Dutch Blog

Dutch Verbs That End in -n

Yohann — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 06:24:53 +0000

There are Dutch verbs that end in -n instead of the usual -en in the infinitive.

A high frequency verb that uses -n in the infinitive ending is doen, which means *to do

ik doe

jij doet

u doet

hij/zij/het doet

wij doen

jullie doen

zij doen

Another verb of this nature is the verb gaan = to go.

ik ga

jij gaat

u gaat

hij/zij/het gaat

wij gaan

jullie gaan

zij gaan

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Dutch D Verbs

Yohann — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 21:45:12 +0000

Verbs with a stem that ends in -d add the -t in the second and third person singular.

rijden = to drive

ik rijd/rij (the d may be written but it is not pronounced)

jij rijdt

u rijdt

hij/zij/het rijdt

wij rijden

jullie rijden

zij rijden

houden = to hold

ik houd/hou

jij houdt

u houdt

hij/zij/het houdt

wij houden

jullie houden

zij houden

The t of the second person singular is dropped when you ask a question:

rijd jij?

houd jij?

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This, That, These, Those

Yohann — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 04:25:09 +0000

In Dutch, there are two words to say ‘this’ and two words to say ‘that’.

When ‘this’ is used before a common noun, ‘deze‘ is used. Example: deze man *this man

When ‘this’ is used before a neuter noun, ‘dit‘ is used. Example: dit huis *this house

When ‘these’ is used, ‘deze‘ is used, regardless of whether the noun is a common noun or a neuter noun. Example: deze mannen *these men. deze huizen *these houses.

When ‘that’ is used before a common noun, ‘die‘ is used. Example: die man. *that man

When ‘that’ is used before a neuter noun, ‘dat‘ is used. *dat huis. *that house

When ‘those’ is used, it doesn’t matter whether the noun is a neuter noun or a common noun.*die mannen. *those people. *die huizen. *those houses.

I’ll give ya some exercises to do on this topic.

Translate these sentence into English:

1) Dit is Jan

2) Dat is klein

3) Deze boot is klein

4) Die schoenen

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Indefinite Articles

Yohann — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 00:09:01 +0000

In Dutch there is only one indefinite article. This article is een. It doesn’t matter whether the noun is a de noun or a het noun. For example, ‘a woman’ is een vrouw, (de noun) and ‘a house’ is een huis (het noun). It will both be een no matter what. Also, in English, we distinguish a difference between ‘a’ and ‘an’. In Dutch there is no difference between ‘a’ or ‘an’. There is obviously no plural because whenever you use ‘a’ you are referring to a single object.

In Dutch, you don’t use indefinite articles when you’re stating your profession. For example, in English, you’d say, He is a doctor. In Dutch, you’d say, Hij is dokter, without the indefinite article.

For the most part English and Dutch use the indefinite articles in the same way.

In Dutch, there is also a special negative of een. This form is called geen. The sentence ‘This is not a car’ will be ‘dit is geen auto’ in Dutch. This sentence in the affirmative would be, dis is een auto, or this is a car.

Remember that één is different from een. For example ‘one elephant’ in Dutch is één olifant. In English één olifant would not be ‘an elephant’ but one elephant.

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Famous Dutch Cheeses

Yohann — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 02:16:50 +0000

Have you ever tried Dutch kaas? Here are some famous brands of Dutch cheese.

Goudse kaas : or Gouda cheese, is a yellow colored cheese sold not just in the Netherlands, but all over the world. It was named after the Gouda, a stad in the south of the Netherlands. This cheese has a distinctive sweet flavor. It is semi-hard and can be slightly crunchy. The cheese can be creamy in taste with a caramel like taste. I like pairing this cheese with a light fruity wine with crackers. I like my Gouda mild, but you can get a stronger version, depending on how long it’s been aged.

Leidse kaas : or Leyden cheese. It’s named after a city called Leiden. This type of cheese has a variety of spices in it, like cloves (kruidnagel), cumin seeds (komijn) and caraway (karwij). (Caraway is a plant used in Dutch soups (soep), stews and cheeses.) It can be spicy, dry, salty, and tangy. I like this cheese with some white wine. It’s also delicious as a party platter served with some salami and crackers.

Edammer : Edam is from the Dutch town of Edam. Edam cheese is a popular export because it does not spoil as easily as the Leyden or Gouda cheese. It’s also a good cheese for those on a diet. It has less fat than both the Leyden and Gouda cheese. In addition, it’s a great choice of a cheese for those who don’t like smelly cheeses. This cheese is great with fruits like pears and melons.

With that I leave you with the phrase, Smakelijk eten!

Post from: Dutch Blog

Answers to the Word of the Day Practice

Yohann — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 03:47:06 +0000

All these words are in the Word of the Day. Find the Dutch equivalent of these words.

1) to kiss (kussen) http://www.transparent.com/wotd/today/dutch.htm?date=06-01-2009

2) to reveal (onthullen) http://www.transparent.com/wotd/today/dutch.htm?date=06-04-2009

3) to giggle (giechelen) http://www.transparent.com/wotd/today/dutch.htm?date=06-08-2009

4) to knit (breien) http://www.transparent.com/wotd/today/dutch.htm?date=06-09-2009

5) to garden (tuinieren) http://www.transparent.com/wotd/today/dutch.htm?date=06-16-2009

6) to explore (verkennen) http://www.transparent.com/wotd/today/dutch.htm?date=06-17-2009

7) deceptive (bedrieglijk) http://www.transparent.com/wotd/today/dutch.htm?date=06-19-2009

broken (kapot) http://www.transparent.com/wotd/today/dutch.htm?date=06-25-2009

9) witty (geestig) http://www.transparent.com/wotd/today/dutch.htm?date=06-30-2009

10) to sacrifice (offeren) http://www.transparent.com/wotd/today/dutch.htm?date=06-10-2009

11) to sketch (schetsen) http://www.transparent.com/wotd/today/dutch.htm?date=06-14-2009

12) to doubt (twijfelen) http://www.transparent.com/wotd/today/dutch.htm?date=06-15-2009

13) amiable (aimabel) http://www.transparent.com/wotd/today/dutch.htm?date=06-20-2009

14) grey (grauw) http://www.transparent.com/wotd/today/dutch.htm?date=06-26-2009

15) nice (fijn) http://www.transparent.com/wotd/today/dutch.htm?date=06-27-2009

Post from: Dutch Blog

Word of the Day Practice

Yohann — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 03:14:41 +0000

All these words are in the Word of the Day. Find the Dutch equivalent of these words.

1) to kiss

2) to reveal

3) to giggle

4) to knit

5) to garden

6) to explore

7) deceptive

broken

9) witty

10) to sacrifice

11) to sketch

12) to doubt

13) amiable

14) grey

15) nice

Post from: Dutch Blog

Dutch T Verbs

Yohann — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 02:36:05 +0000

There are a whole slew of Dutch verbs that are t verbs. How do you know whether a verb is a t verb? The stem of a ‘t’ verb will end in either t, h, f, c, k, s, p.

The verb ‘to know’ (weten) is a ‘t’ verb. (Note, this verb is used to know a fact, not to know a person)

I know (ik weet)

You know (singular, informal) (jij weet)

You know (singular, plural, informal) (u weet)

He knows (hij weet)

She knows (zij weet)

It knows (het weet)

We know (wij weten)

You know (plural, formal) (jullie weten)

They know (zij weten)

When the stem of a verb ends in t, (like weten (wet-)) the second and third person singular does not end in t.

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Occupations

Yohann — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 01:23:29 +0000

teacher - onderwijzer

student - student

author - schrijver

journalist - journalist

doctor - dokter

surgeon - chirurg

nurse - verpleegster

dentist - tandarts

clerk - klerk

lawyer - advocaat

judge - rechter

singer - zanger

actor - tooneelspeler

painter - schilder

Now, with the last couple of posts (the ones listing family members and possessives), you’ll be able to say things like: Mijn vader is dokter (my father is a doctor)

Post from: Dutch Blog

Family Members

Yohann — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 02:15:43 +0000

Father - vader

Husband - man

Grandfather - grootvader

Grandfather - opa

Mother - moeder

Wife - vrouw

Grandmother - grootmoeder

Grandmother - oma

Son - zoon

Boy - jongen

Daughter - dochter

Girl - meisje

Brother - broeder

Brother - broer

Sister - zuster

Sister - zus

Now with these words you can say, “Mijn vader is ____” and insert your father’s name when you’re introducing him.

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