Dutch lesson

Add a comment

First, if you are unfamiliar with Dutch pronunciation, see this handy video by learndutch.org on Dutch pronunciation (if you visit their channel, you’ll find more videos that cover specific aspects of Dutch pronunciation in depth):

Dialogue

Vocabulary and phrases

Hoi, maatje! Hi, buddy!

  • Hoi! Hi!
  • maatje buddy, pal

Hoe gaat het? How’s it going?

  • hoe how
  • gaan to go
  • de, het it

Met mij gaat het prima. I’m doing fine.

  • met with
  • mij me
  • prima fine

En met jou? And (with) you?

  • en and
  • jou you (object, emphatic)

Goed, dank je. Well, thanks.

  • goed good, well
  • dank je thanks
  • je you (subject and object pronoun, non-emphatic)

Het is heel leuk dat we samen zullen zijn in de kookles, hé? Its nice that we’ll be together  in the cooking class, isn’t it?

  • heel very
  • leuk nice
  • dat that
  • we we (non-emphatic)
  • samen together
  • zullen will, shall
  • zijn to be

Ja, zeker. Yes, for sure.

  • ja yes
  • zeker certainly

Kijk hier. Look here.

  • kijken to look
  • hier here

Ik heb wat spullen meegebracht. I brought some things.

  • ik I
  • hebben to have
  • wat (in this context) some
  • spullen things
  • meegebringen to bring (along)

Lucifers… messen… schaar… aansteker… Matches… knives… scissors… blowtorch…

  • lucifer match
  • mes knife
  • schaar scissors
  • aansteker blowtorch

Wooow dat is handig. Wooow, that is handy.

  • handig handy, nifty

Je bent zo slim. You’re so smart.

  • slim smart, clever

Ik ben jaloers. I’m jealous.

  • jaloers jealous

Maak je maar geen zorgen. Don’t worry. (colloquial speech)

  • Maak je geen zorgen. Don’t worry. (standard, non-colloquial form)

Ik zal met je delen. I’ll share with you.

  • delen to share

Het is bijna zeven uur. It’s almost seven o’clock.

  • bijna almost
  • zeven seven
  • uur hour, o’clock

Tot later! See you later! (informal) (Literally: Until later!)

Okee, tot later! Okay, see you later! (informal)

Grammar

Colloquial speech

As you may notice in the dialog, there are some words specifically used in colloquial speech. Most of these are untranslatable words – such as ‘hé‘ or words borrowed from English such as ‘later’ in ‘tot later‘. Don’t worry too much right now about learning these words, but do pay attention to their use, as it will take you some time to get comfortable using them properly and therefore, speaking more like a native.

Leave a comment