Speak Dutch

SPEAK DUTCH
BUNDLE
3 IN 1
Speak Dutch
Book 1 of 3: Be ginne rs
By Vincent Noot
Copyright @2015
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Noot.
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Contents:
Introduction
Chapter 1: Pronunciation
Chapter 2: Easy Words
Chapter 3: Small Words
Chapter 4: Numbers
Chapter 5: Animals
Chapter 6: Body Parts

Chapter 7: Food
Chapter 8: Family
Chapter 9: Verbs, Present Tense
Chapter 10: Simple Phrases and
Conjunctions
Introduction
This book is for beginners, people who
havent learned any Dutch at all, but
are excited to get started.
As you might have seen from my last
name (and yes, thats my actual name),
I am of Dutch origin. In fact, I grew up
in the Netherlands. My native language
is Dutch, but over the years, as I have
lived in several English speaking
countries and interacted with many
foreigners, I have mastered that
language as well. I now speak both
languages fluently to the point where
most people cant even hear my Dutch
accent anymore.
In the past, I have worked for a
translation office (English to Dutch),
and have become precise and exact at
translating, correcting, reviewing, and
proofing documents in both Dutch and

English. Because of my experience in
translation work and numerous editing
jobs, and with my cultural background,
I am confident to say that I will be one
of the best Dutch language teachers
youll find. I will show you how to
learn and master the Dutch language in
a heartbeat.
Languages are elaborate; they include
hundreds of thousands of words (just
check out the dictionary) and
expressions people just get used to
when they grow up with a certain
language. But memorizing a dictionary
will, however useful, only get you so
far. Forming sentences and
understanding grammar, the logic, and
structure of a language is a whole
study. One can only speak a language
fluently by being completely imbedded
in it for years. But at least with these 3
books, I can teach you the most
important basics, and get you going, so
that youll be more confident in

speaking up and reading or writing
Dutch.
The ebook version of this book
contains several YouTube video
BONUS links to help you with the
pronunciation. Check them out!
One of the BEST ways to learn a
language, is by learning the most
common verbs. Verbs like to be, to
have, to see, to ask, to say, to go, to
come, to get, etc. form the basis of any
sentence. I will get you started on the
present tense in this book, as well as a
lot of other useful topics. Are you
eager to learn? Then dont wait any
longer and read on. Ik zie je zo (I
will see you soon).
Chapter 1: Pronunciation
Before we study anything else, youll
have to know how to pronounce the
language. I remember a funny
experience I had when I was working
at an American call center. It was a
disaster, because when people spelled
their name, the sounds of the alphabet
didnt click in my mind quickly
enough. So when a New Yorker with a
heavy accent said a, my mind thought
it was an e and when she said e, it
took me a few seconds to realize it
was actually not an i.
If you dont, whatever you say will be
off and misunderstood. So, without
further ado, lets start out with the
basics. In these books, I will try to
relate English words that are said in a
similar way to the Dutch
pronunciation, and I will include some

links to YouTube videos, so you can
check what I mean. First, let me point
out some pronunciation rules.
En... en als je dan de wereld hebt

veroverd? Wat ga je dan doen? (En...
en uls y done d we-rlt hept fairoa-vrt? Wut ah y done doon?) And... and when you have conquered
the world? What are you going to do
then?
Nou... uh... (Now... uh...) - Well...
errr....
Short Vowels
Just remember that English has a lot of
long vowels. Words like awe,
jaw, well, bore, creek, and
almost everything else is pronounced
as if they drag the tone all the way to
the other side of the world. Not in
Dutch however. In Dutch, a lot of
vowels are short. Keep that in mind
when you try to pronounce the words.
If you know German, Spanish,
Portuguese, or French, its good to
compare those a little. In those
languages, a lot of vowels are short
too, just like in Dutch, and the way they

pronounce the alphabet is closer to
how the Dutch pronounce it.
No th
First and foremost, the Dutch do NOT
have a th sound like the English
language does. Words like the,
thing, faith and others are nonexistent in the Dutch language. If you
ever encounter a word with the th in
it, simply pronounce the t and dont
worry about the h after it. Often
these words come from the ancient
Greek language, which is why they are
spelled with an h. Examples are,
theoloog (pronounced: tay-o-logue) theologists
thee (pronounced: tay) - tea
theorie (pronounced: tay-o-ree) theory
The g or ch
The g - sound, sometimes written as
ch, which also sometimes comes
from Greek, like the word chaos, is
pronounced as a back throat sound,
similar to the Spanish j. Its kind of
like gurgling. You may think this
sounds terrible, but it can actually
sound pretty, depending on where you
go and what voice utters the sound. In
the Netherlands and Belgium, the way
it is, is usually that the further you go
north, the louder and harder this letter
is pronounced. In the southern Belgian
parts, when I lived there, it was almost
close to an h sometimes and was
pronounced softly. In the
pronunciation, I will indicate this
sound with a . Examples are:
chaos (aw-os) - chaos
groen (roon) - green
geven (ayvun) - to give
gek (eck) - crazy
kachel (kawol) - heater
The r
The letter r can be pronounced as an
English r, but usually only at the end
of a word, which is what they often do
in cities like Den Haag (The Hague) or
Zoetermeer. In other parts in the
Netherlands, it is done occasionally,
but often, there is more preference for
the French r." Pronounce it as with the
back of your throat. Sometimes it can
be so close to the Dutch sound that
its hard to hear the difference.
Examples:
rood (roat) - red
ver (fair) - far
heer (here) - gentleman
teer (tere) - tar
A Lot of u Sounds
No, not the u as in you, but kind of
like the u in urgent, or like the i
in birth. Dutch has this sound so
much that you better get used to it. So
from now on, I will indicate this sound
in the pronunciation as so you
know that this is what I mean.
The Confusing Letter e
The letter e can be pronounced, in
general, in 3 different ways in Dutch:
1) as in the first e in letter or
better or as in bet or bed.
2) as in the u sound I just described
and I will indicate so by writing it as
.
3) as ay like bay or hay or say
or bait.
This makes it a little complicated,
since some words have two or even
three different e-s in it, but they are

pronounced differently. The same
counts for English anyway, so maybe
its fair, right? Here are some
examples. Look closely at the
pronunciation.
veters (vay-trs) - shoe laces
gebrek (-breck) - deficiency
lekken (leck-kn) - leaks
gegeten (-ay-tn) - eaten
verder (fair-dr) - farther/further
kever (kay-vr) - beetle
Dont Blow
There are three letters in Dutch that are
the same, except for the fact that they
dont blow the sounds. Those are: P,
K, T. For example, you can say the
word parrot and blow the p and
t as if there was an h or something
that made you blow the sound. In
Dutch, however, they keep them short

and cut them off in their pronunciation.
The same goes for words with the
letter k or c pronounced as k.
Try pronouncing the following words
without blowing those three letters.
beker (bay-kr) - cup
takken (taw-kn) - branches
ketting (ket-ting) - chain
kapot (kaw-pote) - broken
boeken (boo-kn) - books
kaak (kawk) - jaw
kast (kawst) - closet
papegaai (paw-p-i) - parrot
teen (tain) - toe
kraan (crawn) - faucet/tap
The w, an Inbetweeny
The Dutch pronounce the w as a
letter that is in between a v and an
English w. When an English
speaking person pronounces the w,

he or she shapes the mouth in a round
shape and uses more of his or her front
lips to pronounce the letter. The Dutch,
however, almost make it sound like a
v, but if you listen closely, it is not
the same. Look at the YouTube video to
find out how.
Click HERE for the YouTube video.
Slack Off
If you pronounce the letter z and the
letter v exactly like they are, you
could get away with it easily and
sound good at Dutch, but in a lot of
areas in the Netherlands and some in
Belgium, for example, people turn the
v into an f and the z into an s.
My name, for example, sounded more
like Fincent than Vincent. Try
pronouncing these words by turning the
v into an f-sound and the z into
an s-sound. It will make it sound

more Dutch, I promise.
zelden (sel-dn) - seldom/rarely
zaden (saw-dn) - seeds
vorig (fow-ri) - previous
vaak (fawk) - often
Other things a lot of Dutch leave out,
as opposed to the Germans, is the end
letter n. A lot of verbs or plural
words end at -en, but the Dutch dont
want to pronounce the n. Often, the
e before the last latter has the sound, so that this common sound get
ended with. Sometimes they DO
pronounce it if the next word starts
with a vowel, just to connect the flow
of the words better. Its not incorrect to
pronounce the n, just like in the
previous examples, but it makes it
sound more Dutch to leave it out
sometimes, and by reading this
information, you will know what they
mean when they leave that letter out.

Here are some examples:
geven (ay-f) - to give
lopen (low-p) - to walk
taken (taw-k) - tasks
papieren (paw-pee-r) - papers
Watch out that you only leave the n
out, or can expect them to, when the
last two letters are -en. For example,
you could NOT leave it out when you
say doen, gaan or van.
The Letter D at the End of a
Word
As opposed to the English, the Dutch
dont like to end with a d sound. In
English its common to make sure you
perfect your pronunciation by
indicating that a word ends with a d
in words like end, bend, hand,
fond, etc. In Dutch, this letter turns
into a t. So someone with a heave

Dutch accent may pronounce those
words like ent, bent, hant,
font, etc. Practice these words and
turn the d at the end of the word into
a t.
hard (heart) - hard
paard (pahrt) - horse
gerend (-rent) - ran
rond (rohnt) - round
moord (moart) - murder
The Alphabet
Okay, with all these tricks and
techniques, you are now ready for the
offical alphabet
A - awe (but open up your mouth
further)
B - bay
C - say
D - day
E - aye
F - ef
G - ay
H - haw (but open up your mouth
further)
I - ee
J - yay
K - kaw (but open up your mouth
further)
L - el
M - em
N - en
O - owe
P - pay
Q - queue
R - air
S - es
T - tay
U - you (without the y)
V - vay
W - way
X - ix
Y - I (similar to the word I)
Z - zet
Vowel Combinations
Just like in English certain
combinations or vowels create
different sounds, the Dutch have some
set combinations of vowels. However,
it might be hard for an English
speaking person to get all of them
exactly right, since some of them dont
exist in English. If you bought an Ebook version of this book, you could
click on the link to the YouTube video.
Click HERE for the YouTube video.
au - ou (as in cow or now)
Examples: kauwen, nauw, authentiek
ou - ou (as in cow or now,

whether the Dutch spelling is with the
first au or the second au depends
on the word. There is no way to tell by
the sound.)
Examples: oud, hout, rouwen, mouw,
vrouw
eu - ew (not exactly the same sound,
but if you want to get it right, go to the
YouTube video above
Examples: heus, keuze, leuk, reus,
peuk, deuken
ui - sounds a little like ou but is still
different (listen to the YouTube video
to hear the difference through the link
above)
Examples: huis, kuis, muis, ruit,
buiten, fluiten
ei - similar to the word I (hear the
difference in the video)

Examples: meisje, Eiffeltoren, eikels,
zeiden, dreigen
ij - exactly the same pronunciation as
the Dutch ei-combination
Examples: ijsje, vrij, krijgen, strijden,
hij, zij, wij, blijven
ie - ee but less exaggerated and
shorter, like in to be, free, and
flee
Examples: fiets, kiezen, liep, riep,
hier, mieren, brie
oe - like in shoe but shorter
Examples: koe, stoer, boer, hoed,
meerkoet, hoes
Besides these standard vowel
combinations, it makes a difference
whether the Dutch write a word with
one or two vowels. Make sure you get

these right, because if you dont, you
might be saying a different word. When
I lived in the Netherlands, I knew an
American visitor who tried to say, We
gaan naar het bos (We are going to the
forest). But instead he said, We gaan
naar het boos (We are going to the
angry). Luckily, we knew what he
meant, but it just shows that one or two
vowels can make all the difference.
Usually, one vowel means a short
sound, and two of the same vowels in a
row means a long sound. Study the
following single or double vowel
combinations in order to understand
the difference in pronunciation.
a - short, so kind of like in duck or
buck or suck.
Examples: dak, slak, takken, stakker,
kapot, hakken
aa - long, so a little like awe or
raw or jaw but open your mouth

further and pronounce it like a Spanish
a
Examples: taart, kaart, haat, staak,
maak, maan
u - usually like the - sound I pointed
out earlier, like in fur or stir or
heard
Examples: hut, durven, huppelen, ruk,
stuk, put
uu - like in ew but without the w,
like in new or dew or crew
Examples: muur, duur, stuur, huur,
infuus, vuur
Funny side note: I knew someone who
mistakenly said she was going to pay
the hoer (whore) that month instead
of the huur (rent - think of hire).
We laughed pretty hard.
o - short, so like in bore or store

or more
Examples: bos, stop, kop, rotten, lok,
krop, dom
oo - long, so like in boat or road
or yoke or coat. Dont forget that
its not an English oo or ew sound
like in boot or foot. This is why so
many people in English speaking
countries pronounce my name Noot
wrong. It should be pronounced as
note.
Examples: noot, rood, groot, rook,
loop
By the way, when the double oo is
followed by an r, it usually sounds
like the short o, like in before or
chore.
Examples: voor, oor, oord, koord,
woord
e - pretty simple, like in bell or

tell or leapt or neck.
Examples: nek, vet, het, red, lek, mep
ee - sound like ay in English, such as
in stay or clay or stake or
mate or claim.
Examples: meet, steek, reeks, beek,
leek, vrees
By the way, when the double ee
combination is followed by an r, it
sound more like an i or ere or
ear.
Examples: meer, teer, heer, leer, keer
i - this letter is pronounced as the
sound fit or kit or whit.
Examples: hik, dik, fit, kin, vin, mis
Sometimes, it is pronounced as an ee
like in glee or steep or feature.
This is never the case if it concerns a
word with only one syllable.
Examples: direct, miserabel, idioot,

virus, crimineel
Just for spelling purposes, its useful to
know that the Dutch sometimes use
what they call, a trema, two dots on
a vowel to indicate that the syllable
changes in the middle of that word. It
is just for pronunciation purposes and
means nothing else. You dont have to
memorize this, but it is just good to
know about it. Here are some
examples.
egosme
cordinatie
rune,
vacum
naviteit
rele
gend
renie
concirge
kolonin
pozie
Chapter 2: Easy Words

You can find words in many languages
that sound, look, or feel like a word in
English or some other language you
already know. You can do this with any
language, but with Dutch, it can be
particularly easy, since Dutch, German,
and English are considered to be
Germanic languages. Therefore,
sometimes all that changes, is a vowel
or two and the pronunciation, but the
meaning and the consonants remain
almost the same. Check out the list
below. It may seem like a lot of words
to memorize, but its actually really
easy. I bet youll have them down by
going over them twice or sometimes
even once.
Almost or Exactly the Same
bar (pronounced the same) - bar

noedels (pronounced the same, but
short vowels) - noodles
legende (lend) - legend
sok (sork, without the r) - sock
neus (almost like news) - nose
hoed (hoot) - hat
gras (raws) - grass
plant (plont) - plant
grond (ront) - ground
peper (pay-pr) - pepper
envelop (en-v-lop) - envelope
boot (boat) - boat
peer (peer) - pear
bus (bs) - bus
staren (stah-rn) - to stare
pizza (same word) - pizza
poker (poker) - poker
ketchup (ketchp) - ketchup
lasagna (lasagna) - lasagna
vakantie (faw-kn-see) - vacation

letter (same pronunciation, make sure
you say the t) - letter
pen (pen but dont blow the p) pen
lood (lowt) - lead
wit (whit) - white
mat (mut) - mat
tafel (taw-fl) - table
soep (soup with a short vowel) soup
deur (dewr) - door
wagen (wah-n) - wagon
kussen (kssn) - pillow (think of
cushion)
bed (bet) - bed
televisie (taylayveesee) - television
tv (tayvay) - TV
computer (pronounced the same,
except the e = ) - computer
duivel (dowvel) - devil
God (ot) - God

engel (engl) - angel
vork (fork) - fork
auto (auto) - car (think of
automobile)
telefoon (taylphone) - telephone
trompet (trompet, with emphasis on pet) - trumpet
hoorn (horn) - French horn
viool (fee-oal) - violin
piano (pee-ano) - piano
drums (drms) - drums
kat (cut) - cat
poes (poose) - cat (think of pussycat)
lamp (lump) - lamp
licht (lit) - light
sorry (sow-ree) - sorry
bank (bunk) - bank (as in a bank
company with money, not a couch)
huis (house) - house
hand (hunt) - hand
thuis (touse) - home

muis (mouse) - mouse
droom (drome) - dream
rijst (ricet) - rice
spinazie (spee-nah-see) - spinache
bei (by) - bee
bij (pronounced the same as the other
bei) - by
jaloers (yah-loo-rs) - jealous
tofu (tofu) - tofu
hamer (hah-mr) - hammer
foto (foto) - photograph
t-shirt (pronounced the same) - T-shirt
koala (pronounced the same) - koala
bear
aap (awp) - monkey (think of ape)
muur (mure) - wall (think of mural)
beer (bere) - bear (as in an animal
bear)
bier (beer) - beer (the alcoholic drink)
meer (mere) - more
banaan (ba-nahn) - banana

vuur (fure) - fire
stok (stowk) - stick
wiel (pronounced the same, but short
vowel) - wheel
draak (drahk) - dragon
goed (oot) - good/well
beter (bay-tr) - better
best (pronounced exactly the same) best
in (pronounced exactly the same) - in
uit (pronounced slightly different) out/off
kom (comb) - come
ga (ah) - go
heb (hep) - have
datum (dah-tm) - date
dat (dot) - that
dit (dit) - this
steen (stain) - stone
oor (ore) - ear
zon (sown but short vowel) - sun

zoon (sown but long vowel) - son
dochter (dotr) - daughter
kind (kint rhymes with mint) child/kid
maan (mawn) - moon
navel (nah-vl) - navel
cd (sayday) - CD
dvd (dayvayday) - DVD
souvenir (pronounced the same) souvenir
historisch (hee-store-ees) - historical
student (stew-dent with emphasis on
-den) - student
jou (yow) - you (object)
jij (yay rhymes with bye) - you
(subject)
we (w) - we
toernooi (tour-noy) - tournament
sport (pronounced the same) - sport
rol (roll/role) - either as in fulfilling a
role or as in roll over

rond (runt) - round
ijs (ice, but slightly different) - ice
or ice cream
water (watr, make sure you pronounce
the t but dont blow it) - water
wind (wint) - wind
appel (aw-pel) - apple
straat (strawt) - street
blok (blohk) - block
eten (ay-ten) - food/to eat
rouw (row rhymes with plow) raw
rat (rut) - rat
vet (fet) - fat
dik (dick) - thick/fat
waar (wahr) - where
daar (dahr) - there
pan (pun) - pan
pot (powt) - pot (say the vowel short,
or it would be poot which means
paw)
zwaard (swahrt) - sword
schild (silt) - shield
helm (helm) - helmet
depressie (day-pres-see) - depression
Latin or Germanic
One of the main differences between
English and the other two Germanic
languages, Dutch and German, is that
English uses a lot more Latin-based
words. Sometimes, a word makes a lot
of sense in Dutch because it is a
combination of other words that have
their root in the Germanic origins, but
the English deviates from German or
Dutch because it uses a word with
Latin roots. Here are some interesting
examples of words that make sense if
you explain them.
aardappel (awrt-opple) - potato

This word consists of 2 words: aard
and appel. The word aard comes
from aarde which means earth
and the word appel simply means
apple. Since a potato is a starch
that roots in the soil, the word earth
apple makes a lot of sense, doesnt
it?
schildpad (silt-pot) - turtle
The word schild means shield
and the word pad means toad.
Therefore, the Dutch call a turtle a
shield toad.
aardbei (ahrt-by) - strawberry
The word aard as we saw earlier,
means earth and the word bei is
another word for bes which means
berry. So strawberries are actually
called earth berries since they
dont grow on trees but on low, little
plants.
vierkant (fear-kunt) - square
The word vier simply means four
and the word kant means side.
Pretty easy, right? A square is called
a four side in Dutch, since it has
four sides.
driehoek (dree-hook) - triangle
This is one of those words for which
the English decided to go the Latin
way, but the Dutch kept it simple and
called it what it is. The word drie
means three and the word hoek
means corner. Thus, a triangle is
called three corner in Dutch.
bloemkool (bloom-cole) - cauliflower
The word bloem means flower
(think of blooming), and the word
kool means cabbage. Therefore,
a cauliflower is called flower

cabbage in Dutch, and thats what it
looks like, doesnt it?
frisdrank (friss-drunk) - soda (pop)
Literally, the word fris-drank just
means fresh drink. Makes sense,
right? Those this is what you ask for
if you want a general idea of their
selection of coke, orange soda, lime
(7up, Sprite), or, what they often have
in the Netherlands: Black currant,
which they call cassis (its
delicious, try it.)
sinaassappel (see-nah-sup-pl) orange (the fruit; the color is called
oranje [oh-run-y])
The addition sinaass simply refers
to the fact that this is a citrus fruit.
The word appel means apple. So
an orange is called a citrus apple.
plakband (pluck-bunt) - tape/scotch

tape
The word plak comes from
plakken which means to paste,
glue, or stick something. The word
band is like a band (not the
musical), like a rubber band.
handdoek (hunt-duke) - towel
The word hand means hand and
doek is a rag or cloth. Therefore, a
towel is simply called a hand cloth
in Dutch. Makes sense, doesnt it?
Since you often use it to dry your
hands after washing them.
verder gaan (fair-dr ahn) - continue
The word verder means
further/farther and the word
gaan means to go. This is one of
those cases where the English chose a
Latin word and the Dutch integrated
a Germanic combination of two
words. Another word for it could also

be doorgaan which means the same
(door means through).
vrachtwagen (frut-wah-n) - semi
truck
The word vracht literally means
freight so a vrachtwagen is
actually a freight wagon. That is
pretty much what a semi truck is, isnt
it?
voorzichtig (four-sit-i) careful/cautious
Literally voorzichtig means foresight-ful, or in other words: If you
see ahead and you let your sight be a
guide before you, you are be cautious
or careful.
losmaken (loss-mah-kn) - detach,
loosen up
The word los means loose and

the word maken means to make.
So the Dutch talk about making your
shoe laces loose instead of untying
your shoe laces. Just a fun side
note: Laces are veters. So you
could say, Maak je veters los (untie
your shoes).
As youve seen in some of these
examples, the Dutch use words that are
very different from the English
meaning, but if you understand the
logic behind those words, it will be
easier to memorize them.
Underneath are some examples, though,
where the Dutch has integrated the
Latin root too. Therefore, they are
close to English and easy to guess or
remember. Take a quick look at these:
concluderen (con-clue-dear-n) conclude
competitie (com-p-tee-tsee) competition

compact (com-puckt) - compact
combinatie (com-bee-nah-tsee) combination
inclusief (in-clue-seaf) - including
recessie (r-ces-see) - recession
natie (nah-tsee) - nation
extra (extra) - extra
extrovert (extrovert) - extrovert
integreren (in-t-rere-n) - integrate
informatie (in-for-mah-tsee) information
contract (con-truckt) - contract
Chapter 3: Small Words

Now that you have some knowledge
and more understanding of the basics
of the Dutch language, youll be able to
go on and memorize more easily
whats being taught. First, you need to
understand how a language makes
sense, the logic of their thinking
patterns. And only then, the rest falls
into place. In this chapter, well go
over some of the most prevalent, little
words you need to remember in order
to create simple sentences.
Hoor
The word hoor (and yes, its
pronounced as whore or hoar)
means something like the old English
hear. When people say this, dont be
offended. They are not calling you a
whore. They are simply emphasizing

what they just said. For example:
Ik ga niet weg. (Ik ah neet we.) - I
am not going away.
Ik ga niet weg, hoor. (Ik ah neet we,
hoar.) - I am really not going away.
Dont worry.
The or A
In Dutch, there are two words for the
and only one word for a or an.
The = de/het
A/an = een
De word de is pronounced as d
or a little like the English expression
duh! The word een is often
pronounced as n. De word het is
pronounced exactly how it looks.
So how can you know whether you
should use de or het? Well, I hate
to tell you this, but most times, you just
need to memorize which one it is. Its
like the Spanish el or la or like the

French le or la or the German
der, die and das.
So anytime you learn a noun in Dutch,
always try to memorize if its de or
het. It can be completely annoying to
find out dat het de doek is, but het
boek. And that it is het gedoe but
de koe. So just because it rhymes,
doesnt mean it has the same gender.
However, I will give you a few tricks
that work most times, just so that, if
you are guessing, you have a higher
chance of being right.
Words that end with -je are usually
diminished words. More about that in
the last book in this series. For now,
its useful to know that they are always
het. So, for example:
het meisje (het mice-y) - the girl
het visje (het fis-y) - the little fish
(even though its de vis)
het liedje (het lee-ty) - the little song
Plural is ALWAYS de, even if the

singular form is het. Just remember
that. See the following examples for
the singular form and the plural right
next to it.
het boek - de boeken (books)
het ding - de dingen (things)
het vak - de vakken (subjects)
het vlot - de vloten (rafts)
het gebod - de geboden
(commandments)
There are some more rules to
determine which it is, but those are a
little more complicated. There are
more words with de than with het
so if you really doubt and you have to
make a guess, just go for de since the
chance is higher you guessed it right.
This/that/these/those
The words go along with the gender

(de or het) and with the singular or
plural form. Check them out below:
that = dat (when it concerns het),
pronounce as dot
that = die (when it concerns de),
pronounce as dee
this = dit (if it concerns het),
pronounce as dit
this = deze (if it concerns de),
pronounce as day-s
So, for example, if you want to say
this book you figure out first that its
het boek and therefore, it becomes
dit boek. If you want to say, for
example that train, you look it up and
find that it is de trein. So that means
it should be die trein. Again, if you
arent sure and you have to guess at a
certain moment without time to look it
up, just go for die and deze, since
there is a higher chance youll guess

right.
The plural is easier. With the plural
form, it doesnt matter if the word
belonging to the noun is de or het.
It remains the same, which makes it
easier to memorize. See?
those = die, pronounce as dee
these = deze, pronounce as day-s
Colors
I will show you the most important and
commonly used colors, so you can
point to stuff and say what color it is,
or tell the guy at the store what color
paint you want to buy.
Rood (roat) - red
Blauw (blouw) - blue
Wit (whit) - white

Zwart (swart) - black
Geel (ale) - yellow
Groen (rewn) - green
Oranje (oh-run-y) - orange
Paars (pawrs) - purple
Rose (roh-s) - pink
Grijs (rice) - grey
Bruin (brown, but not exactly) - brown
Licht (lit) - light
Donker (don-kr) - dark
Mijn hond heet Bruno, want hij is

bruin! (Mine hoant hate Bruno, wunt
high is brown!) - My dogs name is
Bruno, because he is brown
Die van mij heet Kees! Het is een
keeshond! (Mine hoant hate Case! Het
is n case-hoant!) - My dogs name is
Kees! It is a spitz!
Onze hond heet Vaatwasser! (Oan-s
hoant hate Vaht-was-sr!) - Our dogs
name is Dishwasher!
Maar... waarom dan? (Mahr... wahroam done?) - But... why then?
Hij likt de borden schoon! (High lickt
d boar-dn soan!) - He licks the
plates clean!
The Dutch combine their words often,
so dark blue would be
donkerblauw and light red would
be lichtrood.
Greetings
Here are some common greetings in
Dutch.
hoi (hoy) - hi
hallo (hollow) - hello
goedendag (oo-dn-duh) - good day
dag (duh) - goodbye
tot ziens (toht seens) - goodbye/untiil
we meet again
tot later (toht lahter) - see you later
hoe gaat het? (who aht het?) - how are
you?
goed (oot) - good
Wel/Niet
In English, as in any other language,
there is a difference between yes and
no. In Dutch, these expressions are
ja (yah), which is the same as in
German, and nee (nay) like the old
English word for no.
However, the word that English is
missing, is the opposite of the word
not. When trying to indicate the
affirmative, English speakers often use
the word do or put an extra strong
emphasis on the verb in the sentence.
For example, someone might say, You
did NOT take out the garbage, to
which another may respond, Thats
not true. I DID take out the garbage.
Obviously the English never made up a

word that opposes the word not, but
the Dutch did. Yay!
The Dutch word for not is niet
(neat) and the opposite is wel
(well). Consider the following
expressions, for instance:
Dat is niet mooi (That is not pretty) Het is wel mooi (It IS pretty).
Niet waar (Not true) - Wel waar (It IS
true).
Je mag niet met ons mee (You may not
come with us) - Ik mag wel met jullie
mee (I MAY come with you).
Ik heb het niet gedaan (I didnt do it) Je hebt het wel gedaan (Je DID do it).
Even
The word even (pronounced as ayf) is often used to express that
something is not so much effort or
wont take long. The Dutch say it to
lighten up the situation, make a

command sound less strict or mean,
ease peoples minds when they are
worried or show off how fast or easily
they can do something. If you go to the
Netherlands or Belgium, you will
probably hear them say it every once in
a while. Literally it means, for a
small moment or just for one
minute.
A parent or teacher, for example, may
beckon a child to come and say to a
child, Kom even hier (Comb ay-f
here) instead of the harsh, commanding
method of saying, Kom hier (Comb
here).
Someone who fixes your car, can look
at it and realize it will only take a
minute, so you dont have to worry. He
might express, Dat doe ik even (Dot
dooh ik ay-f), which means something
like, I will fix it in a few minutes, no
more.
Possessive Pronouns
A possessive pronoun is a word that
indicates whether something belongs to
you, me, him or her, etc. Here are the
possessive pronouns.
Mijn (mine) - my
Jouw/je (yow/y) - your (singular)
Zijn/haar (Zine/hahr) - his/her
Ons/onze (Oans/oanz) - our
Jullie (y-lee) - your (plural)
Hun (hn) - their
However, in Dutch they dont say, It
is his or It is mine. Rather, they say,
It is of him or It is of me. Below I
will show you how to say that.
Het is van mij (het is vun mye)
Het is van jou (het is vun yow)
Het is van hem/haar (het is vun

hem/hahr)
Het is van ons (het is vun oans)
Het is van jullie (het is vun y-lee)
Het is van hen (het is vun hen)
Chapter 4: Numbers
The Dutch numbers are pretty easy,
since they are similar to the English,
but once you get into the tens, like 31
or 56 or something, I have to admit the
English makes a lot more sense than
Dutch or German. I will explain this
later. First, take a look at these.
1 (ayn) - n
2 (tway) - twee
3 (dree) - drie
4 (veer) - vier
5 (vife) - vijf
6 (zess/sess) - zes
7 (zay-fn) - zeven
8 (at) - acht
9 (nay-n) - negen
10 (teen) - tien
11 (elf) - elf
12 (twahlf) - twaalf
13 (der-teen) - dertien
14 (fear-teen) - veertien (whatch out,
the vier turned into veer)
15 (vife-teen) - vijftien
16 (zess-teen) - zestien
The others are just zeventien and
achttien and negentien. Makes
sense, right?
20 (twin-ti) - twintig
30 (der-ti) - dertig
40 (veer-ti) - veertig (here too, the
vier became veer)
50 (vife-ti) - vijftig
60 (zess-tig) - zestig
70 (zay-fn-ti) - zeventig
80 (ta-ti) - tachtig (watch the extra
t that got added in the beginning)
90 (nay-gn-ti) - negentig
100 (hon-drt) - honderd
1,000 (dow-snt) - duizend

1,000,000 (mill-yoon) - miljoen
1,000,000,000 (mill-yart) - miljard
[watch out, this means a billion]
Okay, so now that you know the basics,
there is one more thing you need to
know, and its one of the most annoying
things ever! I even think so, even
though it is my proud, native language.
The thing is... they dont say thirty-five,
but five-and-thirty. They dont say
eighty-eight, but eight-and-eighty. The
Germans do it too. This only counts for
tens, not for hundreds or thousands. So
look at the following examples to
understand it better.
75 (vife-n-zay-fn-ti) vijfenzeventig
literally: five-and-seventy
24 (fear-n-twin-ti) vierentwintig
literally: four-and-twenty
144 (hon-drt-fear-n-fear-ti)
honderdvierenveertig literally:
hundred-four-and-fourty
2567 (tway-dow-snt-vife-hon-drtzay-fn-n-zess-ti) - tweeduizend
vijfhonderd zevenenzestig literally:
two-thousand five-hundred seven-andsixty
Pretty tricky, huh? Well, just remember
to reverse the tens, and youll be okay.
After a while it becomes fairly easy.
Just say three-and-twenty instead of
twenty-three, etc.
Then there is the issue of -eth. Just
like in English, the first numbers are
the exceptions, but after that, its all the
same add-on. At first, its mostly -de
and after 19, it becomes mostly -ste.
Watch below.
1st (ihr-st) - eerste
2nd (tway-d) - tweede
3rd (der-d) - derde (so NOT
driede; this is an exception)

4th (fear-d) - vierde
5th (vife-d) - vijfde
6th (zess-d) - zesde
7th (zay-fn-d) - zevende
8th (a-st) - achtste (exception)
9th (nay-n-d) - negende
10th (teen-d) - tiende
The rest of them, like 11th, 12th, etc.
have the add-on -de. So 11, or elf
becomes elfde, the number 15th
becomes vijftien + -de so
vijftiende, etc. When it hits 20, it
becomes -ste. So twintigste,
dertigste, veertigste, etc. More
examples:
21st (ayn-n-twin-ti-st) nentwintigste
54th (fear-n-five-ti-st) vierenvijftigste
100th (hon-drt-st) - honderdste
Some other words that could be used

in combination with numbers are:
keer (kear) - time like in the
hundredth time
procent (pro-cent) - percent
kilo (kilo) - kilo
euro (ro) - euro
graden Celsius (grah-dn) - degrees in
Celsius
kilometer (keeh-loh-may-tr) kilometer
de helft (d helft) - half
een kwart (n kwart) - a quarter of...
(not the coin, but the measurement)
Time
Telling time in Dutch can be tricky. In
Belgium its more common to use the
simple version Americans use, like
saying that its twelve-thirty. A
Belgian would consider it normal for
you to say, Het is twaalf uur dertig.

But for people from the Netherlands,
even though they might understand it,
its not common to say it this way.
Beneath are the times laid out for you,
so you know what they are talking
about when they say something like, It
is 10 after half three.
Hours:
12 uur (noon or midnight)
1 uur (1 o clock)
2 uur (2 o clock)
3 uur (etc.)
4 uur
Half hours:
12:30 - half n (literally: half one)
13:30/1:30 p.m. - half twee (literally:
half two)
14:30/2:30 p.m. - half drie (etc.)
Quarterly hours:
12:15 - kwart over twaalf (quarter
after twelve)
12:45 - kwart voor n (quarter
to/before one)
13:15/1:15 p.m. - kwart over n
(quarter after one)
Etc.
A.m. or p.m. makes no difference. If
someone wants to know whether they
mean a.m. or p.m., they simply add in
de ochtend (in d o-tent) which
means in the morning, or in de
avond (in d ah-font) which means
in the evening. The word for
afternoon is middag which
literally stands for mid-day.
The same principle of before and after
applies to minutes, which are normally
rounded up to five minutes to make it
convenient. Look to the following

examples:
2:40 - tien over half drie (ten after half
two)
1:55 - vijf voor twee (vijf before/to
two)
5:10 - tien over vijf (ten after five)
6:25 - vijf voor half zeven (five before
half seven)
8:20 - tien voor half negen (ten before
half nine)
10:35 - vijf over half elf (five after
half eleven)
Some common expressions:
Hoe laat is het? (who laht is het?) what time is it? literally: How late
is it?
Het is... acht uur. (het is... at ure) - It
is 8 o clock.
Heb je tijd? (hep j tite) - Do you have
time?
horloge (whore-loh-sy) - watch

klok (clock) - clock
vroeg (vroog) - early
te laat (t laht) - too late
op tijd (ohp tite) - on time
wanneer? (won-near?) - when?
een kwartier(tje) (n kwar-teer(-ty)) a quarter of an hour/15 minutes
getal/nummer (-tahl/nm-mr) number
minuut (m-nute) - minute
seconde (s-con-d) - second
datum (dah-tm) - date
maand (mahnt) - month
jaar (yahr) - year
vandaag (vun-dah) - today
morgen (mor-n) - tomorrow
overmorgen (over-mor-n) - the day
after tomorrow
gisteren (ist-t-rn) - yesterday
eergisteren (ere-ist-t-rn) - the day
before yesterday
een half uur (n holf ure) - a half hour
komma (comma) - comma
punt (pnt) - dot/period
Side note: the Dutch, like many other
European nations, reverse the
commas and the periods. So the
number 12,000 in Dutch would be
written as 12.000; and if you talk
about $5.99, a Dutch person would
write is as $5,99. Try not to mess up
on those.
Days of the Week
maandag (mahn-da) - Monday
dinsdag (dins-da) - Tuesday
woensdag (wooh-ns-da) - Wednesday
donderdag (don-dr-da) - Thursday
vrijdag (fry-da) - Friday
zaterdag (sah-tr-da) - Saturday
zondag (sohn-da) - Sunday
Unlike in English, the Dutch days of the

week arent written with a capital
letter, unless they are the first word of
the sentence of course.
Months of the Year
The same is true for the months of the
year: Unless they are the first word of
the sentence, do NOT write them with
a capital letter.
januari (yawn-ew-ah-ree) - January
februari (fay-brew-ah-ree) - February
maart (mahrt) - March
april (aw-pril) - April
mei (meye) - May
juni (you-nee) - June
juli (you-lee) - July (always pronounce
the l well, since juni and juli are
so close)
augustus (ouw-s-ts) - August
september (september, same, just dont

blow the t) - September
oktober (october) - October
november (november, same) November
december (day-cember) - December
The reversed principle I referred to
earlier, just to make it more confusing,
is also true for dates. So the date of
4/12/2015 (April 12th, 2015) would
be written with dashes and with the
date first, and then the month, like this:
12-4-2015. A Dutch person would say,
twaalf april tweeduizend vijftien.
Other examples:
15 januari - vijftien januari (January
15th)
20 december - twintig december
(December 20th)
13 juni - dertien juni (June 13th)
Chapter 5: Animals
We did a lot of grammar, some basic
knowledge, and some boring stuff. I
think it is interesting to study the logic
of a new language and try to solve the
puzzle of how their words are put
together and make sense in their own
way. But lets do something fun for a
little while, just to give you a break. I
will provide some pictures of animals
and the Dutch names for them in this
chapter.
Hond (hont) - dog
Kat (cot) - cat
Vogel (foh-l) - bird
Slang (slung) - snake
Spin (spin) - spider
Vlieg (vlee) - fly
Hamster (humster) - hamster
Konijn (koh-nine) - rabbit
Vis (vis) - fish
Eend (aint) - duck
Koe (khoo) - cow
Paard (pahrt) - horse
Varken (far-kn) - pig
Kikker (kick-kr) - frog
Zeehond (zay-hont) - seal (literally:

Sea dog)
Vos (voas) - fox
Kip (kip) - chicken
Hert (hert) - deer
Geit (ite) - goat
Schaap (sawp) - sheep
Mier (mere) - ant
Ezel (aye-sl) - donkey
Hagedis (hah--dis) - lizzard
Cavia (ca-vee-yah) - Guinea pig
Wolf (wohlf) - wolf
Leeuw (lay-ow) - lion
Olifant (oh-lee-funt) - elephant
Giraffe (zyee-rough) - giraffe
Zebra (zay-brah) - zebra
Nijlpaard (nile-pahrt) hippopotamus/hippo (literally: Nile

horse)
Meeuw (mee-ow) - seagull
Duif (dowf) - dove/pigeon
Tijger (tir) - tiger
Aap (ahp) - monkey
Beer (beer) - bear
Eekhoorn (akehorn) - squirrel
Dolfijn (dol-fine) - dolphin
Wasbeer (was-beer) - raccoon

(literally: wash bear)
Haai (hi) - shark
Chapter 6: Body Parts

When you go to the doctor, compliment
someone on his or her looks, say you
get hurt, or any other situation that has
to do with your body, its handy to
know what your body parts are called.
So here is an overview, with an image
of a happy couple.
1 haar (hahr) - hair

1 hoofd (hoaft) - head
1 brein/hersenen (brine/her-s-nn) brain/brains
1 schedel (say-dl) - skull
2 wenkbrauw (wenk-brow) - eyebrow
2 voorhoofd (fore-hoaft) - forehead
2 huid (howt) - skin
3 oog (oh) - eye
3 iris (ee-ris) - iris
3 pupil (pew-pil, with emphasis on
pil) - pupil
3 wimper (whim-pr) - eyelash
4 neus (news) - nose
4 wang (wung) - cheek
5 oor (oar) - ear
5 kaak (kawk) - jaw
6 mond (mont) - mouth
6 lippen (lip-pn) - lips
6 kin (kin) - chin
6 tong (tong) - tongue
6 tanden (ton-dn) - teeth
7 nek (neck) - neck
7 keel (cale) - throat

8 schouder (sow-dr) - shoulder
9 elleboog (el-l-bow) - elbow
10 buik (bowk) - belly/tummy
10 maag (mah) - stomach
10 navel (nah-vl) - belly button/navel
10 rug (r) - back
10 darmen (dar-mn) - intestines
10 blaas (blahs) - bladder
11 borsten (boar-stn) - breasts
11 tepel (tay-pl) - nipple
11 borstkas (boarst-kus) - chest
11 longen (long-n) - lungs
11 hart (heart) - heart
11 ribben (rib-bn) - ribs
12 arm (arm) - arm
13 hand (hunt) - hand
13 pols (poles) - wrist
14 vingers (fing-rs) - fingers
14 nagel (nah-l) - nail
14 knokkels (k-nock-ls, make sure
you pronounce all k-s) - knuckles
14 duim (dowm) - thumb
14 wijsvinger (wise-fing-r) - pointing

finger
14 middelvinger (middle-fing-r) middle finger
14 ringvinger (ring-fing-r) - ring
finger
14 pink (pink) - pinkie
15 heup (heyp) - hip
15 billen (bill-n) - butt
16 penis (pay-ns) - penis
17 vagina (fah-ee-nah) - vagina
18 knie (k-nee, pronounce the k) knee
19 been (bain) - leg
19 kuit (cowt) - calf
20 hiel/hak (heel/huck) - heel
20 enkel (enck-l) - ankle
21 voet (foot) - foot
21 tenen (tay-nn) - toes
Chapter 7: Food
Just to help you order something in a
restaurant or figure out what everything
on the menu means, here are some key
words that are connected to food and
eating. Youve already seen the first
ten.
aardappel (awrt-opple) - potato
bloemkool (bloom-cole) - cauliflower
sinaassappel (see-nah-sup-pl) orange (the fruit)
rijst (ricet) - rice
appel (up-pl) - apple
aardbei (ahrt-by) - strawberry
banaan (ba-nahn) - banana
water (water) - water
vis (vis) - fish
soep (soup) - soup

Now, lets teach you some new ones.
Here we go.
Drinks
limonade (lee-moh-naw-d) lemonade, sugary drink or fruit drink
(doesnt need to have lemon)
koffie (koh-fee) - coffee
thee (tay) - tea
wijn (wine) - wine
Meat and Fish

hamburger (hum-br-r) - hamburger
ham (hum) - ham
gehakt (-huckt) - minced meat
kip (kip) - chicken
vlees (flace) - meat (think of flesh)
rundvlees (rnt-flace) - beef

varkensvlees (far-kns-flace) - pork
gehaktbal (-huckt-ball) - meatball
worst (wohrst) - saucage
biefstuk (beef-stck) - steak
garnaal (ar-nahl) - shrimp
zalm (zalm) - salmon
Fruit and Vegetables
broccoli (broh-coh-lee) - broccoli
bonen (bow-nn) - beans
fruit (frowt) - fruit
groente (roon-t) - vegetables
erwten (air-tn) - peas
mas (mice) - corn
boerenkool (booh-rn-cole) - cale
wortels (wore-tls) - carrots
sla (slah) - lettuce
salade (sah-lah-d) - salad
tomaat (toh-maht) - tomato
bosbes (boss-bess) - blueberry

braam (brahm) - blackberry
framboos (frum-bose) - raspberry
ananas (uh-nuh-nuhs) - pineapple
watermeloen (wah-tr-m-loen) watermelon
sperziebonen (spare-see-bow-nn)
abrikoos (ah-bree-cose) - apricot
nectarine (neck-tah-ree-n) - nectarine
perzik (pear-sick) - peach
Spices and Seasonings

nootmuskaat (note-ms-kaht) - nutmeg
zout (zowt) - salt
peper (pay-pr) - pepper
kaneel (kuh-nail) - cinnamon
kerrie (care-ree) - curry
oregano (oar-aye-ah-no, with
emphasis on ah, contrary to the
English - oregano
knoflook (knoff-loke) - garlic
tijm (time) - thyme
Other
snack (snack, same word, just dont
blow the k) - snack
ontbijt (unt-bite) - breakfast
lunch (lnch) - lunch
spaghetti (spah-he-tee) - spaghetti
frietjes (freet-ys) - (French) fries
avondeten (ah-funt-aye-tn) - dinner
noten (no-tn) - nuts
chips (ships) - chips/crisps
snoep (snoop) - candy/sweets
chocola(de) (shoh-coh-lah-d) chocolate
brood (browt) - bread
boter (bow-tr) - butter
jam (syem) - jam/jelly
kaas (coss) - cheese

pinda (pin-dah) - peanut
pindakaas (pin-dah-coss) - peanut
butter
melk (melk) - milk
stroop (strowp) - syrup
chocopasta (sho-coh-pus-tah) chocolate spread (for bread, like
Nutella)
hagelslag (hah-l-slu) - chocolate
sprinkles (for bread, common in the
Netherlands and Belgium)
scherp (searp) - sharp/spicy
heet (hate) - hot
koud (cowt) - cold
Chapter 8: Family
Family relationships matter, whether it
concerns immediate family or extended
family. In Dutch, they are two different
words. Extended family, like aunts,
uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins, etc.
are called familie (fah-mee-lee), but
if a father or mother talks about his or
her family, which means partner and
children, they talk about gezin (zin). But this usually doesnt apply
when a child is talking about the family
he or she is in.
So, for example, you can say, That is
a happy family, referring to mother,
father and children. Then you would
say, Dat is een gelukkig gezin (Dot is
n -l-cki -zin).
A child could say, I come from a big
family. That child would say, Ik kom
uit een groot gezin (Ik coam out n

rowt -zin), since he or she is
referring to THE family he or she grew
up in.
But if a child says something like, My
(immediate) family is loud, he or she
would say, Mijn familie is
luidruchtig (Mine fah-mee-lee is
loud-r-t), since he or she is
referring to the family he or she
belongs to, not the one he or she
presides over. I know, its a little
complicated, but just guess if youre
not sure. They know what you mean.
Most times, gezin refers to
immediate family and familie to
extended familie.
Lets go over some of the family
members now, so you can get the
basics.
broer (broor) - brother
zus (zs) - sister
vader (vah-dr) - father
moeder (mooh-dr) - mother

zoon (zone) - son
dochter (doh-tr) - daughter
schoonbroer (sohn-broor) - brother in
law
schoonzus (sohn-zs) - sister in law
schoonvader (sohn-vah-dr) - father
in law
schoonmoeder (sohn-mooh-dr) mother in law
schoonzoon (sohn-zone) - son in law
schoondochter (sohn-doh-tr) daughter in law
neef (nayf) - cousin (male)
nicht (nit) - cousin (female)
neefje (nayf-y) - nephew
nichtje (ni-y) - niece
vrouw (vrow) - wife/woman (dont
say wijf since it is a degrading word
for woman)
man (mun) - husband/man
geadopteerd (-aw-dop-tere-t) adopted

aangetrouwd (ahn--trouwt) - married
into
gescheiden (-seye-dn) - divorced
ik woon samen met... (ik wohn sahmn met...) - I live together with...
vriend (vreent) - boyfriend/friend
(male)
vriendin (vreen-din) - girlfriend/friend
(female)
verloofde (fair-low-f-d) - fianc
de oppas (d ohp-poss) - the babysitter
Wil jij later veel kinderen? (Will yeye law-tr veil

kin-d-rn?) - Do you want a lot of kids when
you grow up? (Literally: Want you later many
children?)
Chapter 9: Verbs, Present

Tense
Now that weve gone over some fun
themes, I will show you one of the best
ways to master a languages: Learning
verbs. Every sentence in any language
includes a verb, so memorizing the
most important ones is half the work.
When it comes to verbs, there are those
that follow the regular pattern. In
English, those are the ones that simply
add an -s to the he/she/it
conjugation, and -ed to the past tense
or past participle. But some dont
follow that pattern, like I fly but in
the past tense I flew. The same is
true in Dutch. Some verbs follow the
common pattern and have the same
letters added to them when it changes
into the past tense or past participle,
but others, usually the ones that get

used most, are irregular. Lets take a
look at a regular verb with normal and
consistent conjugations that can be
used as a standard for others.
For now, we are just going to focus on
the present tense. The past tense will
come in the other 2 books.
First, please understand what an
infinitive is, which is the root of the
verb without any conjugation. In
English, this is to... like to duck or
to hit or to be or to have. In
Dutch, this is always one word that
ends at -n or, more commonly, -en
like bukken or slaan or zijn or
hebben.
Another thing: When it comes to you
(singular), there are two forms. It
really doesnt matter which one you
use a lot of times. There is je or
jij. The ONLY thing you need to
remember, is that when there is a
special emphasis on that word, you

have to use jij. For example, if you
say, You go away, it could be
translated as Je gaat weg (Y aht
we) or as Jij gaat weg (Yi aht
we).
But if the sentence is Not I but you go
away the emphasis is placed on the
word you because of the contrast.
Therefore, it should be translated as
Niet ik maar jij gaat weg (Neet ik
mahr yi aht we).
The same counts for the word we.
You could use we (w) or wij
(why) in any case, except for when the
emphasis is placed on that word as
opposed to another; then it has to be
wij. And the same counts for ze
and zij, which means either she or
they.
Regular Verbs
In the present tense, the you and
he/she person usually get a t at the

end, and the plural forms, whether its
we or you (plural) or they
usually gets -en added at the end.
The double consonants are there to
ensure that the sound stays short, like
in the following example, where an
extra k gets added, so the reader
knows not to say a long aaaah and
keep the a short.
By the way, the word jullie is
pronounced as y-lee.
Pakken (puck-kn) - to get/to take
Ik pak
Jij pakt
Hij/zij pakt
Wij lopen
Jullie lopen
Zij lopen
The opposite is true too: When the
vowel has to stay long, one of them
gets deleted in the plural conjugations,

since the Dutch consider 2 vowels
unnecessary in a two-syllable word.
Lopen (low-pn) - to walk
Ik loop
Jij loopt
Hij/zij loopt
Wij lopen
Jullie lopen
Zij lopen
Maken (mah-kn) - to make
Ik maak
Jij maakt
Hij/zij maakt
Wij maken
Jullie maken
Zij maken
If there already is a t at the end of the
verb, the Dutch consider it a little over

the top to add an extra t so they just
leave it out.
Zetten (zet-tn) - to put/to place
Ik zet
Jij zet
Hij/zij zet
Wij zetten
Jullie zetten
Zij zetten
When the verb ends with a d the
Dutch DO add a t but they just dont
say it. It would be a little weird to
pronounce a word with -d-t as you
would struggle to pronounce it and
sound like a crazy person. Remember
that you learned earlier that the Dutch
pronounce the d at the end of the
word like a t anyway. And also
remember that the b at the end of a
word is pronounced as a p.
Worden (wore-dn) - to become

Ik word
Jij wordt
Hij/zij wordt
Wij worden
Jullie worden
Zij worden
If a word doesnt have an e before
the last letter n, the e doesnt get
added to the plural forms either. Here
are 2 common examples:
Doen (dune) - to do
Ik doe
Jij doet
Hij/zij doet
Wij doen
Jullie doen
Zij doen
Zien (zeen) - to see

Ik zie
Jij ziet
Hij/zij ziet
Wij zien
Jullie zien
Zij zien
Here are some verbs to memorize that
have regular conjugations in the
present tense. I will give you the first
person with the unconjugated verb just
to clarify how the singular forms come
to existence.
Horen - ik hoor (hoar-n - ik hoar) = to
hear
Voelen - ik voel (fool-n - ik fool) = to
feel
Kijken - ik kijk (kike-n - ik kike) = to
look
Rennen - ik ren (ren-nn - ik ren) = to
run
Zitten - ik zit (sit-tn - ik sit) = to sit

Krijgen - ik krijg (cry-n - ik cry) to get
Kopen - ik koop (koh-pn - ik kohp) to buy
Verkopen - ik verkoop (fair-koh-pn ik fair-kohp) - to sell
Eten - ik eet (ay-tn - ik ayt) - to eat
Drinken - ik drink (drink-n - ik drink)
- to drink
Rijden - ik rijd (ride-n - ik rite) - to
ride/to drive
Fietsen - ik fiets (feets-n - ik feets) to ride a bicycle
Moeten - ik moet [t disappears]
(moo-tn - ik moot) - to must/have to
Vinden - ik vind (fin-dn - ik fint) - to
find (either by looking for it or
expressing an opinion)
Irregular Verbs
Here are some irregular verbs that

would come in handy if you memorized
them, since they are so common in
everyday language.
Komen (coh-mn) - to come
Ik kom
Jij komt
Hij/zij komt
Wij komen (so NOT: kommen)
jullie komen
zij komen
Gaan (ahn) - to go
Ik ga
Jij gaat
Hij/zij gaat
Wij gaan
Jullie gaan
Zij gaan
Hebben (heb-bn) - to have
Ik heb (pronounced as ik hep)

Jij hebt (pronounced as jij hept etc.)
Wij hebben
Jullie hebben
Zij hebben
Zijn (zine) - to be
Ik ben
Jij bent
Hij/zij is
Wij zijn
Jullie zijn
Zij zijn
Geven (ay-fn) - to give
Ik geef
Jij geeft
Hij/zij geeft
Wij geven (notice the f turning into a
v)
Jullie geven
Zij geven
Mogen (moa-n) - to may/be allowed

to
Ik mag
Jij mag
Hij/zij mag
Wij mogen
Jullie mogen
Zij mogen
The Future Tense
The future tense in Dutch is really easy.
The future tense is, just like in English
and German, NOT a conjugation (I
always get confused when they do that
in Romanic languages like Spanish or
French). This makes it simpler. The
Dutch word for will or shall is
zullen. Here are the present tense
conjugations of zullen.
zullen (zl-ln) - will/shall
ik zal (zall) - I will
je/jij zult (zlt) - you will
hij/zij zal (zall) - he/she will

we/wij zullen (zl-ln) - we will
ze/zij zullen (zl-ln) - they will
we/wij zullen (zl-ln) - we will
Simply add the infinitive of the Dutch
verb to that one, and you have a
sentence in the future tense. For
example, Ik zal gaan (Ik zall ahn)
means I will go, and zij zullen
gaan (zye zl-ln ahn) means they
will go.
Chapter 10: Simple Phrases

and Conjunctions
In this chapter, I will get you started
with some easy phrases you can
memorize, to use in everyday language
and conversations.
First, let me tell you all the different
ways you can ask for a confirmation
after a sentence. In English, this if often
done, depending on where you live, by
saying doesnt it? or isnt it? or
right? or huh? or (in Canada)
eh? In Dutch, there are several ways
to do this. The most common one first.
h?
toch?
of niet/of wel?
nietwaar?
vind je niet?
Here are some more small talk

sentences.
Kijk daar eens! (Kike dahr aynes!) Hey, look over there!
Hoe oud ben je? (Who owt ben y?) How old are you?
Ik ben... jaar. (Ik ben ... yahr.) - I am...
years old.
Lekker weer, h? (Leck-r weir, he?) The weather is lovely, isnt it?
Waar ga je naartoe? (Wahr ah y nahrtoo?) - Where are you going?
Ik ga naar huis. (Ik ah nahr house) - I
am going home.
Ik heb er genoeg van. (Ik hep air noo fun) - Ive had enough of this.
Dankjewel. (Dunk-y-well) - Thank
you.
Bedankt. (B-dunkt) - Thank you.
Ik heb geld nodig. (Ik hep elt noa-d)
- I need money.
Graag gedaan. (rah -dahn.) Youre welcome.
Geen dank. (ain dunk) - Dont
mention it.
Dat staat je leuk. (Dot staht y liyk.) That looks good on you.
Wat gaaf, zeg! (Wot ahf, se!) - That
is so cool!
Ik heb geen zin meer. (Ik hep ain zin
mere.) - I dont feel like it anymore.
Ik heb honger. (Ik hep hoanger.) - I am
hungry (literally: I have hunger.)
Ik heb dorst. (Ik hep doarst.) - I am
thirsty (literally: I have thirst.)
Hou op. (How owp.) - Stop it.
Wees eens stil. (Ways aynes still.) - Be
quiet.
Wat zeg je? (Wot ze y?) - What did
you say?
Ik begrijp het niet. (Ik b-ripe het
neet.) - I dont understand.
Ik weet het niet. (Ik wait het neet.) - I

dont know.
Dat is gek! (Dot is eck!) - Thats so
weird/crazy!
Mooi, toch? (Moye, tow?) Beautiful, isnt it?
Zie ik je morgen? (Zee ik y mor-n?)
- Will I see you tomorrow?
Tot straks. (Toat strucks) - See you
later.
Ik voetbal graag. (Ik foot-ball rah) I love to play soccer/football.
Ik heb een hekel aan hockey. (Ik hep n
hay-kl ahn hoa-ckey.) - I hate hockey.
Ik blijf hier. (Ik blife hear.) - I am
staying here.
Nu!/Nou! (New!/Now!) - Now!
Nog een keer! (Noa n kear.) - Again!
(literally: Another time!)
Wat is dat? (Wot is dot?) - What is
that?
Wat heb je daar? (Wot hep y dahr?) -
Wat have you got there?
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Speak Dutch
Book 2 of 3: Ea sy but Be tte r
By Vincent Noot
Copyright @2015
Noot.
link:
Contents:
Introduction
Chapter 1: Questions
Chapter 2: Conjunctives and
Prepositions
Chapter 3: Verbs, Past Tense
Chapter 4: Past Participle
Chapter 5: Verbs, Exceptions
Chapter 6: Adjectives and Opposites
Chapter 7: Weather
Chapter 8: Travel
Chapter 9: Relationships and Romance
Chapter 10: Diminutives
Introduction
This book is for those who speak some
Dutch, but want to learn a bit more. It
goes deeper into the grammar and
some more complicated phrases of the
language.
For those who havent bought the first
book, let me tell you something about
myself. As you might have seen from
my last name (and yes, thats my actual
name), I am of Dutch origin. In fact, I
grew up in the Netherlands. My native
language is Dutch. In the past, I have
worked for a translation office
(English to Dutch), and have become
precise and exact at translating,
correcting, reviewing, and proofing
documents in both Dutch and English.
Because of my experience in

learn and master the Dutch language.
Languages dont have to be hard. Its
all about understanding the structure of
a language, not just memorizing
thousands of words. Memorizing a
dictionary will, however useful, only
get you so far. Forming sentences and
Dutch.
Like I mentioned in the first book, one
of the best ways to learn a language is
by understanding verbs. Other
important words are nouns and

adverbs. In this book, I will show you
how the past tense of the Dutch verbs,
as well as how to ask simple questions
and use diminutives. Youll learn more
about topics like romance, travel, and
weather, common topics to talk about
in everyday life. So if you are excited
to learn more Dutch, lees dan snel
verder (keep reading fast).
Chapter 1: Questions
In this chapter, you are going to learn
how to form a question. It is pretty
simple, but there are some rules and
exceptions.
A few hundred years ago, people who
spoke English, used the same or a
similar system to transform a statement
into a question as many other
languages: They simply reversed the
subject and the verb. But nowadays,
English has become a little different by
adding the word do in there, which
is also true for changing a positive
sentence into a negative one. See the
following example:
Statement: You have cold feet
It used to be: Have you cold feet?
Now it is: Do you have cold feet?
However, Dutch, German, and many
other languages have not put this odd

phenomenon into their language. When
they ask a question, they simply
reverse the subject and the verb. So in
Dutch, it would be:
Statement: Je hebt koude voeten (Y
hep cow-d voo-tn)
Question: Heb je koude voeten? (Hep
y cow-d voo-tn?)
If you were watching carefully, the -t
disappeared in the question. This is
because ANY time the verb appears
BEFORE the word je (meaning:
you), the t disappears. Another
example of that is:
Je pakt het aan (Y puckt het ahn)
Pak je het aan? (Puck y het ahn?)
This is ONLY the case with the word
je or the equivalent jij.
Ik heb besloten mijn haar kort te

laten knippen. (Ik hep b-sloa-tn
mine hahr court t knip-pn.) - I have
decided to cut my hair short.
Waarom? Lang haar is toch mooier?
(Wah-rom? Lung hahr is to moy-r?)
- Why? Isnt long hair more
beautiful?
Nee. Het schijnt dat bij sommige
meisjes kort haar juist beter staat.
(Nay. Het sinet dot by som-mi-
mye-sys court hahr yiyest bay-tr
staht.) - No. It appears with some
girls, short hair looks better.
Oh. Dat wist ik niet. (Oh. Dot wist ik
neet.) - Oh. I didnt know that.
(Literally: That knew I not.)
Hee! Ben jij een jongen of een
meisje? (Hey! Ben yiye n young-n
of n mye-sy?) - Hey! Are you a boy
or a girl?
Here are other words you should study

for a little while in order to ask
questions in Dutch.
Wanneer? (whun-near?) - when?
Waar? (wahr?) - where?
Wie? (wee?) - who?
Wat? (wot?) - what? (remember: Dont

blow the t)
Welke? (well-k?) - which?
Waarom? (wah-rom?) - Why?
Hoe? (who?) - How? (remember to
pronounce the vowel shortly)
With these words memorized, you are
armed with a firm basis of asking
Dutch questions. Simply combine them
with the words you already know,
reverse the verb and the subject, and
tadaah! You have a Dutch question.
Here are some common ones, just to
clear it up and give you some
examples.
Waar is de w.c.? (Wahr is d way
say?) - Where are the restrooms?
(W.c. stands for water closed, but
the word toilet pronounced as
twah-let is also correct.)
Hoe gaat het? (Who gaht het?) - How

are you? (Literally: How goes it?)
Waarom doe je dat? (Wah-rom do y
dot?) - Why are you doing that?
Welke wil je? (Well-k will y?) Which one do you want?
Wie gaat er mee? (Wee gaht air may?)
- Who is coming?
Waar ga je naartoe? (Wahr a y nahrtoo) - Where are you going?
Wat is dit? (Wot is dit?) - What is this?
Hoe doe je dat? (Who do y dot?) How do you do that?
Wie ben je? (Wee ben y?) - Who are
you?
Waar doet het pijn? (Wahr doot het
pine?) - Where does it hurt? (Literally:
Where does it pijn?)
Hoe laat vertrekt de trein? (Who laht
fair-trekt d trine?) - What time does
the train leave? (Literally: How late
leaves the train?)
Waarom zeg je niks? (Wah-rom ze y

niks?) - Why arent you saying
anything?
Wat zal ik doen? (Wot zoll ik doon?) What shall I do?
Wanneer verhuis je? (Won-near fairhouse y?) - When are you moving?
Wanneer is het voorbij? (Won-near is
het four-bye?) - When is it over?
Hoe laat kom je terug? (Who laht comb
y tr?) - What time are you coming
back?
Of course thats not all there is, so let

me give you a few common
combinations, so you can ask more
advanced questions when you really
need to know something?
Wat voor...? (wot for?) - what kind
of...?
Hoe vaak? (who vahk?) - how
often?/how many times? (Sometimes

the Dutch say, Hoeveel keer... in
which keer means times.)
Hoeveel? (who-vale?) - how
much?/how many? [yes, you saw that
right... its ONE word]
Waar... vandaan? (wahr... von-dahn?) from where?
Waar... heen? (wahr... hane?) Whereto?
The words waarvandaan and
waarheen get split up, so that the last
part (-vandaan or -heen) gets
pushed all the way to the back of the
sentence. Usually the words waar
vandaan and waar heen are
consecutively followed by a
conjugation of komen (to come) or
gaan (to go). Makes sense, right?
Check out the following examples:
Hoeveel kost het? (Who-vale coast

het?) - How much does it cost?
Hoeveel wil je er? (Who-vale will y
air?) - How many do you want?
Hoeveel maanden blijf je? (Who-vale
mahn-dn blife y?) - How many
months are you staying?
Hoe vaak ga je winkelen? (Who vahk
gah y wink--ln?) - Hoe often do you
go shopping?
Hoeveel keer kun je opdrukken? (Who
vale kear kn y oap-drck-kn?) How many push ups can you do?
Waar kom je vandaan? (Wahr comb y
von-dahn?) - Where are you from?
Waar gaat hij heen? (Wahr aht high
hane?) - Where is he going? (Side
note: another way to say waar... heen
is waar... naartoe)
Chapter 2: Conjunctives
and Prepositions
A conjunctive puts two sentences
together, and a preposition puts two
words or parts of a sentence together.
Here are some of the most important
words to remember to form more
complicated sentences:
Conjunctives
En (end without the d) - and
Of (of) - or
Maar (mahr) - but
Dus (ds) - so
Als (oals) - if/when
Omdat (oam-dot) - because
Want (wunt) - because
Zodat (sow-dot) - so that
Nadat (nah-dot) - after

Voordat (fore-dot) - before
Sinds (sints) - since
Toen (tune) - then/when (as in, When I
did that, I started to...
Tot(dat) (toat-[dot]) - until
Behalve (b-hall-v) - except for
Tenzij (ten-sigh) - unless
Alsof (oals-of) - as if
Hoewel (who-well) - although
Examples:
Hij zei iets voordat hij aankwam.
(High zigh eets fore-dot high ahnkwom) - He said something before he
arrived
Ik ben blij, want ik heb veel geld. (Ik
ben bleye, wunt ik hep veil elt) - I am
happy, because I have lots of money.
Als het goed is, ga ik ermee akkoord.
(Oals het oot is, ah ik air-may ak-
koart) - If it is good, I will agree.

Hij is thuis en hij is boos. (High is
thouse en high is bose) - He is home
and he is angry.
Het klinkt leuk, maar ik weet het niet.
(Het klinkt leyk, mahr ik wait het neet)
- It sounds like fun, but I dont know.
Wil je deze of die hebben? (Will y
day-s of dee heb-bn?) - Do you want
to have this one or that one?
Ik werk hard, zodat ik genoeg heb. (Ik
werk hart, so-dot ik -noo hep) - I
work hard, so that I will have enough.
Ik wacht totdat je er bent (Ik wut toatdot y air bent) - I will wait until you
are there.
As you may have noticed, in some of
these sentences, the verb gets switched
around or pushed towards the back of
the sentence. This is called inversion
which I will discuss in the 3rd book:
Speak Dutch: Book 3 of 3: Advanced

Prepositions
Aan (ahn) - on
Op (oap) - on/at
Uit (out) - out/off
Met (met) - with
In (in) - in
Van (vun) - of/from
Volgens (voal-ns) - according to
Voor (for) - for/in front of
Via (vee-ah) - via
Zonder (soan-dr) - without
Bij (by) - by/at
Binnen (bin-nn) - inside
Buiten (bow-tn) - outside
Door (door) - through/by
Over (over) - over
Tegenover (tay-n-over) - across
from
Tussen (ts-sn) - in between

Onder (oan-dr) - under
Achter (u-tr) - behind
Boven (bow-fn) - above
Naast (nahst) - next to
Naar (nahr) - to (as in: in the direction
of...)
Not prepositions but good to know
Links (Lings) - left [dont pronounce
the k]
Rechts (rets [in some dialects
without the t]) - right
Kant (kunt [yep, thats how you say it...
sorry. Just dont blow the k or the t
and youre good]) - side
Linkerkant (lin-kr-kunt) - left side
Rechterkant (re-tr-kunt) - right side
When it comes to the table in

particular, there is a standard
expression that says, op tafel. In that
exceptions, de word de is often left
out.
You might have seen the name van...
before or you may know someone who
has that word in his last name. It comes
from the time that people often made
up last names referring to the city they

were born in. A last name like van
Bergen simply means that their
ancestors came from the Dutch town
Bergen. Of course not every Dutch last
name has that word, but if you open up
the phone book in any town in the
Netherlands or Belgium, you would
see a lot of last names that start with
van....
Here are some examples of sentences
in which the above-mentioned
prepositions exist:
Trek je kleren aan. (Treck y clear-n

ahn) - Put your clothes on. [trekken
means to pull so literally: Pull your
clothes on.)
Doe het licht uit. (Doo het lit out) Turn the light off.
Friet met mayonnaise. (Freet met mahyo-naih-s) - fries with mayonnaise
(more common than with ketchup in the

Netherlands and Belgium; I encourage
you to try it.)
Ik ga zonder hem weg. (Ik ah soan-dr
hem we) - I am going away/leaving
without him.
Ik heb een pet op mijn hoofd. (Ik hep
n pet op mine hoaft) - I have a hat on
my head.
Ligt je broek op de bank? (Lit y
brook op d bunk?) - Are your pants on
the couch/sofa?
Ik ga morgen naar buiten. (Ik ah morn noar bow-tn) - Tomorrow I will
go outside.
Volgens mij is dat verkeerd. (Foal-ns
mye is dot fair-keart) - I think that is
wrong. (Literally: According to me is
that wrong. The Dutch use volgens
mij a lot when they are saying I think
that....
Ze gaat naar de dokter. (Z aht nahr
d dock-tr) - She is going to the
doctor.
Ik sta voor de deur. (Ik stah four d
dr) - I am standing at the door/in front
of the door.
Ik loop door de deur. (Ik lohp door d
dr) - I am walking through the door.
Dat ding is van mij! (Dot ding is vun
mye!) - That thing is mine!
Ik heb een cadeau voor je. (Ik hep n
kah-dow four y) - I have a gift/present
for you.
Dat is aardig van je. (Dot is ahr-d
vun y) - That is nice of you.
Ik rijd via Amsterdam. (Ik rite vee-ah
Um-str-dum) - I am driving via
Amsterdam.
Hij staat achter me, of niet? (High staht
u-tr m, of neet?) - He is standing
right behind me, isnt he?
We rijden nu door de tunnel. (W ridn
new door d tn-nl) - We are now
driving through the tunnel.
Chapter 3: Verbs, Paste

Tense
In English, most verbs in the past tense
end with -d or with -ed but in
Dutch its a bit more complicated,
unfortunately. Not by much, but still...
In this chapter, I will show you how to
conjugate regular verbs.
Verbs with -t in the Past Tense
There are two kinds of regular verbs in
the past tense. There are lots of
exceptions, but those are irregular and
well go into those later. I will give
you an example, so you can understand
the model which a decent percentage
of the Dutch verbs in the past tense
follow. First, lets do one with the
short vowel sound in the first syllable.
Pakken (puck-kn) - to take

ik pakte (ik puck-t) - I took
jij pakte (yeye puck-t) - you took
(singular)
hij/zij pakte (hye/zye puck-t) - he/she
took
wij pakten (wye puck-tn) - we took
jullie pakten (y-lee puck-tn) - you
took (plural)
zij pakten (zye puck-tn) - they took
Simple, right? Just add -te in the

singular form or -ten in the plural
form and youre done. Actually, since
the Dutch often slack off the -n at the
end, the plural form often sounds like
the singular form anyway, so if youre
not sure, just dont pronounce the -n
at the end and youre good.
Here is an example of the verbs with
long vowels in the first syllable. Its
really easy if you think about the logic
behind the short and long sounds and

the way they are spelled.
Note that the letter v often turns into
an f and the letter z often turns into
an s.
Raken (rah-kn) - to touch
ik raakte (ik rahk-t) - I touched
jij raakte (yeye rahk-t) - you touched
(singular)
hij/zij raakte (hye/zye rahk-t) - he/she
touched
wij raakten (wye rahk-tn) - we
touched
jullie raakten (y-lee rahk-tn) - you
touched (plural)
zij raakten (zye rahk-tn) - they
touched
Verbs that follow this pattern are, for
instance:
Schoppen (schopte) - to kick
Fietsen (fietste) - to ride a bike

Zetten (zette) - to put/place
Plaatsen (plaatste) - to place
Werken (werkte) - to work
Maken (maakte) - to make
Beven (beefte) - to shake/shiver
Kleven (kleefte) - to cleave/stick
Plakken (plakte) - to paste/glue
Verbs with a -d in the PastTense

The verbs with -d in the past tense
follow the same logic. Its not that hard
to figure them out. The only flaw is
that, unfortunately, its not always
simple to find out whether a verbs
follows the -t or the -d pattern.
There are certain consonants that are
often followed by a -d in the past
tense and certain ones that are often
followed by a -t in the past tense, but
going over all the consonants in every
case may even confuse your brain more

than just trying to remember which one
belongs to which verb and developing
a feeling for the language that way, so I
wont bother you with that information
too much. It basically comes down to
the fact that the letters T, K, F, S, CH, P
are usually followed by a -t and the
rest by a -d.
Vullen (vl-ln) - to fill
ik vulde (ik vl-d) - I filled
jij vulde (yeye vl-d) - you filled
(singular)
hij/zij vulde (hye/zye vl-d) - he/she
filled
wij vulden (wye vl-dn) - we filled
jullie vulden (y-lee vl-dn) - you
filled (plural)
zij vulden (zye vl-dn) - they filled
Verbs that more or less follow this
pattern are, for instance:

Antwoorden (antwoordde) - to answer
Horen (hoorde) - to hear
Rennen (rende) - to run
Verven (verfde) - to paint
Willen (wilde) - to want
Leggen (legde) - to lay/put
Chapter 4: Past Participle

Verbs with -t in the Past Tense
Again, there are two kinds of regular
verbs in the past tense, one with the t and another with the -d ending.
The same counts for the past participle.
First, lets do one with the short vowel
sound in the first syllable.
Pakken (puck-kn) - to take
ik heb gepakt (ik hep (-puckt)
See? Its easy. You just take the root or
stem from the word, add a -t or -d
at the end, and you add ge- in front
of it. I will show you through the
examples from the previous chapter
how simple it is when it comes to the
regular verbs.
With a -t
Schoppen - geschopt
Fietsen - gefietst
Zetten - gezet (NEVER dubbel t at
the end)
Plaatsen - geplaatst
Werken - gewerkt
Maken - gemaakt
Beven - gebeeft
Kleven - gekleeft
Plakken - geplakt
With a -d (still pronounced as a -t)
Antwoorden - geantwoord
Horen - gehoord
Rennen - gerend
Verven - geverfd
Willen - gewild
So here is the thing: The Dutch never

pronounce a d at the end as a d,
but always as a t. So ik heb gerend
is pronounced as ik hep -rent
etcetera.
Ver- and her- and stuff

Some of the prepositions that we add
to words, just like in English, come
from Latin. The Dutch think its silly to
add ge- at the beginning, since the 2
or 3 letters in the word are already
something thats added on. So look at
the following patterns when it comes to
these words. If you see anything
similar with the same first few letters
in the verb, it usually means you dont
add ge- to the past participle.
First, the verb, then the past participle
(in brackets) and then the translation:
Verwennen (ik heb verwend) - I have

spoiled (of course I am spoiled is
Ik ben verwend in Dutch)
Beroven (ik heb beroofd) - I have
robbed
Beloven (ik heb beloofd) - I have
promised
Herkennen (ik heb herkend) - I have
recognized
Verpakken (ik heb verpakt) - I have
wrapped (a gift)
Chapter 5: Verbs,
Exceptions
conjugate irregular verbs, the
exceptions. Some people have said that
German is all about rules and Dutch is
all about exceptions, which doesnt
make it easy for foreigners to learn and
to memorize each single one.
The funny thing is that it might be
related to the culture. Whenever I am
in Germany, I feel like many people
follow the rules, come on time, and
have forms and procedures for
everything. When I lived in Belgium, I
felt like more people avoided conflict,
cared about politeness and hierarchy,
and had a certain way of esteeming
others as having a higher status or
position. When I lived in the
Netherlands, I got the feeling people

were very forward, cared more about
the underlying reasons of rules, and
were willing to bend them at times or
consider others as equals, often
speaking their minds and saying what
everyone else was thinking. And I
guess the language, with all its
exceptions, followed the culture.
Here I will show some of the main
ones, so you can have a basic
understanding of what to say when
speaking Dutch and wanting to talk in
the past tense. So good luck
memorizing all these! I wish I could
show you a trick, but thats just the
trouble with Dutch. As you discover
patterns and speak the language more
often, youll get more of a feel for it,
so then, the exceptions will be easier,
but I have to say that it is probably still
challenging for a foreigner.
Jee! Werkwoorden uit het hoofd

leren...
Yay! Memorizing verbs... (Literally:
Work-words out the head learn....)
Ja, vervelend, man!
Yes, annoying, man!

Remember: The conjugations below are ALL in
the past tense. The last one is the past participle!
Zijn - to be
ik was (ik was)
jij was (yeye was)
hij/zij was (hye/zye was)
wij waren (wye wah-rn)
jullie waren (y-lee wah-rn)
zij waren (zye wah-rn)
Ik ben geweest (ik ben -waist)
Hebben - to have
ik had (ik hut)
jij had (yeye hut)
hij/zij had (hye/zye hut)
wij hadden (wye hu-dn)
jullie hadden (y-lee hu-dn)
zij hadden (zye hu-dn)
Ik heb gehad (ik hep -hut)
Vragen - to ask
ik vroeg (ik froo)
jij vroeg (yeye froo)
hij/zij vroeg (hye/zye froo)
wij vroegen (wye froo-n)
jullie vroegen (y-lee froo-n)

zij vroegen (zye froo-n)
Ik heb gevraagd (ik hep -fraht)
Lopen - to walk
Ik liep (ik leap)
jij liep (yeye leap)
hij/zij liep (hye/zye leap)
wij liepen (wye lea-pn)
jullie liepen (y-lee lea-pn)
zij liepen (zye lea-pn)
Ik heb gelopen (ik hep -loa-pn)
Slaan - to hit/punch
ik stond (ik stoant)
jij stond (yeye stoant)
hij/zij stond (hye/zye stoant)
wij stonden (wye stoan-dn)
jullie stonden (y-lee stoan-dn)
zij stonden (zye stoan-dn)
Ik heb gestaan (ik hep -stahn)
Kijken - to look
ik keek (ik cake)
jij keek (yeye cake)
hij/zij keek (hye/zye cake)
wij keken (wye cay-kn)
jullie keken (y-lee cay-kn)
zij keken (zye cay-kn)
Ik heb gekeken (ik hep -cay-kn)

Zien - to see
ik zag (ik su)
jij zag (yeye su)
hij/zij zag (hye/zye su)
wij zagen (wye sah-n)
jullie zagen (y-lee sah-n)
zij zagen (zye sah-n)
Ik heb gezien (ik hep -seen)
Weten - to know
ik wist (ik wist)
jij wist (yeye wist)
hij/zij wist (hye/zye wist)
wij wisten (wye wist-n)
jullie wisten (y-lee wist-n)
zij wisten (zye wist-n)
Ik heb geweten (ik hep -way-tn)
Kunnen - to can/be able to
ik kon (ik cone [but short vowel])
jij kon (yeye cone [but short vowel])
hij/zij kon (hye/zye cone [but short vowel])
wij konden (wye cone-dn [but short vowel])
jullie konden (y-lee cone-dn [but short vowel])
zij konden (zye cone-dn [but short vowel])
Ik heb gekund (ik hep -knt)
Zoeken - to search/seek/look for

Ik zocht (ik sot)
jij zocht (yeye sot)
hij/zij zocht (hye/zye sot)
wij zochten (wye sot-n)
jullie zochten (y-lee sot-n)
zij zochten (zye sot-n)
Ik heb gezocht (ik hep -sot)
Notice how kopen follows the same pattern as
zoeken even though the vowels are different in the
present tense:
Kopen - to buy/purchase
Ik kocht (ik kot)
jij kocht (yeye kot)
hij/zij kocht (hye/zye kot)
wij kochten (wye kot-n)
jullie kochten (y-lee kot-n)
zij kochten (zye kot-n)
Ik heb gekocht (ik hep -kot)
Krijgen - to get/receive
ik kreeg (ik cray)
jij kreeg (yeye cray)
hij/zij kreeg (hye/zye cray)
wij kregen (wye cray-n)
jullie kregen (y-lee cray-n)
zij kregen (zye cray-n)
Ik heb gekregen (ik hep -cray-n)

Spreken - to speak
ik sprak (ik spruck)
jij sprak (yeye spruck)
hij/zij sprak (hye/zye spruck)
wij spraken (wye sprah-ckn)
jullie spraken (y-lee sprah-ckn)
zij spraken (zye sprah-ckn)
Ik heb gesproken (ik hep -sproa-ckn)
Zitten - to sit
ik zat (ik sut)
jij zat (yeye sut)
hij/zij zat (hye/zye sut)
wij zaten (wye sah-tn)
jullie zaten (y-lee sah-tn)
zij zaten (zye sah-tn)
Ik heb gezeten (ik hep -say-tn)
Zeggen - to say
Ik zei (ik zye)
jij zei (yeye zye)
hij/zij zei (hye/zye zye)
wij zeiden (wye zye-dn)
jullie zeiden (y-lee zye-dn)
zij zeiden (zye zye-dn)
Ik heb gezegd (ik hep -set)
Gaan - to go
ik ging (ik ing)
jij ging (yeye ing)
hij/zij ging (hye/zye ing)
wij gingen (wye ing-n)
jullie gingen (y-lee ing-n)
zij gingen (zye ing-n)
Ik ben gegaan (ik ben -ahn)
Komen - to come
Ik kwam (ik kwum)
jij kwam (yeye kwum)
hij/zij kwam (hye/zye kwum)
wij kwamen (wye kwah-mn)
jullie kwamen (y-lee kwah-mn)
zij kwamen (zye kwah-mn)
Ik ben gekomen (ik ben -koa-mn)
Trekken - to pull
ik trok (ik trock)
jij trok (yeye trock)
hij/zij trok (hye/zye trock)
wij trokken (wye troa-ckn [short vowel])
jullie trokken (y-lee troa-ckn [short vowel])
zij trokken (zye troa-ckn [short vowel])
Ik heb getrokken (ik hep -troa-ckn [short vowel])
Brengen - to bring
ik bracht (ik brut)
jij bracht (yeye brut)
hij/zij bracht (hye/zye brut)
wij brachten (wye brut-n)
jullie brachten (y-lee brut-n)
zij brachten (zye brut-n)
Ik heb gebracht (ik hep - brut)
Doen - to do
ik deed (ikd date)
jij deed(yeye date)
hij/zij deed (hye/zye date)
wij deden (wye day-dn)
jullie deden (y-lee day-dn)
zij deden (zye day-dn)
Ik heb gedaan (ik hep -dahn)
Drinken - to drink
ik dronk (ik droank [pronounced shortly])
jij dronk (yeye droank [pronounced shortly])
hij/zij dronk (hye/zye droank [pronounced shortly])
wij dronken (wye droank-n [pronounced shortly])
jullie dronken (y-lee droank-n [pronounced
shortly])
zij dronken (zye droank-n [pronounced shortly])
Ik heb gedronken (ik hep -droank-n [pronounced
shortly])
Eten - to eat
ik at (ik ot [like in hot])
jij at (yeye ot)
hij/zij at (hye/zye ot)
wij aten (wye ah-tn)
jullie aten (y-lee ah-tn)
zij aten (zye ah-tn)
Ik heb gegeten (ik hep -ay-tn)
Geven - to give
ik gaf (ik of)
jij gaf (yeye of)
hij/zij gaf (hye/zye of)
wij gaven (wye ah-fn)
jullie gaven (y-lee ah-fn)
zij gaven (zye ah-fn)
Ik heb gegeven (ik hep -ay-fn)
Helpen - to help
ik hielp (ik heelp)
jij hielp (yeye heelp)
hij/zij hielp (hye/zye heelp)
wij hielpen (wye heel-pn)
jullie hielpen (y-lee heel-pn)
zij hielpen (zye heel-pn)
Ik heb geholpen (ik hep -hoal-pn)
Mogen - to may/be allowed to
ik mocht (ik moat [short vowel])

jij mocht (yeye moat [short vowel])
hij/zij mocht (hye/zye moat [short vowel])
wij mochten (wye moat-n [short vowel])
jullie mochten (y-lee moat-n [short vowel])
zij mochten (zye moat-n [short vowel])
Ik heb gemogen (ik hep -mow-n [long vowel])
Slapen - to sleep
ik sliep (ik sleep)
jij sliep (yeye sleep)
hij/zij sliep (hye/zye sleep)
wij sliepen (wye sleepn)
jullie sliepen (y-lee sleepn)
zij sliepen (zye sleepn)
Ik heb geslapen (ik hep -slah-pn)
Springen - to jump
ik sprong (ik sprong)
jij sprong (yeye sprong)
hij/zij sprong (hye/zye sprong)
wij sprongen (wye sprong-n)
jullie sprongen (y-lee sprong-n)
zij sprongen (zye sprong-n)
Ik heb gesprongen (ik hep -sprong-n)
Vallen - to fall
Ik viel (ik feel)
jij viel (yeye feel)
hij/zij viel (hye/zye feel

wij vielen (wye feel-n)
jullie vielen (y-lee feel-n)
zij vielen (zye feel-n)
Ik ben gevallen (ik ben -fall-n)
Worden - to become
ik werd (ik wert)
jij werd (yeye wert)
hij/zij werd (hye/zye wert)
wij werden (wye wer-dn)
jullie werden (y-lee wer-dn)
zij werden (zye wer-dn)
Ik heb geworden (ik hep -woar-dn)
Chapter 6: Adjectives
Adjectives are words that describe
something, like beautiful, high, ugly,
stupid, smart, interesting, boring, etc.
After learning 6 languages and
speaking some of them pretty fluently, I
have concluded that the best way to
learn adjectives, is to always learn
opposites. If you learn the word big,
its better to immediately learn what
small is in that same language. If you
learn the word far, it would be best
to know how to say close at the same
time.
On the other hand, if you really dont
know the opposite word, just say what
it is not. For example, if you
memorized the word lang (meaning:
long) but you forgot the word kort
(meaning: short), you can use that. Just
say, niet lang (not long), or in other

words: Short.
Okay, enough chit-chat. Ready? Here
we go.
kort (court) - short

lang (long) - long
gek (eck) - crazy
raar (rahr) - weird
normaal (nor-mahl [emphasis on
maal) - normal
gewoon (-wone) sane/normal/regular
dom (domb) - stupid/dumb
slim (slim) - smart
knap (knupp) - handsome/pretty
mooi (moye) - beautiful/pretty
lelijk (lay-lck) - ugly
sexy (sexy) - sexy
schattig (su-ti) - cute
groot (roht) - big/large
klein (kline) - small/little
ver (fair) - far
dichtbij (dit-by) - close
dun (dn) - thin
dik (dick [dont blow the k]) -
fat/thick
gespierd (-speert) - muscled/buff
sterk (stairck) - strong
zwak (zwuck) - weak
blij (blye) - happy
boos (bose) - angry
verdrieting (fair-dree-ti) - sad
rijk (ricke) - rich
arm (arm) - poor
leuk (leyk) - fun
grappig (rap-pi) - funny
stom (stoam) - stupid
saai (sye) - boring
goed (goot) - good
slecht (slet) - bad
wijd (wite) - wide
smal (small) - narrow
breed (brait) - wide
ingewikkeld (in--wick-lt) complicated
simpel (simple) - simple
eenvoudig (ayn-fow-dg) - simple
makkelijk (muck-k-lck) - easy

moeilijk (mooy-lck) - hard/difficult
moe (mooh) - tired
opgewonden (op--woan-dn) excited
enthousiast (ent-how-see-ust) enthusiastic
energiek (ay-nr-zyeeck) - energetic
gefrustreerd (-frs-treert) - frustrated
kalm (calm) - calm
lui (louw) - lazy
ijverig (ive--ri) - diligent (often they
say, werkt hard [works hard])
gemeen (-main) - mean
aardig (ahr-di) - nice
vriendelijk (freen-d-lck) - friendly
lief (leef) - sweet
stout (stout) - naughty
handig (hun-di) - handy
onhandig (oan-hun-di) unhandy/clumsy
nat (nut) - wet
vochtig (foa-ti)
droog (droue) - dry
koud (cowt) - cold
warm (wurm) - warm
heet (hate) - hot
vaag (fah) - vague
duidelijk (dow-d-lck) - clear
lekker (leck-r) - tasty/delicious
vies (fees) - dirty/disgusting
schoon (sone) - clean (in the Flemish
dialect in Belgium, it often means
beautiful. The word proper is
often used for clean there.)
eerlijk (eer-lck) - honest
oneerlijk (oan-eer-lck) - dishonest
hard (heart) - hard
zacht (sot) - soft
kapot (kah-pot) - broken
stuk (stck) - broken
heel (hail) - whole
intact (in-tuckt) - intact
hoog (houe) - high
laag (laue) - low

duur (dure) - expensive
goedkoop (oot-cope) - cheap
(literally: good buy)
Other helpful stuff:

Niet... genoeg (Neet... -noo) - Not... enough
Te... (T) - Too...
3 words for very:
Heel (hail) - very
Erg (air) - very
Zeer (zear) - very
Some examples of sentences with

adjectives:
Nee, je rijdt te snel! (Nay, y aht t
snell) - No, you are driving too fast!
Die hamer is handig. (Dee hah-mr is
hun-d.) - That hamer is handy.
Blijf kalm. Het komt wel goed. (Blife
calm. Het combt well oot.) - Stay
calm. Its going to be okay.
Wat een mooi meisje! (Wot n moy
mye-sy!) - What a beautiful girl!
Harder werken! Niet lui zijn! (Harder

where-kn! Neet louw sine!) - Work
harder! Dont be lazy!
Ik ben lief. Jij bent stout. (Ik ben leef.
Yiye bent stout.) - I am sweet/nice.
You are naughty/bad.
Conjugating Adjectives
The hardest thing about adjectives in

Dutch is that they go along with the
article and noun they belong to. If you
dont know and you have to guess, just
add an e to it and you are more
likely to pronounce it correctly. But for
those who want to learn it more
precisely, here are some general
guidelines.
By itself it does NOT have an e
If the adjective isnt attached to a noun,
it NEVER has an e at the end. For
example: Ik ben groot. (I am big). In
this case, there is no noun. Another

example is: Ze is heel klein. (She is
very small).
Het and De and Een
When the article of the noun is het,
the adjective OFTEN has an e at the
end. For example: Het grote boek.
(The big book.) The letter o
disappears, since the pronunciation of
the long sound stays the same.
Therefore it is pronounced as Het
roa-t book.
When the article of the noun is de,
the adjective ALWAYS has an e at
the end. For example: De grote pan.
(The big pan.)
When the article of the noun is een
but the original article belonging to that
noun is de, the adjective ALWAYS
has an e too. For example Een grote
pan (since it is de pan.)
When the article of the noun is een
but the original article belonging to that

noun is het it CAN have an e. This
is true in most cases. For example:
Een groot boek (since it is het
boek).
More examples:
Een groot huis (a big house)
Een mooie tuin (a beautiful
yard/garden)
De aardige jongen (a nice boy)
Het grappige kind (the funny child)
Een leuke buurman (a fun neighbor)
Een knappe man (a handsome man)
De harde tafel (the hard table)
Een mooi meisje (a pretty girl)
Het kapotte ding (the broken thing)
Een grote doos (a big box)
De dikke dokter (the fat doctor)
Een kleine kist (a small chest)
Een hoge boom (a high tree)
Superlative Stuff
The similarity in Dutch and English
lies in the fact that if something is
bigger, better, or more powerful, even
if something is the highest, tallest,
greatest... the Dutch has the same
endings. See for example:
Groot - groter - grootst
Klein - kleiner - kleinste
Grappig - grappiger - grappigst
Mooi - mooier - mooiste
Lelijk - lelijker - lelijkst
Laag - lager - laagst
Of course, the annoying thing is they
need an e at the end sometimes, just
like with all adjectives, if it applies to
the noun and the article belonging to it.
For instance:
Het grootste boek (the biggest book)
Het mooiste huis (the most beautiful

house/home)
Een lagere boom (a lower tree)
De knapste dochter (the prettiest
daughter)
A Couple Exceptions
Goed - beter - best (good - better best)
Veel - meer - meest (veel - meer meest)
Examples:
Ik heb meer dan jij. (I have more than
you)
Ik ben de beste speler. (I am the best
player)
Om de wereld te veroveren moet je of

heel knap of heel slim zijn! (Oam d
we-rlt t ver-oa-v-rn moot y of
hail knupp of hail slim sine!) - To
conquer the world you must be either
very pretty or very smart!
En... en wat ben jij dan? (En... en wot
ben yiye dun?) - And... and what are
you then?
Wil je daarmee zeggen dat ik niet

mooi ben? (Will y dahr-may ze-n
dot ik neet moy ben?) - Are you saying
that I am not pretty?
Uh... nee... jawel, hoor. (Uh... nay...
ya-well, hoar.) - Uhm... no... yes, you
are... really.
Dan is het goed. (Don is het oot.) Then its okay.
Ik ben gewoon mooi. (Ik ben -woan
moy.) - I am just pretty.
Chapter 7: Weather
Okay, enough with the grammar for a
bit. Lets try some everyday
conversation, like the topic everyone
starts when they dont have anything
else to say: The weather. Here are
some simple phrases that will help you
keep up the conversation when you
have no clue what to tell or ask them.
You can always start talking about the
weather, right?
Unlike in English, where people say It
is raining/snowing, etc. the Dutch
simply say, It snows or It rains.
Pretty easy, right? Here is a small list
of what you can say.
Het
regent (ray-nt) it is raining

sneeuwt (snaywt) -
it is snowing
is mooi weer (is
moy weir) - the
weather is nice
stormt (stormt) there is a storm
hagelt (hah-lt) there is hail
waait hard (waayt
heart) - there is a
strong wind
is tien graden
Celsius (is teen
rah-dn Cell-seeyus) - Its 10
degrees Celsius
is bewolkt (is bwohlkt) - it is
cloudy
Other helpful words:
de wind (wint) - wind
het weer (het weir) - the weather
de temperatuur (d tem-p-rah-ture) the temperature

het weerbericht (het weir-b-rit) - the
weather report
de zon (d zon) - the sun
de wolken (d wool-kn) - the clouds
de lucht (d lt) - the sky/the air
(same word in Dutch)
Other expressions:
Lekker weertje, h? (Leck-kr weirty, he?) - The weather is nice, isnt it?
Het giet. (Het eet.) - It is pouring rain.
Het is mooi weer. (Het is moy weir.) The weather is lovely.
Het is rotweer. (Het is roat-weir.) This weather is terrible.
Laten we naar buiten gaan. (Lah-tn w
nahr bow-tn ahn.) - Lets go outside.
Ik blijf liever binnen. (Ik blife lee-vr
bin-nn.) - I would rather stay inside.
Het is te donker om naar buiten te
gaan. (Het is t don-kr oam nahr bow-
tn t ahn.) - It is too dark to go

outside.
Chapter 8: Travel
When you are traveling, there are
always some words and expressions
that can be useful. In this chapter I will
give you some of those so you can
handle yourself.
By the way, the Dutch and Belgian
airports have a lot of things explained
in English on the signs. There is no
need to worry that you have to ask for
directions a lot.
Tulpen in de beroemde Keukenhof

(tulips in the famous Keukenhof
gardens)
Een molen (a windmill)
Amsterdam
Het Atonium (near Brussels)
Brugge (Belgium)
Useful Words
Toerist (tourist) - tourist
Reizen (rise-n) - to travel
Fototoestel (photo-too-stell) - camera
Camera (kah-m-rah) - camera
Kaart (kahrt) - map
Trein (trine) - train

Vliegtuig (flee-tow) - airplane
Vliegveld (flee-felt) - airport
Auto (ouw-tow) - car
Bus (bs) - bus
Taxi (tuck-see) - taxi
Hotel (hotel) - hotel
Meneer (m-near) - Mr.
Mevrouw (m-frow) - Mrs.
Overnachten (over-nu-tn) stay/spend the night
Koffer (kof-fr) - suitcase
Tas (tuss) - bag
Rugzak (r-suck) - rucksack/backpack
Meenemen (may-nay-mn) - take with
you
Kleren (clear-n) - clothes
Spullen (spl-ln) - stuff/belongings
Douane (doo-ah-n) - customs
Buitenland (bow-tn-lunt) - foreign
country
Vakantie (fuck-cun-see [sorry, but

thats how you say it]) - vacation
Zakenreis (sah-cn-rise) - business trip
Common Expressions
Ik ben op vakantie. (Ik ben oap fuckcun-see.) - I am on vacation
Ik kom uit Amerika. (Ik comb out Ahmear-ee-kha.) - I am from America.
Ik kom uit Engeland. (Ik comb out Ang-lunt) - I am from England.
Ik blijf twee weken. (Ik blife tway
way-kn) - I am staying for two weeks.
Waar moet ik heen? (Wahr moot ik
hain?) - Where should I go?
Waar kan ik mijn koffer halen? (Wahr
cun ik mine kof-fr hah-ln?) - Where
can I get my suitcase?
Kunt u mij helpen? (Cnt ew my helpn?) - Can you help me?
Kunt u een foto van mij maken? (Cnt
ew n photo fun my mah-kn?) - Could

you take a picture of me?
Ik kan een beetje Nederlands. (Ik cun
n bay-ty Nay-dr-lunts) - I can speak
a little Dutch.
Ik spreek Engels. (Ik sprayk Ang-ls.) I speak English
Wat zegt u? (Wot set ew?) - What did
you say?
Geen idee. (ayn ee-day) - No idea.
Chapter 9: Relationships
and Romance
Who am I to say you might not end up
liking a pretty Dutch girl or handsome
Dutch guy so much that you want get to
know them more? Here are some
expressions that make it more
interesting for him or her, because you
can speak in their native language and
express your interest.
Wat doe je graag in je vrije tijd? (Wot
do y rah in y vrye-y tite?) - What
do you like to do in your free time?
Waar kom je vandaan? (Wahr comb y
von-dahn?) - Where are you from?
Hoe heet je? (Who hate y?) - What is
your name?
Ik hou van je (Ik how fun y) - I love
you
Ik vind je lief (ik fint y leef) - I think

youre sweet
Je hebt mooie ogen (Y hept moa-y
oa-n) - You have beautiful eyes
Ik ben gek op je (Ik ben eck op y) - I
am crazy about you
Wil je een relatie? (Will y n ray-lahtsee?) - Do you want a relationship
(with me)?
Wil je met me trouwen? (Will y met
m trou-wn?) - Will you marry me?
Hoeveel ex-vriendinnen heb je? (Whofail ex-freen-din-nn hep y?) - How
many ex-girlfriends do you have?
Hoeveel ex-vrienden heb je? (Whofail ex-freen-dn hep y?) - How many
ex-boyfriends do you have?
Heb je morgen tijd? (Hep y mor-n
tite?) - Do you have time tomorrow?
Hoeveel kinderen heb je? (Who-fail
kin-d-rn hep y?) - How many kids
do you have?
Heb je een relatie? (Hep y n ray-lahtsee?) - Are you in a relationship/are

you single?
Wil je iets leuks gaan doen? (Will y
eets leyks ahn doon?) - Do you want
to do something fun?
Mooie jurk (Moy-y yrk) - Nice dress
Je ziet er goed uit (Y seat air leyk
out) - You look good
Wat zoek je in een man/vrouw? (Wot
sewk y in n mun/frow?) - What are
you looking for in a man/woman?
Wat zit jij naar mijn dochter te kijken?

Why are you looking at my daughter? (Literally:
What sit you at my daughter to look?)
Chapter 10: Diminutives

In English, sometimes putting the letter
-y or -ey gets added to a word,
especially in childrens play or
kindergarten, to make it smaller
without using the word little or
anything similar. A few examples:
Horsey, bunny, doggie, etc.
Its not as common though, and it
doesnt happen with every word. But
in Dutch, you can make ANYTHING
small by adding -je or -etje or tje or -pje to it. It depends a little
on the end vowel or consonant what it
is and whats correct exactly, but just
know that you can use it on a lot.
When a word ends at a vowel that
should be pronounced long, like
auto, in the diminutive, the extra -o
and the -t get added. If a word ends
at an -m, for instance, then it adds

the letter -p, like in boompje.
When the original word ends at an l
or an r, for example, the extra -t
gets added, like in kikkertje. And
there are other ways to know, with its
fair share of numerous exceptions.
See the following examples.
In all these cases below, the first word
is the original, the second word means
little... (with whatever the word is),
and the third word is the translation
Bank - bankje - bank
Auto - autootje - car
Vis - visje - fish
Kikker - kikkertje - frog
Huis - huisje - house
Bal - balletje - ball
Bed - bedje - bed
Tafel - tafeltje - table
Jongen - jongetje - boy
Meisje (this word is always small;
there is no meis at all) - girl

Muur - muurtje - wall
Vuur - vuurtje - fire
Plant - plantje - plant
Boom - boompje - tree
Bloem - bloempje - flower
Emmer - emmertje - bucket
Scherm - schermpje - screen
Bril - brilletje - glasses (singular in
Dutch)
Sok - sokje - sock
Now that you got a lot to study and
think about, I hope to see you in the
next book so we can have more fun
learning Dutch and go over some other
topics. Download and study all three
of these books and youll be awesome
at speaking Dutch!
Dan spreek je pas ECHT goed
Nederlands! (Then youll REALLY
speak Dutch well!)

course).

information. The pages within this ebook have been copyrighted.
Speak Dutch
Book 3 of 3: Adva nc e d
By Vincent Noot
Copyright @2015
Noot.
link:
Contents:
Introduction
Chapter 1: False Friends
Chapter 2: Proverbs
Chapter 3: Puns
Chapter 4: Inversion
Chapter 5: Conversation
Chapter 6: Customs
Chapter 7: Health
Chapter 8: Countries and Languages
Introduction
This book is for those who have read
the first two books or for people who
are familiar with the Dutch language,
but want to learn some more advanced
ways of saying things, some common
pitfalls they might have overlooked,
and are excited to perfect their Dutch
language skills even more.
For those who havent bought the first
or second book, let me tell you
something about myself. As you might
have seen from my last name (and yes,
thats my actual name), I am of Dutch
origin. In fact, I grew up in the
Netherlands. My native language is
Dutch, but over the years, as I have
lived in several English speaking
countries and interacted with many
foreigners, I have mastered that
language as well. I now speak both

languages fluently to the point where
most people cant even hear my Dutch
accent anymore.
In the past, I have worked for a
translation office (English to Dutch),
and have become precise and exact at
translating, correcting, reviewing, and
proofing documents in both Dutch and
English. Because of my experience in
learn and master the Dutch language.
Languages dont have to be hard. Its
all about understanding the structure of
a language, not just memorizing
thousands of words. Memorizing a
dictionary will, however useful, only
get you so far. Forming sentences and

Dutch.
The ebook version of this book has a
link to a BONUS video in chapter 5.
Check it out by downloading it!
Common mistakes many native English
speakers make when they attempt to
speak Dutch, is copy an English
proverb that doesnt make any sense in
Dutch, false friends (words that look
alike, but mean something completely
different), or failing to use inversion
(turning around the verbs and other
words correctly). These are more
ways to master the Dutch language and
sound like you know what you are
talking about. By studying this 3rd
book, youll notice that people who
speak Dutch can relate better and

understand what you are saying. Did I
spark your curiosity yet? Wacht dan
niet langer en ga verder! (Then dont
wait any longer and continue!)
Chapter 1: False Friends

An Anglicism is a word, sentence or
phrase that comes from English but
does not go along with the correct form
in the language it is translated into.
With words, they are often called
false friends. Here are some
common examples:
The word alarm could refer to the
Dutch alarm, but it could also mean
wekker which is, more accurately,
an alarm clock that helps you wake up.
Other expressions:
English
Mistake
Best Translation
Stop the
ball!
Serious
pain
Under
construction
Sooner or
later
The book
says...
Apply to
your life
A direct
conncetion
Dramatic
changes
Stop de bal!
Serieuze pijn
Onder
constructie
Vroeger of
later
Het boek
zegt...
Op je leven
toepassen
Een directe
connectie
Houd de b
tegen!
Ernstige p
In aanbou
Vroeg of
In het boe
staat...
Op jezelf
toepassen
Een
rechtstree
verbindin
Dramatische Drastisch
veranderingen veranderi
In the same way, there are Dutch

phrases and words you think you might
recognize, but they are deceivingly
different in their meanings. Check out
the following example:
Eekhoorn
Dutch
English assumption
Best English Translation
Een
brave
man
Hij is in
de war
Actueel
Eekhoorn
A brave
man
A harmless man
He is in
the war
Actual
Acorn
He is confused
Magazijn
Raar
Mening
Invalide
Map
File
Advocaat
Magazine
Rare
Meaning
Invalid
Map
File
Advocate
Current/nowada
Squirrel (an
acorn is een
eikel in Dutc
Warehouse
Weird/strange
Opinion
Handicapped
Folder/binder
Traffic jam
Lawyer
Eventueel Eventually By chance

Spel
Spell
Game
Another common mistake, like I
mentioned in one of the previous
books, is thinking that the Dutch call
you a whore when they say, Dat is
goed, hoor. It is just an emphasis,
nothing more. Oh, and dont think the
Dutch have any bad intentions when
they say douchen, (doo-shen). It just
means taking a shower, similar to the
Spanish duchar.
Chapter 2: Proverbs
One of my family members who had
lived in the United States for a long
time cracked me up on accident when
she said, Er is iets vissigs aan de
hand (There is something fishy going
on.) Why? Because that proverb
simply doesnt exist in Dutch. We all
knew what she meant, but it was
hilarious, since she didnt make the
switch. I have heard other visitors
from America say things like, Dat is
een stukje gebak (That is a piece of
cake.) No, it didnt make any sense to
those who didnt know enough English.
So on that funny note, I will give you
some common Dutch proverbs, with
their pronunciation, translation, and
meaning.
Oude koeien uit de sloot halen (Ouwd coo-y out d slowt hah-ln) Getting old cows out of the mote Bringing up something that should be
left in the past (like the time you broke
your mother-in-laws best plates ten
years ago)
Door het lint gaan (Door het lint ahn)
- Going through the ribbon - Not being
able to control your anger or emotions
(like that time that Windows was
shutting down for no reason and you
didnt press save)
Ik heb er kaas van gegeten (Ik hep air
kahs fun -ay-tn) - I have eaten
cheese from it - I know everything
about it (like you will about Dutch
after you read this book series)
Hij neemt de benen (Hye naimt d baynn) - He takes the legs - He is getting
out of here/there (like when your toilet
exploded and you had to avoid the
smell by sleeping at your neighbors
place)
Een fluitje van een cent (n flouw-ty
fun n cent) - A flute of a cent - a piece
of cake/very easy (like mastering the
Dutch language)
Wat de boer niet kent, dat vreet hij niet
(Wot d boor neet kent, dot vrayt hye
neet) - What the farmer doesnt know,
he doesnt eat - Not being willing to
try out new things (like when your wife
asked you to wear something pink and
purple for tonights dinner)
Boontje komt om zijn loontje (Bownty komt oam zine lown-ty) - Bean
comes around his bean - He/she gets
what he/she deserves (like that bad
grade you got when you were partying
instead of studying in the weekend)
Vele handen maken licht werk (Vay-l
hun-dn mah-kn lit wairk) - Many
hands make light work - If more people
help out, the job will be done faster
(like that time a few people from the
church helped you move)

Blaffende honde bijten niet (Bluf-fnd hoan-dn bite-n neet) - Barking
dogs dont bite - Someone who
threatens you, might not always be an
immediate danger
Praatjes vullen geen gaatjes (prah-tys
vl-ln ain ah-tys) - Chats dont fill
holes - Talk is cheap (like that guy your
uncle tried to convince you that it
would be good for you to perform free
labor for him)
Een ongeluk zit in een klein hoekje (n
on--lck zit in n kline hoo-ky) - An
accident is in a little corner Accidents are waiting to happen/there
isnt much needed for an accident (like
when someone lifts up the bed too high
and breaks the light on the ceiling
[based on a true story])
Als de kat van huis is, springen de
muizen op tafel (Uls d cut fun house
is, spring-n d mouse-n oap tah-fl)
- When the cat leaves the house, the

mice jump on the table - When an
authority figure leaves, chaos breaks
loose and control is gone (like that
time you came home and your kids
messed up the living room)
Chapter 3: Puns
If you want to sound funny or smart, or
be a little social by telling
woordgrappen (word jokes, or in
other words: Puns), then I have some
good ones for you. These are jokes that
will mostly only work in Dutch, which
is why it will be beneficial to know the
language.
Sentences and Jokes
Ken je die mop van die mummie?
Ingewikkeld, h? (Ken y dee mop fun
dee mm-mee? In--wick-cklt, hea?)
- Do you the joke of that mummy?
Complicated, isnt it?
The reason why this is funny, is
because the word inwikkelen or in
other words, the past participle
ingewikkeld means enwrapped
or enveloped or enrolled. But it

has a double meaning, since it also
means, complicated.
Ik wil stemmen, maar ik heb geen
ID/idee (Ik will stem-mn, mahr ik hep
ain ee-day) - I want to vote, but I have
no ID.
The reason why this is funny, and it
would probably work in English too,
is that the word ID is pronounced
the same way as idea. So he has no
idea how to vote, but he also has no
ID to vote.
Het ene ei zegt tegen het andere ei:
Niet zo dicht bij de rand komen. Het
andere ei antwoordt: Ach, klets! (Het
aye-n eye zet tay-n het un-d-r
eye, Neet so dit by d runt koa-mn.
Het un-d-r eye unt-war-t, A,
klets!) - The one egg says to the other
egg, Dont go too close to the edge.
The other egg answers, Oh,

nonsense!
This is funny because the word
Klets means to chat or speak
nonsense, but at the same time, it can
be a sound effect of a broken egg. So
the egg is saying it is nonsense to be
so cautious, but is falling down at the
same time and breaking on the floor.
Wauw! Dat moet wel een grote vis

zijn! (Wow! That must be a big fish!)
Ja! Help je nog mee of hoe zit het?
(Yes! Are you going to help me or
what?)
Waaah! Help! (Waaah! Help!)
Zou het daarom een werphengel
heten? (Is that why it is called a
fishing rod?
Plons! (Splash!)
Explanation: werpen means to
throw and hengel is rod. In this
case, however, the main character is
not throwing the rod, but is being
thrown by the rod.
Fruit and Vegetable Jokes
These are guessing jokes. You say,
Het... en.... Wat is het? In other
words, you give them a couple of clues
and then let them guess what it is. If
they dont know within 3 seconds, you

give them the answer and make them
laugh. Especially kids will love these
jokes.
Het is groen en skiet door de bergen.

Wat is het? (Het is roon en skeet door
d ber-n. Wot is het?) - It is green

and skis through the mountains. What is
it?
Een skiwi (n skee-wee) - a ski-kiwi.
Het is groen en hangt onder de auto.
Wat is het? (Het is roon en hungt oandr d ow-tow. Wot is het?) - It is
green and is hanging under the car.
What is it?
Een spruitlaat (n sprout-laht) - a
Brussel sprouts exhaust (spruit
uitlaat)
Het is groen en je kunt ermee rijden.
Wat is het? (Het is roon en y knt
air-may ride-n. Wot is het?) - It is
green and you can drive with it. What
is it?
Een preibewijs (n prye-b-wise) - A
leek drivers license (prei rijbewijs)
Het is geel en je hangt het aan de auto.

Wat is het? (Het is ail en y hungt het
ahn d ow-tow. Wot is het?) - It is
yellow and you can hang it on the car.
What is it?
Een banaanhangwagen (n ba-nahnhung-wah-n) - A banana trailer
(banaan aanhangwagen)
Het is rood en heeft een baard. Wat is

het? (Het is rowt en hayft n bahrt. Wot
is het?) - It is red and it has a beard.
What is it?
Een baardbei (n bahrt-bye) - a beard
strawberry (baard aardbei)
Het is groen en het drijft. Wat is het?
(Het is roon en het drife-t. Wot is

het?) - It is green and it floats. What is
it.
Andrijvie (On-drive-ee) - floating
andive (drijf andijvie)
Chapter 4: Inversion
All right, enough joking around. Lets
get serious. Lets do some hardcore,
tough GRAMMAR! In this chapter,
youll learn about one of the most
annoying things for people who are
native English speakers, something
they do both in Dutch and in German,
but for some reason the English never
got around to it: Inversion.
It is something I have seen one
American after another struggle that
came to the Netherlands or Belgium.
Even though they studied the language
for months, they still didnt get it right.
It takes a moment to pause for
beginners and think about how to put
the right words into the right order. For
someone who is already used to being
around more Dutch people for a longer
period of time, I think they should be

able to pick it up after a while.
When I studied languages like French,
Spanish, and Thai, I noticed that the
order in which you put the words
makes all the difference. It
distinguishes people who speak it
fluently or more perfectly from those
who are struggling to get something out
of their mouths. If you keep making
mistakes with this though, dont be too
hard on yourself. Be happy to accept
corrections, think about it, and move
on. People who learn a language the
fastest, are those who keep trying and
arent embarrassed to make mistakes
(that is exactly why children pick it up
so quickly... they are often humble
enough to parrot what everybody else
says and arent afraid to make
mistakes).
What is inversion? Inversion simply
means to invert (switch places) words
in the sentence that otherwise would be
in a different order. I will show you

when the Dutch (and often the
Germans) use inversion.
Inversion often happens when the
subject is NOT at the beginning of a
sentence anymore, or in case of most
clauses. This is usually the case with
conjunctions or times mentioned as the
first word of the sentence.
In a regular sentence, the verb and
subject get switched.
When this happens (in a clause) with a
conjunction (like because or when
or since), the main verb in that
sentence gets pushed all the way to the
end of the sentence and appears as the
last word.
Here are some examples. Hopefully
these will help you understand what is
going on.
Regular sentences
Ik ga naar huis. (Ik ah nahr house.) - I
am going home.
Morgen ga ik naar huis. (Moar-n ah
ik nahr house.) - Tomorrow I will go
home.
See how ga (go) and ik (I) get
turned around?
Ik was heel blij. (Ik was hail blye.) - I
was very happy.
Gisteren was ik heel bij. (is-t-rn
was ik hail blye.) - Yesterday I was
very happy.
Same principle. Here was and ik
get turned around because the time is
mentioned first.
Sentences with Conjunctions
Just to make it harder on you... (ughh...
sorry... I did not invent the language)
SOME conjunctions are followed by
inversion and some others are NOT.
Here is a list of some of the most
important conjunctions and a yes or no

about whether or not they are followed
by inversion. In the cases I filled out
yes the verb gets shoved all the way
to the back. There are a few exceptions
where the subject and verb get
switched. When that is the case, I have
indicated so.
A little side note: If the conjunction
appears in the clause, in the first part
of the sentence, it switches around the
subject and verb of the second part of
the sentence in many cases. When this
is the case with a conjugation, I will
show it through examples. Yes, I
know... its complicated, but hopefully
the following overview will help, as
well as the examples I am going to
give you.
Want (because) - no
Maar (but) - no
En (and) - no
Hoewel (although) - yes
Als (if/when) - yes

Terwijl (while) - yes
Omdat (because) - yes
Zodat (so that) - yes
Totdat (until) - yes
Dus (so/thus) - switched
Daarom (therefore) - switched
I will now give you an example with
every conjunction, just so you
understand the concept better.
Want
Ik ben moe. Ik heb de hele dag
gewerkt. (Ik ben moo. Ik hep d hay-l
du -wairkt.) - I am tired. I worked
all day.
Ik ben moe, want ik heb de hele dag
gewerkt. (Ik ben moo, wunt ik hep d
hay-l du -wairkt.) - I am tired,
because I worked all day.
Easy, right? Since the word want is
not followed by inversion, you can

just connect the sentences and youre
done. So if youre iffy about using
inversion, I recommend you to always
use want instead of omdat. Its
just easier that way, because you
dont have to mix everything up.
Maar
Ik moet naar school. Ik heb geen zin.
(Ik moot nahr sohl. Ik hep ain zin.) I have to go to school. I dont feel like
going.
Ik moet naar school, maar ik heb geen
zin. (Ik moot nahr sohl, mahr ik hep
ain zin.) - I have to go to school, but I
dont feel like going.
The word maar in Dutch is easy.
No inversion.
En
Ik moet weg. Ik heb haast. (Ik moot
we. Ik hep hahst.) - I have to go. I am

in a hurry.
Ik moet weg en ik heb haast. (Ik moot
we en ik hep hahst.) - I have to go and
I am in a hurry.
Easy. No inversion
Hoewel
Ik ben te laat. Ik doe rustig aan. (Ik ben
t laht. Ik doo rs-ti ahn.) - I am too
late. I am taking it easy.
Hoewel ik te laat ben, doe ik het rustig
aan. (Who-well ik t laht ben, doo ik
het rs-ti ahn.) - Although I am too
late, I am taking it easy.
Because the word hoewel appears
in the first part of the sentence, the
word doe and ik get switched
around in the second part of the
sentence.
Ik doe het rustig aan, hoewel ik te laat
ben. (Ik doo het rs-ti ahn, who-well

ik t laht ben.) - I am taking it easy,
although I am too late.
Because the word hoewel appears
in the SECOND part of the sentence,
the word ben (am) gets pushed all
the way to the back.
Als
Je bent weg. Ik ga feesten. (Y aht
we. Ik ah fay-stn.) - You are
gone/away. I am going to party.
Als je weg bent, ga ik feesten. (Oals y
we bent, ah ik fay-stn.) - If/when
you are gone, I am going to party.
Because the word als appears in
the first part of the sentence, the
words ga and ik get turned
around in the second part of the
sentence. Also, the word bent gets
pushed to the end of the first part of
the sentence as part of the inversion.
Ik ga feesten als je weg bent. (Ik ah
fay-stn oals y we bent.) - I am going

to party if/when you are gone.
Here inversion only applies to the
second part of the sentence, where
bent gets pushed to the back. The
first part of the sentence is FREE and
stays the same.
Terwijl
Je was in de auto. Je luisterde naar de
radio. (Y was in de ow-tow. Y loustr-d nahr d rah-dee-o.) - You were
in the car. You were listening to the
radio.
Je luisterde naar de radio terwijl je in
de auto was. (Y lou-str-d nahr d
rah-dee-o tare-well y in d ow-tow
was.) - You were listening to the radio
while you were in the car.
The first part of the sentence stays the
same, but in the second part, the word
was gets pushed towards the back.
Terwijl je in de auto was, luisterde je
naar de radio. (Tare-well y in d owtow was, lou-str-d y nahr d rahdee-o.) - While you were in the car,
you were listening to the radio.
Here the conjunction appears as the
first word of the sentence, so in the
first part of the sentence, the verb
was goes towards the back of that
sentence, and in the second part the
words je and luisterde get
turned around.
Omdat
Ik doe mijn jas aan. Ik heb het koud. (Ik
doo mine yus ahn. Ik hep het cowt.) - I
am putting on my jacket. I am cold.
Ik doe mijn jas aan, omdat ik het koud
heb. (Ik doo mine yus ahn, oam-dot ik
het cowt hep.) - I am putting on my
jacket, because I am cold.
The word omdat appears in the
second part of the sentence, so the
word heb gets pushed towards the
back. There are sentences that start

with omdat but they are less
common.
Zodat
Ik leer hard voor mijn toets, zodat ik
een goed cijfer krijg. (Ik lere heart four
mine toots, so-dot ik n oot cipher
krie.) - I am studying hard for my test,
so that I will get a good grade.
The word krijg means get, but
because of the inversion dependent on
zodat, it gets pushed all the way to
the back of the sentence.
Totdat
Je mag tv kijken totdat je naar bed
moet. (Y mo tay-vay kye-ckn toatdot y nahr bet moot.) - You may watch
TV until you must go to bed.
The word moet gets shoved towards
the back because of the conjunction
totdat.
Dus
Ik heb vandaag veel geld, dus ben ik in
een goed humeur. (Ik hep von-dah vail
elt, ds ben ik in n oot hew-mr.) - I
have lots of money today, so I am in a
good mood.
The words ben and ik got turned
around. Usually its ik ben but
because of dus, they switched
places. A little side note: Sometimes
when talking fast, the Dutch dont
turn them around and it can still be
somewhat correct. They could say,
...dus ik ben in een goed humeur
and get away with it.
Daarom
De zon schijnt. Daarom ga ik naar
buiten. (D zon sine-t. Dah-rom ah ik
nahr bow-tn.) - De sun in shining.
Therefore, I am going outside.
Normally it would be ik ga naar

buiten but because of the word
Daarom at the beginning of the
sentence, it is ga ik instead of ik
ga.
Chapter 5: Conversation
Grammar... grammar... grammar...
enough of that now. Lets start with
some everyday conversations that you
could learn to talk to other Dutchspeaking people.
One of the best ways to start speaking
a language faster is LOTS and LOTS
of conversation. Just start speaking to
others and figuring it out. That is one of
the best way to perfect it, pick up the
pronunciation, and learn faster and
easier.
Just to help you with pronunciation, if
you downloaded the E-book, you can
look at the YouTube video to hear me
pronounce the words in these
conversations.
Click HERE for the YouTube Video!
Hoi, ik heet
Erik. Hoe heet
jij? (Hoy, ik hate
Ere-ik. Who hate
yeye?) - Hi, my
name is Eric.
What is yours?
Ik heet
Marieke. Hoe
lang ben je hier
al? (Ik hate Mahree-k. Who long
ben y here all? My name is
Marieke. How
long have you
been here?
Ja, is goed.
(Yah, is oot.) Yes. All right.
Nog maar een

half uur. Zullen
we naar binnen
gaan? (No mahr
n hulf ure. Zlln w nahr binnn ahn.) - Only
for a half hour.
Shall we go
inside?
Dus hoe oud ben Ik ben
je? (Ds who
vijfentwintig.
owt ben y?) - So En jij? (Ik ben

how old are you? vife-en-twin-ti.
En yeye?) - I am
twenty-five. And
you?
Ik ben
Eigenlijk
achtentwintig.
studeer ik. (EyeWat voor werk n-lk stewdear ik.) doe je? (Ik ben
Actually, I am in
at-en-twin-ti.
college.
Wot four wairk
doo y?) - I am
twenty-eight.
What kind of
work do you do?
O, leuk. Wat
Ik studeer
dan? (Oh, leyk.
geneeskunde.
Wot done?) - Oh, (Ik stew-dear fun. What is your nays-kn-d.) - I
major?
am in medical
school.
Interessant.
Wauw! Wat een
Mijn vader is
toeval. Wat doe
arts. (In-t-rsunt. Mine fahdr is arts.) Interesting. My

father is a doctor.
Ik werk in de
bouw, maar ik
ben op zoek
naar een andere
baan. (Ik wairk
in d bow, mahr
ik ben op sook
nahr n un-d-r
bahn.) - I am in
construction, but I
am looking for
another job.
Ik wil graag
manager
worden, dus ga
ik terug naar
school. (Ik will
jij? (Wow! Wot

n too-fall. Wot
doo yeye?) Wow! What a
coincidence.
What do you do?
Wat wil je dan
gaan doen? (Wot
will y done
ahn doon?) What do you
want to do then?
Geweldig. Dat
lijkt me een
goed plan. (well-di. Dot
like-t m n oot
plun.) - Great.
rah manager
That seems like a
good plan to me.
woar-dn, ds
ah ik tr nahr
soal.) - I want to
become a
manager, so I am
going back to
school.
Schatje, ik ga
boodschappen
doen. (Sot-y, ik
ah boat-sop-pn
doon.) - Honey, I
am going grocery
shopping.
Wat is er dan?
(Wot is air done?)
- What is going
on?
Wacht even!
(Wut aye-fn!)
- Wait a minute!
Ik heb nog wat

dingen van de
supermarkt
nodig. (Ik hep
no wut dingn
fun d sew-prmarkt no-d.) -
I still need some

things from the
supermarket.
O... nou ik ga
Kun je dan wat
maar even, hoor. rijst
(Oh... now, ik ah meenemen?
mahr aye-fn,
(Kn y done
hoar.) - Oh, well, wot rice-t mayI am just out for a nay-mn?) - Can
minute really.
you get some
rice then?
Vooruit dan
Dankjewel. Dat
maar. (Four-out
scheelt me
done mahr.) enorm veel tijd.
Okay, all right
(Dunk-y-well.
then.
Dot sailt m
ay-norm vail
tite.) - Thank
you. That will
save me an
enormous
amount of time.
Goed. Tot straks. Ja, doei! (Yah,
(oot. Tot
dooy!) - Yes.
strucks.) - Okay,
see you later!
Kunt u mij
vertellen waar
het treinstation
is? (Knt ew my
fair-tell-n wahr
het trine-stahshun is?) - Can
you tell me
where the
trainstation is?
Ja? Mooi zo.
(Yah? Moy so.) Yeah? Oh, good.
Goodbye!
Het is best
dichtbij. (Het is
best dit-bye.) - It
is pretty close.
Luister goed.
Eerst ga je
rechtsaf. Dan
linksaf. Daarna
rechtdoor, en
dan zie je het
aan de
rechterkant.
(Low-str oot.
Ere-st ah y
lings-off. Dahrnah ret-door, en
done see y het
ahn d re-trcunt.) - Listen
carefully. First
you turn right.
Then left. After
that you go
straight, and then
you will see it on
the right side.
Aha. Dat klinkt Ja, je bent er
makkelijk.
binnen een paar
(Aha. Dot klinkt minuten. (Yah, y
muck-k-lck.) - bent air bin-nn
Aha. That sounds n pahr mi-neweasy.
tn.) - Yes, you
will be there
within a few
minutes.
Bedankt. Ik ga Graag gedaan.
meteen. Tot
Succes! (rah
ziens! (Bdunkt. Ik ah mtain.) - Thanks. I

will go right
away.
-dahn. Seucksess!) - Youre

welcome. Good
luck!
Zullen we deze
film kijken?
(Zl-ln w days film kyeckn?) - Shall
we watch this
movie?
Die actiefilm
met Tom
Cruise. (Dee
uck-see-film met
Tom Cruise.) That action
movie with Tom
Cruise.
Welke? (Wellk?) - Which one?
Ik kijk liever
naar een
romantische
komedie. (Ik kyke
lee-fur nahr n
roam-un-tee-s
ko-may-dee.) - I
would rather
watch a romantic
comedy.
Alsjeblieft? (Ulsy-bleeft?) Please?
Echt waar?
Nou, ik vind
zulke films
maar saai. (Et
wahr? Now, ik
fint zl-k films
mahr siye.) Really? Well, I
think those kinds
of movies are
boring.
Goed. Eerst
Afgesproken.
kijken we naar (Off--sproackn.) - Agreed.
een
romantische
film en daarna
naar een
actiefilm. (oot.
Ere-st ky-kn w
nahr n roam-untee-s film en
dahr-nah nahr n
uck-see-film.) Okay. First we

will watch a
romantic movie
and then an
action movie.
Kun jij de chips
uit de keuken
halen? (Kn
yeye d ships out
d cew-cn hahln?) - Can you
get the chips
from the kitchen?
Natuurlijk.
(Nah-ture-lck.)
- Of course.
Ja, zet jij

intussen de film
aan? (Yah, zet
yeye in-ts-sn d
film ahn?) - Yes,
will you turn on
the movie in the
meantime?
Chapter 6: Customs
If you happen to go to the Netherlands,
just keep in mind that not only the
language is a little different, but the
culture as well. Here are some things
to take into account.
Offering a drink
Usually when you enter someones
home, one of the first things they do is
asking, Wil je iets drinken? The
Dutch have a strong tradition of
offering visitors a drink, so expect it
and if you want to be polite, do it when
others enter your home too.
Saying what you think/speaking your
mind
Of course there are exceptions, as is
the case with every country with

millions of people, but in a general
sense, the Dutch are very forward and
often speak their minds. That has pros
and cons. A benefit could be that you
know theyre usually not hiding their
feelings from you and they are often
honest about what they think. They
often say what they mean. No guessing
games. The downside can be that some
people dont think before they speak,
and therefore insult or offend some
others. It can be pretty annoying if
people express their opinion when you
dont ask for it. So its up to you if you
like that culture. The Belgians,
however, in a general sense, do that a
lot less. They are often more polite
but not always open about their
feelings. Of course there are
exceptions there too, like a couple of
families I knew when I lived there who
never backed off and said what they
were thinking.
Be normal
The Dutch often use a common phrase
like, Doe normaal, man! or Doe
eens [even] normaal! (Act normal!)
They expect a certain decent behavior
and common sense from every person.
If you are out of line or deviate from
the normal way of doing things, you
could hear that remark.
Taxes
The taxes are high, and the government
support is high too in areas of
education, welfare, health care, road
construction, etc. If you are used to a
more capitalized way of thinking, dont
be shocked when you hear of the more
socialistic approach of the strong
shoulders need to carry the load of the
weak. Not that it is in any way close
to communism, but the balance is there
in a different way. Less opportunity
maybe, but also less risk and more

financial safety for every citizen. This
aspect of their culture reflects a way of
thinking that I will explain in the next
point.
Equality
The Dutch have an equality mindset.
The following are not my opinion per
se, but just things you will find in the
Dutch culture. This means that:
1 Taxes are higher and welfare too. So
income differences are not as extreme
as in some other capitalist countries.
Not as many extremely rich
billionaires or people on the street
who have nowhere to go (the ones on
the streets are often but not always
drug addicts.)
2 There are lots of commercials and
advertisements promoting charity
organizations like Warchild and
Unicef and some other global non-
profit institutions. Why? Because the

Dutch culture is that they care. They
cannot stand the inequality in the
world, so they want to help.
3 Many Dutch promote gay rights. This
is also a phenomenon of having the
same rights mindset.
4 Education is cheap. The government
supports it and prevents schools from
charging ridiculous tuition fees.
Therefore, almost anyone can afford a
higher education.
5 Many women work, as part of the
sexual revolution that began in the
1970s. They speak up and consider
themselves equal to men. Many
households have double incomes.
6 There is a minimum wage for every
job. Unions are strong, people cannot
always be fired or quit immediately
because of contract, laws, and
agreements, and you dont have to
worry about tipping too much at
restaurants. The waiters and

waitresses all get a minimum wage.
7 Dutch speak their minds, so they
complain more than in some other
cultures. They consider themselves
having rights.
Here is a joke that explains it all:
An American, a Scottish person, and a
Dutch person are in a car. The car
crashes. All three die suddenly. At the
gate, St. Peter (no offense, its just a
joke) mentions that this is a mistake.
There is too much paperwork
involved. But I will cut you some slack
and give you a deal. If you give me 100
dollars right now, I will put you back
in life without any harm. The
American gets his wallet and says,
Deal! He appears back at the spot
and gets interviewed by others around
him. Where are the Scottish and the
Dutch guy? they ask. Well, the
American responds, The Scottish
person thought it was too expensive

and the Dutch guy complained because
he insisted that the government should
be paying for him.
Eating out less
There is not as much eating out as, for
instance, in the United States.
Sometimes Dutch people go to a
snackbar that sell French fries,
sausages, and some other fast food, but
in general, they cook at home more
often.
Public transportation
Because gas is expensive, cars are
expensive, drivers license are
expensive, and car insurance is
expensive.... well, you saw this
coming... driving a car is expensive.
Thats why a lot of Dutch (and
Belgians) take trains and busses
everywhere. It is common and often
crowded around rush hour. There is an

amazing network of public
transportation connections, so
depending on where youre going, you
might easily get there without a car.
Bicycles
Another thing the infrastructure does
almost perfectly, is bicycle trails,
signs, and facilities. Youll see
thousands of bicycles in the
Netherlands. I grew up riding my bike
to work, school, shopping centers, etc.
History
The European countries have a history
that dates back to World War II, the
Dark Ages and even to the Roman
Empire. If you like history, it will be
interesting to see all the buildings, art,
religions, statues, and stories.
Techno music
Despite its rich culture and history, and
the variety of interests in those modern
societies, there is a general trend in the
Netherlands (and also in Germany,
Austria, and some surrounding
countries) of Techno, House,
Hardcore, Rave, Dance, or Trance
music. Youll find those fast beats a lot
at night clubs and those countries offer
some of the best Techno DJs in the
world.
Soccer/football
The one time that the Dutch feel
patriotic, besides the national
celebration of the royal courts, is
during the World Cup or Euro Cup.
Youll see flags and colors
everywhere, and during the game, there
are hardly any cars on the road. During
the rest of the year, soccer/football is a
common and popular sport, especially
for boys and men. The Dutch
soccer/football team has, despite its
tiny country size, often made it to the
world finals or won impressive
awards for its performance.
Chapter 7: Health
Here are some words and sentences
you could use when you go to the
doctor or talk with someone about your
health problems.
Ik ben verkouden. (Ik ben fair-cowdn.) - I have a cold.
Ik ben ziek. (Ik ben zeek.) - I am
sick/ill.
Ik ben misselijk. (Ik ben miss--lck.)
- I feel nauseous.
Ik heb koorts. (Ik hep core-ts.) - I have
a fever.
Ik heb griep. (Ik hep reep.) - I have
the flu.
Waar kan ik een dokter vinden? (Wahr
cun ik n dok-tr fin-dn?) - Where can
I find a doctor?
Waar is het ziekenhuis? (Wahr is het
see-ckn-house?) - Where is the
hospital? (Literally: Where is the sick
house?)
Ik heb een pil nodig. (Ik hep n pill nod.) - I need a pill.
Waar zijn mijn medicijnen? (Wahr sine
mine may-dee-sine-nn?) - Where is
my medicine?
Het doet hier pijn. (Het doot heer
pine.) - It hurts here. (Literally: It does
here pain.)
Het is niet ernstig. (Het is neet air-nst.) - It is not serious/nothing to
worry about.
Ik heb een knie-operatie gehad. (Ik hep
n knee [pronounce the k]- o-p-rahtsee -hut.) - I had knee surgery.
Ik ben allergisch voor... (Ik ben ahlair-ees four...) - I am allergic to...
Ik heb hoofdpijn. (Ik hep hoaft-pine.) -
I have a headache.
Chapter 8: Countries and

Languages
say a lot of different nationalities,
languages, and countries in Dutch. Just
so you know: The nationality and
language is the same. So if you would
say, Hij spreekt Nederlands (He
speaks Dutch), it is the same for, Hij
is Nederlands (He is Dutch), just like
in English.
Nederland/Nederlands (Nay-drlunt/Nay-dr-lunts) Netherlands/Dutch

Duitsland/Duits (Dowts-lunt/Dowts) Germany/German
Belgi/Vlaams/Frans (Bell-eey/Vlahms/Fruns) Belgium/Flemish/French

Frankrijk/Frans (Frunk-rike/Fruns) France/French
Amerika/Amerikaans (Ah-mere-eeckah/Ah-mere-ee-ckahns) America/American
Verenigde Staten (Fair-aye-n-d
Stah-tn) - United States
Polen/Pools (Pow-ln/Powls) Poland/Polish
Denemarken/Deens (Day-n-markn/Dayns) - Denmark/Danish
Engeland/Engels (Ang--lunt/Ang-ls)
- England/English
Schotland/Schots (Sot-lunt/Sots) Scotland/Scottish
Ierland/Iers (Ere-lunt/Eres) Ireland/Irish
Spanje/Spaans (Spun-y/Spahns) Spain/Spanish
Portugal/Portugees (Pore-tooull/Pore-too-ays) Portugal/Portuguese

China/Chinees (She-nah/She-nays) China/Chinese
Japan/Japans (Yu-pun/Yu-puns) Japan/Japanese
Mexico/Mexicaans (Mex-ee-co/Mexee/cahns) - Mexico/Mexican
Canada/Canadees (Cah-nah-dah/Cahnah-days) - Canada/Canadian
Afrika/Afrikaans (Ah-free-cah/Ahfree-cahns) - Africa/African
Itali/Italiaans (Ee-tah-lee-y/Ee-tahlee-yahns) - Italy/Italian
Griekenland/Grieks (ree-ckn-lunt/
reecks) - Greece/Greek
Turkije/Turks (Tr-kye-y/Trks) Turkey/Turkish
Noorwegen/Noors (Nore-wayn/Nores) - Norway/Norwegian
Zweden/Zweeds (Sway-dn/Swayts) -
Sweden/Swedish
Rusland/Russisch (Rs-lunt/Rs-sees)
- Russia/Russian
Brazili/Braziliaans (Brah-see-leey/Bra-see-lee-yahns) Brazil/Brazilian
In de Bijbel probeerde men een toren

naar de hemel te bouwen - In the
Bible, people tried to build a tower to

Heaven.
[Speaking Thai] - Mae kowjai. - I
dont understand.
[Speaking Spanish] Que es eso? What is that?
[Speaking German] Ich wei nicht
was du sagst. - I dont know what
youre saying.
[Speaking French] Je ne comprend
pas. - I dont understand.
Well, I hope you had some fun with

this. I hope you got a lot better at
Dutch. Remember to have fun and try
to get a feeling for the language, not
just to bash endless vocabulary into
your head, although it will help some.
Just gradually speak it more, listen to it
more, and study a little bit every day,
and I am sure you will do just fine.

course).

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If you like my book, please leave a

Chapter 6: Body Parts

proofing documents in both Dutch and

that youll be more confident in

pronunciation, and I will include some

En... en als je dan de wereld hebt

too, just like in Dutch, and the way they

kachel (kawol) - heater

three different e-s in it, but they are

Dutch, however, they keep them short

speaking person pronounces the w,

an s-sound. It will make it sound

mean when they leave that letter out.

into a t. So someone with a heave

ou - ou (as in cow or now,

difference in the video)

one or two vowels. Make sure you get

raw or jaw but open your mouth

o - short, so like in bore or store

e - pretty simple, like in bell or

Examples: direct, miserabel, idioot,

Chapter 2: Easy Words

bar (pronounced the same) - bar

vakantie (faw-kn-see) - vacation

God (ot) - God

thuis (touse) - home

banaan (ba-nahn) - banana

zon (sown but short vowel) - sun

role or as in roll over

aardappel (awrt-opple) - potato

a cauliflower is called flower

plakband (pluck-bunt) - tape/scotch

words. Another word for it could also

The word los means loose and

competitie (com-p-tee-tsee) competition

Chapter 3: Small Words

whore. They are simply emphasizing

like the Spanish el or la or like the

Plural is ALWAYS de, even if the

The words go along with the gender

there is a higher chance youll guess

Wit (whit) - white

Mijn hond heet Bruno, want hij is

Obviously the English never made up a

lighten up the situation, make a

Het is van hem/haar (het is vun

1,000 (dow-snt) - duizend

driede; this is an exception)

Some other words that could be used

you to say, Het is twaalf uur dertig.

convenient. Look to the following

horloge (whore-loh-sy) - watch

Unlike in English, the Dutch days of the

september (september, same, just dont

Kat (cot) - cat

Vogel (foh-l) - bird

Slang (slung) - snake

Spin (spin) - spider