Dutch
From AcculturationWiki
Introduction
Dutch is the official language spoken in The Netherlands. As we have mentioned in a lot of pages on this wiki, being able to speak Dutch is absolutely no necessity for surviving your stay in Holland. You can speak English everywhere, at the grocery store, the bakery, the bank and to everyone you meet. Therefore, if you want to learn some Dutch, it should be purely because you want to and not because you think you have to. That said, of course it is handy to know some Dutch phrases. Therefore, we have made a list of some general, commonly used phrases, translated from English to Dutch. This helps you to not look lost if your cashier asks you for a bonuskaart :). Feel free to use the 'edit' button and add your own phrases! Also, here is a nice movie about foreign people trying to speak Dutch:
The phrases
| English | Dutch |
|---|---|
| Hello (kind of formal) | Hallo |
| Hi, hey | Hoi, hee |
| Hi - I am Marc | Hoi, ik ben Marc |
| How are you? | Hoe gaat het? or Hoe is het? |
| Please | Alstublieft (formal) Alsjeblieft (informal) |
| Thank you! | Bedankt! (informal) Dank u wel! (formal) |
| You're welcome! | Graag gedaan! |
| Just a moment, please! | Een momentje, alstublieft |
| Have fun! | Veel plezier! |
| See you, bye | Doei! (informal) Tot ziens! (formal) Houdoe (informal, only in the South) |
| Have a nice day! | Prettige dag nog! |
| Enjoy your meal | Eet smakelijk |
| Good night, sleep well | Welterusten |
| I'm sorry | Sorry |
| Yes | Ja |
| No | Nee |
| Maybe | Misschien |
| I don't understand | Ik begrijp het niet |
| Could you please say that again? | Kun je dat even herhalen? |
| Coffee | Koffie |
| Tea | Thee |
| What's going on? | Wat is er aan de hand? |
| Where is the bathroom? | Waar is de WC? |
| How much does this cost? | Hoeveel kost dit? |
| Whose turn is it? | Wie is er aan de beurt? |
| What would you like to drink? | Wat wil je drinken? |
| Would you like something to eat? | Wil je iets eten? |
| I'm trying to learn Dutch | Ik probeer Nederlands te leren |
| Could you please speak Dutch (to me)? | Zou je alsjeblieft Nederlands willen spreken? |
| Could you speak slower please? | Kun je wat langzamer praten alsjeblieft? |
| I like soup | Ik hou van soep. |
| I love my girlfriend | Ik hou van mijn vriendin. |
| Do you have a bonus card (they ask you at the supermarket) | Heeft u een bonuskaart? |
| I want to pay with my debit card | Ik wil graag pinnen. |
External links
Of course, these are just a few words. A real course can be found here. By the way, we are not responsible for this web site, and we didn't make it. If you have questions, please ask them on the Forum but we can give you no guarantees that we can answer the question. Some more 'conversational Dutch' can be found on this web site, which is also not made by NHTV. The first web site is a Dutch course with grammar and verbs included, the second is just conversational. Have fun!
