom mag blijven, uw dienaar t'aller stond,
de tirannie verdrijven die mij mijn hert doorwondt.
William of Nassau am I, of Dutch blood;
True to the fatherland I remain until death.
Prince of Orange am I, free and fearless.
To the King of Spain I have always given honour.
You, my God and Lord, are my shield, on You I rely.
On You I will build; never leave me,
So that I may remain pious, your servant at all moments,
Dispelling the tyranny that wounds my heart.
The National Anthem of Belgium: De Brabanonne
By Alexandre Dechet, 1830
O dierbaar Belgi
O heilig land der vaad'ren
Onze ziel en ons hart zijn u gewijd.
Aanvaard ons hart en het bloed van onze adren,
Wees ons doel in arbeid en in strijd.
Bloei, o land, in eendracht niet te breken;
Wees immer u zelf en ongeknecht,
Het woord getrouw, dat ge onbevreesd moogt spreken:
Voor Vorst, voor Vrijheid en voor Recht. (x3)
O beloved Belgium,
sacred land of our fathers,
Our heart and soul are dedicated to you.
Our strength and the blood of our veins we offer,
Be our goal, in work and battle.
Prosper, O country, in unbreakable unity,
Always be yourself and free.
Trust in the word that, undaunted, you can speak:
For King, for Freedom and for Law. (x3)
41. WORD ORDER
Dutch word order requires Time - Manner - Place. English
generally uses place before time, but Dutch cannot.
Hij gaat morgen met de trein naar Londen. He's going to
London tomorrow by train. (Literally: he's going tomorrow by
train to London.)
The verb must always be in the second position in a Dutch
sentence. This not does not mean that it must always be the
second word, however. (Inversion of subject and verb to
form questions is an exception.)
In de winter gaat hij met de trein naar Londen. In the
winter he's going to London by train. (Literally: In the winter
goes he by train to London.)
Separable prefixes, past participles and infinitive always go
to the end of the clause or sentence. The double infinitive
construction always goes to the end of the clause or
sentence as well.

42. COMMANDS
The stem with the appropriate spelling changes is most
commonly used as the command form. When being polite,
the u form is used (with u following the verb.) If a verb has a
separable prefix, it is sent to the end of the clause. The
"let's" form plus a verb is rendered in Dutch by laten we +
infinitive. When the command is general and no one in
particular is being addressed, the infinitive is used,
especially on signs.
Kijk! Look!
Laat mij het doen! Let me do it!
Blijft u zitten. Please remain seated.
Kijk uit! Look out!
Laten we gaan. Let's go.
Niet roken. No smoking.
Trekken / Duwen. Pull / Push.
Note that zijn has an irregular imperative form: wees (and
the polite form: weest u)

43. COORDINATING AND SUBORDINATING
CONJUNCTIONS
Coordinating conjunctions join two sentences together. Word
order is not affected by coordinating conjunctions. Examples
are en (and), dus (so, thus), maar (but), of (or) and want
(for, because).
Subordinating conjunctions are used to connect an
independent and dependent clause together, and they do
affect word order. An independent (or main) clause contains
a subject and verb and can stand alone as its own sentence.
A dependent (or subordinate) clause also contains a subject
and verb, but is introduced with a subordinating conjunction
and cannot stand alone as its own sentence.
Mijn zoon was ziek, toen hij klein was. My son was sick
when he was little.
Ik weet dat jij mij leuk vindt. I know that you like me.
When a subordinating conjunction introduces a clause, the
next clause must begin with a verb.
Hoewel hij jong is, is hij erg rijk. Although he is young, he is
very rich.
Zodra ik klaar ben, kom ik even langs. As soon as I'm ready,
I'll come over.
Subordinating Conjunctions
if/when
as if
except that
that
although
to the extent
that
now
whether
because
after
since
als
alsof
behalve dat
dat
hoewel
inzover(re)
dat
nu(dat)
of
omdat
na(dat)
sinds
unless
while
when (in
past)
until
when
before
just
so that
as long as
without
as far as
tenzij
terwijl
toen
tot(dat)
wanneer
voor(dat)
zoals
zodat
zolang
zonder dat
zover

44. HOLIDAY PHRASES
Happy New Year
Happy Easter
Merry Christmas
Happy Birthday
Gelukkig nieuwjaar
Zalig pasen / Vrolijk Pasen
Zalig kerstfeest
Hartelijk gefeliciteerd (met je
verjaardag)
Zalig is the word traditionally used by Catholics (the Pope
uses it) when saying something in Dutch at Christmas.
Protestants say Prettige kerstdagen (nice), Gelukkig
kerstfeest (happy), or Vrolijk kerstfeest (cheerful); a lot of
variation is possible.

45. BLIJVEN AND LATEN
Blijven (to remain) can be used with an infinitive to express
a continuous or repeated action. Blijven acts like a modal
verb in the sentence; blijven is conjugated and the other verb
remains in the infinitive and goes to the end of the sentence.
De kat blijft naar de muis kijken. The cat keeps looking at
the mouse.
Blijft u maar zitten! Please remain seated!
Laten (to let, leave) can also behave like a modal verb when
used with another verb. It corresponds to "to let" or "to have
something done (by someone else)." In the perfect tense,
laten also behaves like a modal because the infinitive is
used instead of the past participle when it occurs with
another verb.
Laten we naar huis gaan. Let's go home.
Zij laat haar kamer verven. She's having her room painted.
Hij heeft zijn auto laten wassen. He's had his car washed.

46. PLACES
airport luchthaven lane (town) steeg
bakery bakkerij library bibliotheek
bank bank market markt
barn schuur monument gedenkteken (n)
barracks kazerne museum museum
bridge brug palace paleis
bookstore boekwinkel path pad (n)
building gebouw (n) pavement trottoir (n)
castle slot (n) pharmacy apotheek
cathedral kathedraal police station politiebureau (n)
cemetery kerkhof (n) port haven
church kerk prison gevangenis
cinema bioscoop restaurant restaurant
consulate consulaat (n)
road
(highway)
landweg
corner straathoek school school
drugstore apotheek square plein (n)
embassy ambassade stadium stadium
factory fabriek store winkel
farm boerderij street straat
fountain fontein suburb voorstad
garage garage theater
theater /
schouwburg
hospital
ziekenhuis
(n)
tower toren
hotel hotel town stad
house huis (n) town hall stadhuis (n)
hut hut university universiteit
inn herberg village dorp

47. TRANSPORTATION
bus (auto)bus
train trein
airplane vliegtuig
ship schip
boat boot
motorcycle motorfiets
automobile automobiel
streetcar tram
moped bromfiets
bicycle fiets
car auto(mobiel)

48. SIMPLE PAST TENSE
The simple past tense in Dutch corresponds to the simple
past tense in English. It is not a compound tense like the
perfect tense, and some verbs have vowel changes, as in
English. Generally, the simple past tense is indicated in
English by adding -ed to the verb (for regular verbs, at least.)
This tense is used for actions that happened in the past and
that are completely done. To form the past tense, add -te (or
-de) to the stem for the singular persons and -ten (or -den) to
the stem for the plural persons. If the verb stem ends in p, t,
k, f, s, or ch, add -te or -ten; for all other endings, add -de or
-den. Verbs that have either v or z as the final consonant of
the stem change them to f or s first and then add -de and -
den.

ik, jij, u, hij, zij wij, jullie, zij
wonen - to live woonde woonden
geloven - to believe geloofde geloofden
praten - to talk praatte praatten
spelen - to play speelde speelden
trouwen - to marry trouwde trouwden
werken - to work werkte werkten
fietsen - to cycle fietste fietsten

49. IRREGULAR STEMS IN SIMPLE PAST TENSE

For some verbs, the internal vowel of the stem changes in
the past tense. The stem with the changed vowel then acts
as the past tense for all persons of the singular, while the
plural adds -en to the changed stem. In addition, there are
some irregular verbs that change more than the vowel, but
still add nothing for the singular and -en for the plural.

ik, jij, u, hij, zij wij, jullie, zij
zijn - to be was waren
hebben - to have had hadden
gaan - to go ging gingen
weten - to know wist wisten
denken - to think dacht dachten
blijven - to stay bleef bleven
drinken - to drink dronk dronken
eten - to eat at aten
breken - to break brak braken
bijten - to bite beet beten
gieten - to pour goot goten

50. HOUSE AND FURNITURE
alarm
clock
wekker desk bureau painting
schilderij
(n)
armchair leunstoel door deur pillow kussen (n)
ashtray asbak (n) drawer lade
pipe
(water)
pijpleiding
balcony balkon (n) dresser ladenkast radio radio
basement kelder fire vuur (n) refrigerator koelkast
basket korf flame vlam roof dak (n)
bathroom
badkamer
(n)
flat
(apartment)
apartement room kamer
bed bed (n) floor vloer sheet laken (n)
bedroom slaapkamer flower bloem shovel schop
(door)bell (deur)bel furniture meubelen (pl.) shower douche
blanket deken garden tuin smoke rook
blinds
rolgordijn
(n)
ground
floor
benedenverdieping sofa (zit)bank
box kist hearth haard stairs trap
broom bezem house huis (n)
floor (of
building)
verdieping
bucket emmer iron (flat) strijkijzer (n) stove kachel
candle kaars kerosene petroleum table tafel
carpet tapijt (n) key sleutel
tap
(faucet)
kraan
ceiling plafond (n) kitchen keuken television televisie
chair stoel ladder ladder toilet (WC) wc / toilet
chimney schoorsteen lamp lamp towel handdoek
closet kast lock slot (n)
vacuum
cleaner
stofzuiger
computer computer mattress matras vase vaas
corner hoek mirror spiegel
wall
(house)
muur
cupboard kast oven oven
wall
(room)
wand
curtain gordijn (n) pantry provisiekast window raam (n)
cushion kussen (n)
paper
basket
prullenmand yard (achter)tuin

51. STAAN, LIGGEN AND ZITTEN
These verbs are all translated as "to be" in certain cases.
When an object is in an upright position, staan is used.
When an object is lying down, liggen is used. When an
object is inside of something else, zitten is used.
De auto staat voor het huis. The car is in front of the
house.
De krant ligt op de grond. The newspaper is on the floor.
De pen zit in de tas. The pen is in the bag.

52. CLOTHING & ACCESSORIES
belt riem
pants
(trousers)
broek
boot laars pin speld
braces bretels (pl.) pipe pijp
brush borstel pocket zak
button knoop shirt overhemd (n)
cigar sigaar shoe schoen
cigarette sigaret shoelace schoenveter
clothes kleren silk zijde
coat jas skirt rok
collar boord sleeve mouw
comb kam soap zeep
cotton katoen (n) sock sok
dress jurk stick stok
fashion mode stocking kous
glasses bril (sing.) tie stropdas
glove handschoen toothbrush tandenborstel
handkerchief zakdoek toothpaste tandpasta
hat hoed umbrella paraplu
jeans spijkerbroek underwear onderbroek
match lucifer waistcoat vest (n)
needle naald watch horloge (n)
overcoat overjas wool wol

53. FUTURE TENSE
The future tense consists of a conjugated form of zullen and
an infinitive placed at the end of the sentence. Except for the
word order, this is similar to English will + an infinitive. The
future tense can also be used to express probability. When it
does, wel is added to the sentence.
ik zal wij zullen
jij, u zult / zal jullie zullen
hij, zij het zal zij zullen
Like the modals, either zult or zal can be used with jij and u.
Both are considered correct.
De reis zal twee uur duren. The trip will last two hours.
Wij zullen het wel weten. We will probably know it.
The regular present tense can also express a future event
with the use of time expressions. This is common in English
too.
Morgen gaan zij naar Rotterdam. They're going to
Rotterdam tomorrow.
Gaan and an infinitive at the end of the sentence can also be
used to express the future. This is equivalent to the English
construction "going to + verb."
Ik ga een brief schrijven. I'm going to write a letter.
Future Perfect Tense
The future perfect expresses "will have + past participle" and
is as uncommon in Dutch as it is in English. Zullen is still
used at the conjugated verb, but the past participle and
infinitive of hebben (or zijn) are put at the end of the
sentence.
Hij zal de krant gelezen hebben. He will have read the
newspaper.

54. VERB MEANINGS
Some verbs in English are expressed in Dutch as two
different verbs and vice versa. The most common are:
kennen: to know a person or a place; to be acquainted with
(general familiarity)
weten: to know facts (specific knowledge)
leven: to be alive, to exist, to subsist
wonen: to reside, to dwell
betekenen: to signify
bedoelen: to intend
noemen: to call, name
heten: to be called, be named
lenen aan: to lend to
lenen van: to borrow from
leren: to teach (someone something)
leren (van): to learn (from someone)

55. INFLECTIONS OF ADJECTIVES
When adjectives are placed before nouns, and not after,
they add the ending -e. The spelling rules that affect
pluralization of nouns and verb conjugations also apply when
inflecting adjectives. However, the -e is not added when the
adjective occurs before a neuter singular noun without an
article (warm water) or a neuter singular noun preceded by
een, geen, elk (each), ieder (each), menig (many a), veel
(much), welk (which) or zo'n (such a). Adjectives that end in
-en, as well as the adjectives linker (left) and rechter (right),
do not add -e either.
het grote huis - the large house
de lange muur - the long wall
mijn mooie tuin - my beautiful garden
snelle treinen - fast trains
een oud huis - an old house
vers brood - fresh bread
de houten trap - the wooden staircase
zijn rechter oog - his right eye
When an adjective is placed directly after iets (something),
niet (nothing), veel (much), weinig (little), and wat
(something), it adds the ending -s.
iets moois - something beautiful
niets nieuws - nothing new
If the noun following the adjective has been mentioned
before, it may be omitted. In English, "one" is used in its
place, but there is no equivalent word in Dutch. Dutch simply
uses the article and adjective, with the -e inflection, if it is
required.
Koop je een jurk? Ja, ik neem de blauwe. Are you buying
a dress? Yes, I'll take the blue (one.)

56. ADJECTIVES
short kort high hoog light licht
long, tall lang wide wijd dark donker
loud luid fat, thick vet, dik terrible vreselijk
quiet stil thin dun sweet zoet
cute lief, schattig narrow nauw in love verliefd
perfect perfekt weak zwak serious serieus
sad
triest,
droevig
strong sterk clean proper, net
happy blij, gelukkig deep diep dirty vuil
dear beste lazy lui shy verlegen
famous
bekend,
beroemd
cheap goedkoop nervous
nerveus,
zenuwachtig
different
verschillend,
ander
dumb dom comfortable comfortabel
easy gemakkelijk early vroeg worried bezorgd
difficult moeilijk near
nabij,
dichtbij
right juist
pretty mooi nice mooi, aardig wrong verkeerd
ugly lelijk inexpensive goedkoop jealous jaloers
small klein expensive duur drunk dronken, zat
large groot crazy gek popular populair
good goed far ver(af) excellent excellent
bad slecht beautiful mooi valuable kostbaar
new nieuw curious nieuwsgierig alone alleen
tired
vermoeid,
moe
old oud important belangrijk
angry kwaad, boos young jong busy bezig, bezet
annoying
vervelend,
irritant
interesting interessant sick
ziek,
misselijk
wonderful wonderlijk fantastic fantastisch ready klaar

57. COMPARATIVE AND SUPERLATIVE
Comparisons of equality use the expression even +
adjective + als and it translates to "as + adjective + as." In
addition, you can use net zo + adjective + als to mean "as
+ adjective + as," but it is more emphatic.
dit hotel is even duur als de andere - this hotel is as
expensive as the others
But note: zo veel mogelijk - as soon as possible / zo vlug
mogelijk - as fast as possible
When comparing two things, the comparative form of the
adjective is used. It is formed in Dutch by adding -er to the
adjective (or -der if the adjective ends in -r). This is used for
all adjectives; there is no "more + adjective" construction as
there is for some adjectives in English. Comparative
adjectives add the -e ending for the inflection according to
the requirements above; however, adjectives with three or
more syllables do not. When using comparative adjectives,
dan translates as "than."
leuk - nice
leuker - nicer
vriendelijk - friendly
vriendelijker - friendlier
When expressing the highest degree of a quality or
characteristic, the superlative form of the adjective is used.
Most adjectives add -st (or just -t if the adjective already
ends in -s). Since the -st ending does not add a syllable to
the adjective, the spelling rules do not apply. All superlatives
are inflected like regular adjectives. However, if the
superlative adjective is a predicate adjective (follows "to be"
and does not precede a noun), then het precedes it and the -
e is optional. With the superlative, van translates as "in" or
"of." In contrast to English, Dutch does use the superlative to
compare two or more things.
leuk - nice
leukst - nicest
het grootste huis - the biggest house
de duurste kleren - the most expensive clothes
Hij is de oudste van de twee. He is the older (literally:
oldest) of the two.
For ease of pronunciation, adjectives ending in -st and -sch
do not add -st to form the superlative, but use meest (most)
before.
meest juist - most just
meest logisch - most logical
Don't forget the spelling changes when dealing with long and
short vowels:
groot, groter, grootst - big, bigger, biggest
laat, later, laatst - late, later, latest
Some of the most common adjectives have irregular forms:
adjective good goed bad erg much veel little weinig
comparative better beter worse erger more meer less minder
superlative best best worst ergst most meest least minst

58. SPORTS
golf golf
soccer voetbal
volleyball volleybal
football rugby, American football
basketball basketbal
baseball honkbal
hockey hockey
tennis tennis
bowling bowlen, bowling
sailing zeilen
horseback riding paardrijden
boxing boksen
roller-skating rolschaatsen
ice-skating schaatsen
skiing skien
bicycle racing wielrennen
riding a bicycle fietsen
swimming zwemmen

59. NATURE
air lucht grass gras (n) rock rots
bank oever hail hagel sand zand (n)
bay baai hay hooi (n) sea zee
beach strand (n) heath heide shadow schaduw
bridge brug high tide vloed sky lucht
bush struik hill heuvel snow sneeuw
cave grot ice ijs (n)
spring
(water)
bron
city stad island eiland (n) star ster
cloud wolk lake meer (n) storm storm
coast kust leaf blad stream beek
country land (n) light licht (n) street straat
country(side)
platteland
(n)
lightning bliksem sun zon
current stroom low tide eb thaw (ont)dooi
darkness duisternis meadow weide thunder donder
desert woestijn moon maan tree boom
dew dauw mountain berg valley vallei
dust stof (n) mud modder view uitzicht (n)
earth aarde nature natuur water water (n)
farm boerderij peninsula
schiereiland
(n)
fresh water
zoet water
(n)
field veld (n) plain vlakte salt water
zout water
(n)
flower bloem plant plant waterfall waterval
foam schuim (n) pond vijver wave golf
fog mist rain regen weather weer (n)
forest bos (n) rainbow regenboog wind wind
frost vorst river rivier world wereld

60. OBJECT PRONOUNS
Subject Objects
I ik ('k) me mij (me)
you (fam.) jij (je) you jou (je)
you (form.) u you u
he hij him hem ('m)
she zij (ze) her haar (ze)
it hij / het it het ('t)
we wij (we) us ons
you (pl.) jullie you jullie (je)
you (form.) u you u
they zij (ze) them hen (ze) / hun (ze)
Direct and indirect object pronouns are the same in Dutch,
except for "them." Hen is used if it is a direct object, and hun
is used if it is an indirect object. Generally, indirect objects
are preceded by "to" or "from" in English, and direct objects
are not preceded by any prepositions. Additionally, these
object pronouns are used in prepositional phrases.
An alternative way of showing possession without using the
possessive pronouns is to use van + object pronoun. In fact,
this is the only way to show possession with the jullie form,
as there is no possessive pronoun for it. This construction
corresponds to "of + object" and occurs often in sentences
with the verb "to be." Is deze pen van jou? Is this your pen?
Die schoenen zijn niet van mij. Those shoes are not mine.
If the noun is not present in the clause, then die or dat + van
+ object pronoun is used. Mijn huis is klein; dat van hem
is erg groot. My house is small; his is very large.
61. PARTS OF THE BODY
ankle enkel finger vinger nail nagel
arm arm flesh vlees (n) neck hals / nek
back rug foot voet nerve zenuw
beard baard forehead voorhoofd (n) pain pijn
belly buik gum tandvlees (n) nose neus
bladder blaas hair haar (n) palm handpalm
blood bloed (n) hand hand rib rib
body lichaam (n) head hoofd (n) shin scheen
bone bot / been (n) headache hoofdpijn shoulder schouder
brain
hersenen
(pl.)
health gezondheid skeleton
skelet /
geraamte
breath adem heart hart (n) skin huid
calf kuit heel hiel skull schedel
cheek wang hip heup sole voetzool
chest borst intestines
ingewanden
(pl.)
spine ruggengraat
chin kin jaw kaak stomach maag
cold verkoudheid kidney nier tear traan
cough hoest knee knie thigh dij
ear oor (n) leg been (n) throat keel
elbow elleboog lip lip thumb duim
eye oog (n) liver lever toe teen
eyebrow wenkbrauw lung long tongue tong
eyelid ooglid (n) moustache snor tooth tand
face gezicht (n) mouth mond wound wond
fever koorts muscle spier wrist pols

62. RELATIVE PRONOUNS
Relative clauses begin with relative pronouns - words that
correspond to who, whom, that and which in English. These
may be omitted in English, but must be included in Dutch.
The relative pronoun is put into the correct gender
depending on the noun it refers to. The conjugated verb
goes to the end of the sentence as well as with subordinate
clauses. Die and dat are the relative pronouns in Dutch; die
refers to people, singular common nouns and all plural
nouns, whereas dat refers to singular neuter nouns.
Kent u de man die daar op de hoek staat? Do you know
the man who is standing there on the corner?
Dat is het boek dat ik las. That is the book (that) I read.
Hier is de jurk die ik gisteren gekocht heb. Here is the
dress (which) I bought yesterday.
Die is replaced by wie when the clause refers to people and
is preceded by a preposition. In addition, whoever is
translated as wie.
De jongen met wie ik praatte heet Piet. The boy with
whom I spoke is called Peter.
No relative pronoun is used when the clause refers to things
and is preceded by a preposition. In this case, waar- and the
preposition are used instead. In some cases, waar- and a
preposition can also replace the relative pronoun when
referring to people.
Dat zijn mensen waarop je rekenen kunt. They are people
upon whom you can count. (They are people you can count
on.)
Wat replaces dat when the pronoun refers to the words
alles (everything), iets (something), niets (nothing); to the
superlative form of an adjective used as a noun; to the whole
preceding clause. It is also used when there is no
antecedent (no preceding noun/pronoun to refer to.)
Dat is alles wat ik heb. That is everything that I have.
Zij komt altijd te laat, wat mij ergert. She always comes
late, which annoys me.

63. USES OF ER
1. Personal pronouns are used after prepositions when
referring to people. However, when you need to refer to a
thing, a compound using er- plus the preposition (either
written as one word, or separated by adverbial expression) is
used. Daar (that) and hier (this) can also replace er when it
is not written as one word.
De kinderen spelen er vaak mee. The children often play
with it.
De kinderen spelen daar/hier vaak mee. The children
often play with that/this.
2. Er is used when talking about a quantity or an amount. It
is translated as "of it" or "of them," though these expressions
are not always used in English.
Ik heb er genoeg gehad. I've had enough (of it.)
Hoeveel poesjes heb je? Ik heb er twee. How many kittens
do you have? I have two (of them.)
3. In an unstressed position, er means there (an adverb of
place). It is replaced by daar in stressed positions (such as
the beginning of a sentence.)
4. Er can introduce sentences with an indefinite subject. In
this case, er functions as there as a subject, as in "there
is/are."

64. ANIMALS
animal dier (n) horse paard (n)
ant mier insect insekt
badger das kitten katje / poesje (n)
bat vleermuis lamb lam (n)
beak bek lion leeuw
bear beer lobster kreeft
bee bij louse luis
beetle tor mackerel makreel
bird vogel mole mol
blackbird merel monkey aap
bull stier mosquito muskiet
butterfly vlinder moth mot
calf kalf (n) mouse muis
carp karper octopus octopus
cat kat / poes ostrich struisvogel
caterpillar rups owl uil
chicken kip ox os
chimpanzee chimpansee oyster oester
claw klauw parrot papegaai
cockroach kakkerlak partridge patrijs
cod kabeljauw paw poot
cow koe pig varken
crab krab pigeon duif
crayfish rivierkreeft rabbit konijn (n)
crow kraai rat rat
deer hert rooster haan
dog hond salmon zalm
donkey ezel scale schub
duck eend (sea) gull (zee)meeuw
eagle arend seal zeehond
eel aal shark haai
elephant olifant sheep schaap (n)
feather veer shrimp garnaal
fin vin snail slak
fish vis snake slang
flea vlo sparrow mus
fly vlieg spider spin
fox vos squirrel eekhoorn
frog kikker stork ooievaar
fur vacht / pels swallow zwaluw
gill kieuw tail staart
giraffe giraffe tiger tijger
goat geit toad pad
goose gans trout forel
gorilla gorilla turkey kalkoen
grasshopper sprinkhaan wasp wesp
hare haas weasel wezel
hen kip / hen whale walvis
heron reiger wing vleugel
herring haring wolf wolf
hoof hoef worm worm
horn hoorn zebra zebra

65. INFINITIVE CONSTRUCTIONS
Some verbs require a preposition before an infinitive in
Dutch, while others do not. This is true in English as well;
e.g. I want to leave vs. I can read. Verbs that do not require
te before an infinitive include: modal verbs, blijven, laten,
zullen, zien (to see), horen (to hear), voelen (to feel),
komen, gaan, vinden (to find), leren (to teach), and
helpen.
Ik kan komen. I can come.
Het zal morgen regenen. It will rain tomorrow.
Zij gaat iedere dag zwemmen. She goes swimming
everyday.
The preposition used in Dutch is te, although the om... te
construction can also be used. Verbs that use only te before
an infinitive include: zitten, staan, liggen, lopen (to walk),
beginnen, proberen (to try), durven (to dare), hoeven (to
need), weten. After these prepositions, te is used before an
infinitive: zonder (without), in plaats van (instead of), and
door (by.) When using om...te, all adjectives, adverbs,
objects, and expressions of time, manner and place are
placed between om and te. Om... te is always used when the
infinitive occurs at the beginning of the sentence, and when
the infinitive refers to a preceding noun.
Hij stond op de bus te wachten. He stood waiting for the
bus.
Het begint te regenen. It's beginning to rain.
Ik zei het zonder te denken. I said it without thinking.
Het is erg moeilijk om te doen. It is very difficult to do.
Hoeveel kost het om hier te parkeren? How much is it to
park here?
Het is een interessant programma om naar te kijken. It is
an interesting program to watch.
English infinitives that follow an object are translated into
clauses using conjunctions in Dutch.
Zij verwacht dat ik kom. She is expecting me to come.
(Literally: She expects that I come.)

66. PAST PERFECT TENSE
The past perfect tense corresponds to the perfect tense, but
the action occurred in the past before another action
occurred in the past. In English, it translates to "had" instead
of "have" before the past participle. To form this tense,
simply use the simple past of hebben or zijn (whichever
auxiliary the verb used in the present perfect tense) and the
past participle.
Zij had de boeken niet gevonden. She had not found the
books.
Jullie hadden in Paris gestudeerd. You had studied in
Paris.

67. CONDITIONAL
The conditional mood expresses doubt or uncertainty. In
English, "would + infinitive" is used for the present
conditional and "would have + past participle" is used for the
past conditional. In Dutch, zou/zouden + infinitive is used for
the present conditional, and zou/zouden + past participle +
infinitive of hebben or zijn is used for the past conditional.
(Zou and zouden are the singular and plural past tense
forms of zullen.)
Ik zou graag thuis blijven. I would like to stay home.
Als ik jou was, zou ik dat huis niet kopen. If I were you, I
would not buy that house.
Ik zou graag thuis gebleven zijn. I would have liked to stay
home.

68. DIMINUTIVES
Diminutives are forms of a word that show smallness or
endearment and are much more common in Dutch
(especially spoken Dutch) than in English. All diminutives in
Dutch are formed by adding -je to the noun, and all are
neuter nouns and form the plural by adding -s.
kindje little child
neusje little nose
schaapje little sheep
Nouns endings in a vowel, y, w or j; nouns that contain a
long vowel or diphthong followed by r, l, or n; and nouns
ending in unstressed -er, -el, and -en add -tje to form the
diminutive.
eitje little egg
beentje little leg
dekentje little blanket
Nouns containing a short vowel followed by r, l, n, m, or ng
add -etje.
balletje little ball
stemmetje little voice
Nouns ending in unstressed -ing drop the final -g and add -
kje.
verrassinkje little surprise
Nouns ending in -m add -pje (unless m is preceded by short
stressed vowel.)
bezempje little broom

69. PRESENT PARTICIPLE
The present participle is made by adding -d (or sometimes -
de) to the infinitive of a Dutch verb. Present participles are
not used as frequently in Dutch as in English. They are used
mainly when another action takes place within the specific
period of time we are talking about. So, every example
sentence is about two actions that take place at the same
time.
zingen to sing
Ze liep zingend naar huis. She walked home singing.

lopen to walk
Kun jij lopend lezen? Can you read while walking?

fluisteren to whisper
Hij zei fluisterend dat hij eerder weg wilde. He said
whispering that he wanted to leave earlier.
Most of the time an English present participle is not
translated by a Dutch present participle. Usually, the Dutch
simple present tense is used instead.
Ze leest een boek. She is reading a book.

70. PASSIVE VOICE
When the subject of the sentence does something, the
sentence is in the active voice. If something happens to that
person, we use the passive voice.
Replacing the auxiliary verb hebben (to have) by zijn (to be)
or worden (to become, to be from this moment on), very
often results in the passive voice.
The verb vinden (to find) is in the active voice:
Ik heb gevonden. I have found.
Ik had gevonden. I had found.

And in the passive voice:
Ik ben gevonden. I am found
Ik ben gevonden. I have been found.
Ik was gevonden. I was found.
Ik was gevonden. I had been found.
Ik word gevonden. I am found (right now).
Suppose that Peter finds you.
Ik ben door Peter gevonden. I am found by Peter.
Ik was door Peter gevonden. I was found by Peter.
Ik word door Peter gevonden. I am found by Peter (right
now).
Ik word door Peter gevonden. I will be found by Peter.
"Ik word door Peter gevonden." in the present perfect has
about the same meaning as "Peter vindt mij." in the simple
present.