LESSON NOTES

Lower Beginner S1 #2
Talking about Possession in Dutch

CONTENTS
2 Dutch
2 English
2 Vocabulary
3 Sample Sentences
4 Vocabulary Phrase Usage
5 Grammar
7 Cultural Insight

# 2
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 DUTCH

1. Irene: Kijk, het regent!

2. Klara: Zie je Pieters auto daar? Het raam staat nog open!

3. Irene: Oh oh, de stoel is al nat. Ik roep Pieter meteen!

4. Klara: Nee, Pieter is niet thuis. Hij werkt vandaag.

5. Irene: Op zondag?

6. Klara: Ja, Pieter werkt in de winkel van zijn oom, in het centrum. Die
winkel is open op zondag.

ENGLISH

1. Irene: Look, it's raining!

2. Klara: Do you see Pieter's car over there? The window is still open!

3. Irene: Uh oh, the seat is already wet. I'll call Pieter immediately!

4. Klara: No, Pieter is not home. He's working today.

5. Irene: On a Sunday?

6. Klara: Yes, Pieter works in his uncle's shop in the city center. That shop is
open on Sundays.

VOCABULARY

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 Dutc h English C lass Ge nde r

regenen to rain verb

zien to see verb

auto car noun masculine

raam window noun neutral

open open adverb

stoel seat / chair noun masculine

nat wet adjective

roepen to call verb

meteen at once, immediately adverb

winkel shop, store noun common

SAMPLE SENTENCES

Het regent en onweert. Grijze wolken zijn meestal een indicatie

dat het gaat regenen.
"It’s raining and thundering."
"Gray clouds usually indicate rain."

Zonder bril kan ik niet goed zien. Hij zag een mooie vrouw.

"Without glasses I can’t see well." "He saw a beautiful woman."

Ik wil dat programma zien. Mijn auto heeft een lekken band.

"I want to see that program." "My car has a flat tire."

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De meest verkochte automerken in
Nederland zijn Peugeot en Volkswagen.
"The best selling car brands in the
Netherlands are Peugeot and
Volkswagen."
Kun je het raam openen, alsjeblieft?
"Could you open the window, please?"
Is de deur open of dicht?
"Is the door open or closed?"
Ik heb gedoucht en mijn haar is nog nat.
"I took a shower and my hair is still wet."
Ik roep de ober.
"I’ll call the waiter."
Wacht niet langer, doe het meteen!
"Don’t wait any longer, do it immediately!"
In het centrum zijn veel winkels.
"There are lots of shops in the city centre."
VOCABULARY PHRASE USAGE
zien
DUT CHPOD101.COM
Ik heb een Franse auto.
"I have a French car."
De man doet het raam dicht.
"The man is closing the window."
Wij hebben een grote tafel met zes
stoelen.
"We have a large table with six chairs."
Ik kwam in een regenbui terecht en ben
nat geworden.
"I was caught in the rain and got wet."
Ik zal je roepen om zeven uur.
"I'll call you at seven o'clock."
De posters zijn meteen van de muur
afgehaald.
"The posters were immediately removed
from the wall."
De winkel gaat om drie uur's middags
open.
"The shop will open at 3 P.M."
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We've learned the verb kijken ("to watch," "to look") last lesson, and the verb zien ("to see")
this lesson. The meaning of the verbs seems to be similar, but mind the difference: zien is to
perceive images while you don't really intend to see it. Use the verb kijken when you intend to
look at something while looking at it quite intensely.

auto

The sound [-au] in Dutch, used in the word auto, is the perfect example of a diphthong used in
Dutch. Normally, we pronounce the Dutch diphthong -au as the first two letters in the English
word "out." The words blauw ("blue") and nauw ("narrow") follow the same pronunciation rule.

GRAMMAR

The Focus of This Lesson Is Talking About Possession.

Zie je Pieters auto daar?
"Do you see Pieter's car over there?"

In the conversation, Klara said Zie je Pieters auto daar? ("Do you see Pieter's car over
there?") and Ja, Pieter werkt in de winkel van zijn oom ("Yes, Pieter works in his uncle's shop
in the city center.")

Klara is talking about possession: it's Pieter's car and his uncle's shop.

The possessive -'s is known in Dutch, but we do not use it as often as in English. Generally
speaking, in Dutch you only use the possessive -'s after proper names or sometimes when
referring to very close relatives, such as (grand)mother and (grand)father.

For Example:

Dutch "English"

Pauls fiets "Paul's bicycle"

Jans huis "Jan's house"

moeders boek "mother's book"

Apart from proper names, we normally use the van construction (the "of" construction in
English).

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For Example:

Dutch "English"

"Spain's capital city"/"the capital city of

de hoofdstad van Spanje Spain"

de hond van mijn vriend "my friend's dog"

de auto van mijn tante "my aunt's car"

-S, -'S, or -S'?

As a basic rule, you use -s after proper names, as in the examples above. But there are
exceptions! Here are the two most common exceptions.

1. Incorrect pronunciation

If there's a chance of incorrect pronunciation, you use -'s. This happens with proper names
ending in long vowel sounds without an accent on the vowel.

For Example:

Dutch "English"

opa's bril "grandpa's glasses"

Harry's telefoon "Harry's phone"

Romeo's hond "Romeo's dog"

Beware of names ending in short vowel sounds: just add -s, as it won't affect the
pronunciation!

For Example:

Dutch "English"

Nienkes hand "Nienke's hand"

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Sannes idee "Sanne's idea"

2. [-s] sound

If the proper name ends in an [-s] sound, use an s'.

For Example:

Dutch "English"

Dennis' stoel "Dennis's chair"/"Dennis' chair"

Alex' haar "Alex's hair"

Liz' hobby "Liz's hobby"

Examples From This Dialogue

1. Zie je Pieters auto daar?

"Do you see Pieter's car over there?"

2. Ja, Pieter werkt in de winkel van zijn oom.

"Yes, Pieter works in his uncle's shop."

CULTURAL INSIGHT

Public Holidays and Work-Free Days in The Netherlands

A Dutch working week is usually Monday to Friday, but of course, it depends on the type of
work. There's a legal minimum of one day's rest a week, normally Sunday. As you can hear in
the dialogue, shops in the city center of some bigger cities are open on Sundays.

There are a few national holidays in the Netherlands: Nieuwjaarsdag ("New Year's Day"), two
days of Eerste Paasdag en Tweede Paasdag ("Easter"), Koninginnedag ("Queens Day"),
Bevrijdingsdag ("Liberation Day"), Hemelvaart ("Ascension Day"), two days of Eerste

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Pinksterdag en Tweede Pinksterdag ("Pentecost"), and two days of Eerste Kerstdag en
Tweede Kerstdag ("Christmas").

Other memorable days are Herdenkingsdag ("The Remembrance of the Dead"), Goede
Vrijdag ("Good Friday"), and Sinterklaas ("Saint Nicolas Day"), but (unfortunately!) most
employees won't get a day off! Liberation Day, which is when the Dutch celebrate the 1945
capitulation of the German forces in World War II, is an official holiday once every five years.

Did you know that Dutch people refer to the last day of the year as Oudjaarsdag (literally "Old
Year's Day"), instead of New Year's Eve?

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