Nederlands

Prerequisite: none

Hallo!

The Dutch language is classified under Indo European, Germanic, West Germanic, Low Saxon Low Franconian, Low Franconian. English parts at the West Germanic branch, falling into the English category.

This post is only meant to provide a taste of the Dutch language. The grammar is very general and many exceptions are not noted. If you would like to learn conversational Dutch, Duolingo is a great free site to do so.

Here are some Dutch pronunciations given in IPA:

To aid whole words, Google Translate works pretty well.

The Familiar

Nominative pronoun:

*Sometimes je is an unemphasized jij, ze for zij, and we for wij. U is formal.

Verb conjugation:

Possessive pronoun:

Question (vraag):

Demonstrative pronoun:

Number (nummer):



Family (familie):

Colour (kleur):

red (rode)
orange (oranje)
yellow (gele)
green (groene)
blue (blauwe)
purple (paarse)
pink (roze)
brown (bruin)
white (witte)
grey (grijse)
black (zwarte)

Example phrases:

What is that?
(What is that?)
Wat is dat?

Thank you too
(Thank you too)
Dank je ook

I will be hungry and thirsty
(I shall have hunger and thirst)
Ik zul heb honger en dorst

My hand hurts
(My hand does hurt)
Mijn hand doet pijn

The pink pig likes to eat red apples
(The pink pig likes red apples to eat)
Het roze varken houdt van rode appels te eten

What would you like?
(What may it be?)
Wat mag het zijn?

Do we need spoons or forks?

(Have we spoons or forks need?)

Hebben wij lepels of vorken nodig?

They come from The Netherlands

(They come out Netherlands)

Zij kommen uit Nederland

The Unfamiliar

De / Het:

De and het are the "the" articles used for gender and neuter nouns. Here is a general guide to when to use which. I like to think of het as "it". The best way is not to memorize, but to accept the Dutch culture of what is considered "the" or "it", gendered or neutral.

The sandwiches (de boterhammen)
The man and woman (de man en de vrouw)
The artist (de kunstenaar)

The writing (het schrijven)
The cup (het kopje)
The book (het boek)

Lig / Zit / Sta:

Use these verbs when describing where something is. Here is a general guide to which verb to use.

The papers lie between the boxes.
De papieren liggen tussen de dozen.
My jacket lies under the bed.
Mijn jas ligt onder de bed.
A (dead) dog lies on the street.
Een hond ligt op de straat.

There sit women in the house.
Er zitten vrouwen in het huis.
The cat sits on the table.
De kat zit op de tafel.
Yuck, raisins sit in my bread.
Yuck, rozijnen zitten in mijn brood.

The lamp stands nearby the bookshelf.
De lamp staat nabij de boekenplank.
The buildings stand near the city.
De gebrouwen staan dichtbij de stadt.
There stands food in the kitchen.
Er staan eten in de keuken.

Interesting words of note:

zwembad = swim bath (swimming pool)
tijdschrift = time writing (magazine)
ziekenhuis = sick house (hospital)
dierentuin = animal garden (zoo)
schildpad = shield toad (turtle)
neushoorn = nose horn (rhinoceros)
vliegveld = fly field (airport)
hoofdstad = head city (capital)

This is only a sparse quarter of the Duolingo course. Still trying to get comfortable with some very Dutch words and patterns such as om te and er. Might update if I ever do.

Doei~