LESSON NOTES

Learn Dutch in Three Minutes #19

Do You Like Dutch Cheese?

CONTENTS
2 Grammar

# 19
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GRAMMAR

The focus of this lesson is expressing likes in Dutch

Topic 1: How to use "to like"

Sentence from the lesson:

Houd je van kaas?
"Do you like cheese?"

1. Supposing you like cheese, you can answer: Ja, ik hou van kaas. In the Netherlands
this would be a common question, as the Dutch are extremely proud of their cheese.
Let's break down this answer:
Ja, which is simply "Yes."
ik which is "I" in Dutch. After that we have hou van, which is the present form of the
verb houden.
Houden is commonly followed by the preposition van, which means "of."
kaas which means "cheese."

2. You can use this verb with other verbs in infinitive form as well, to express that you
like performing an action. Let's say you like climbing. In Dutch, you would say Ik hou
van klimmen. Here, klimmen means "to climb." Make sure your verbs after houden
are in the infinitive form with the preposition van in front of them.

Topic 2: How to use "to love"

Sentence from the lesson:

Ik hou van jou.
"I love you"

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1. Literally, houden van means "to love." So you can use this verb about a person as
well. If you want to say "I love you" in Dutch, you would say:
Ik hou van jou.
Dutch people would only use this sentence in a very intimate situation though. For
instance, you could use it with your significant other or family. If you just want to show
some affection, you could say Ik vind je leuk. That means "I like you."

Language Tip

In Dutch, when you use houden van with an object or an activity, for instance "chocolate"—
chocolade—or "swimming"—zwemmen, the expression is not very strong. Ik hou van
chocolade, or ik hou van zwemmen. However, when you use houden van with a person, the
expression is much stronger. It would mean "to love," instead of "to like." For instance, you
could say Ik hou van mijn moeder. "I love my mother."

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