Dutch Phrasebook

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Introduction

Arnhem - St. Eusebiuskerk

Spoken in The Netherlands, the north of Belgium (Flanders) and Surinam. It also used to be spoken widely in Indonesia. Afrikaans, the language of South Africa, is historically related to Dutch but has evolved into a language of its own. Dutch is spoken by relatively few. Many native speakers are consequently also fluent in English, German or French, making it almost pointless to learn the language as a traveller.

However, for a keen traveller looking to impress a local with some linguistic skills, this guide will introduce a few basic phrases that could get you out of a sticky spot.

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Alphabet

Just like in English, the Dutch alphabet has 26 letters: a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, w, x, y, z. The digraph /ij/ is not strictly speaking a letter, but is occasionally put in the place of /y/ which only occurs in loan words.

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Pronunciation

Consonants

Most of Dutch consonants have a pronunciation similar to English: exceptions are mentioned below.

c = can be pronounced as a k or a s. just like in English. (think of circus) when followed by a by /h/: lucht (air; pronounced as 'lugt')
g = the pronountian of the g in Dutch is pretty close to the way the j is pronounced in Spanish. Think of mojito.
h = in some words that originate in French, the h is silent (like in Haute Culture), but this is not that common.
j is a glide, as in English yay
x as in English sex, also at the start of a word

Vowels

The Dutch vowel system is completely different from English. Most importantly, Dutch makes a distinction between short and long vowels when they occur in the middle of a syllable; all vowels at the end of a syllable are long. Confusingly, all vowels at the end of a syllable are written as a single character; a graphical distinction between long and short vowels is only made where it matters, i.e. in the middle of the syllable. Hence, we have:

ka-no, 'canoe', pronounced with two long vowels even though you don't write them;
ka-naal, 'canal', pronounced with two long vowels of which one is written because it occurs in the middle of a syllable;
ka-non, 'canon', pronounced with a long and a short vowel

For long /ee/ and /ie/, the rules are still different. When they occur at the end of a syllable, they retain their 'long' writing:

hoe-zee, 'hurray!'
ka-na-rie, 'canary'

Monographs

a sounds like the Cockney a in cat
aa sounds like a lenghtened a (like the aargh, when you impersonate a pirate)
e sounds like English e as in get
e at the end of words sounds like the English article a
ee sounds like English e as in mere when followed by r
ee sounds like English ai as in bait in all other circumstances
i sounds like English i as in stiff
ie is the lengthened i. It sounds like English ea as in mean
o sounds like English o in pop
oo sounds like English o in open
u sounds like English u in luck
uu has no English counterpart. It sounds like a German ü, as in über

Digraphs

oe sounds like English ou as in you
ou and /au/ sound like English o as in vowel
ui is a sound unique to Dutch (and Norwegian). Try rapidly to combine English y as in by and o as in now, and you get approximately the right thing
ei and ij sound like English ie as in lie, pronounced by someone with a strong Scottish accent
eu sounds like Norwegian Ø. When followed by r, it is lenghtened

Stress

The stress rules of Dutch are a nightmare. There are so many exceptions that it is useless to give them here. However, as a VERY general rule, you may want to stress the syllable which has a lengthened vowel in it. When there's two of them, stress the first one. When all syllables end in a consonant, stress the first one (lots of exceptions to this last rule!). Hence:

Af-gaan, 'Afghani'
la-ma, 'llama'
tur-bi-ne, 'turbine'
kap-stok, 'hallstand'
lam-pen, 'lamps'

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Grammar

Noun phrases

Dutch has a two-way gender distinction in its nouns. It is reflected in the choice of article, and in the inflection of adjectives. Adjectives precede the noun under all circumstances.

Use of article
Neuter gender nouns take het as their definite article; non-neuter nouns use de. The indefinite article (een) is the same for both.

Inflection of adjective
Adjectives take a silent /e/ (pronounced as the English article 'a') in all circumstances, except when used with a neuter noun in an indefinite noun phrase. Here's a couple of examples:

het paard - the horse; het grote paard - the big horse; een groot paard - a big horse
de stoel - the chair; de grote stoel - the big chair; een grote stoel - a big chair

Pronouns

ik - I; mij/me - me
jij/je - you
hij/zij - he/she; hem/haar - him/her
u - you (formal, singular)
het - it
wij/we - we; ons - us
jullie - you
zij/ze - they; hen/ze - them
u - you (formal, plural; inflected as hij, and therefor the same as the u singular.)

Verbs

Verb inflection in Dutch is complicated due to large numbers of exceptions to a relatively simple basic rule. Regular verbs are inflected as below:

ik loop - I walk
jij loopt - you walk
hij loopt - he walks
wij/jullie/zij lopen - we/you/they walk

Second-person singular looses its final -t in questions:

loop jij? - do you walk?

Dutch has two auxiliaries that are used in composite past tenses: hebben ('have') and zijn ('be'). If you know some French, stick to the rules of that language and you'll be right for 90% of your time. The highly irregular inflection of zijn is given below:

ik ben - I am
jij bent - you are
hij is - he is
wij/jullie/zij zijn - we/you/they are

Clauses

Dutch word order is affirmative clauses is the same as in English:

John_Sbj slaat_Verb het paard_Obj - 'John hits the horse'

In questions, the order of Subject and Verb is reversed. Dutch has no do-support:

Slaat_Verb John_Sbj het paard_Obj - 'Does John hit the horse?'

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Travel words and phrases

Travel Vocabulary

train – trein
bus - bus
taxi - taxi
car - auto
tram - tram
metro - metro
bicycle - fiets
airport - vliegveld
plane - vliegtuig
seaport - haven
ferry - veerboot or veerpont
one way – enkele reis
return – retour

Numbers and counting

Numbers

0 – nul
1 – één
2 – twee
3 – drie
4 – vier
5 – vijf
6 – zes
7 – zeven
8 – acht
9 – negen
10 – tien
11 – elf
12 – twaalf
13 – dertien
14 – veertien
15 – vijftien
16 – zestien
17 – zeventien
18 – achttien
19 – negentien
20 – twintig
21 – een en twintig
30 – dertig
35 – vijf en dertig
40 – veertig
50 – vijftig
60 – zestig
70 – zeventig
80 – tachtig
90 – negentig
100 – honderd
200 – twee honderd
300 – drie honderd
400 – vier honderd
500 – vijf honderd
600 – zes honderd
700 – zeven honderd
800 – acht honderd
900 – negen honderd
1,000 – duizend
2,000 – twee duizend
3,000 – drie duizend
10,000 – tien duizend
100,000 - honderd duizend
1,000,000 - miljoen
2,000,000 - twee miljoen
1,000,000,000 - miljard

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Greeting, Pleasantries and basic phrases

Hello - Hallo
Good morning – Goedemorgen
Good afternoon – Goedemiddag
Good night –Goedenavond
Goodbye – Tot ziens / Dag
See you later - Tot ziens / Dag

How are you? - Hoe gaat het?
I'm fine - Prima
I'm sorry - Sorry
Please – alstublieft (formal) / alsjeblieft (informal)
Thank you – dank u wel (formal) / dank je (wel) (informal) / Bedankt
You're welcome - graag gedaan
Cheers - proost

Yes - ja
No - nee
Maybe - misschien

I don't understand - Ik begrijp het niet
Please wait - Wacht even
Do you speak English? - Spreekt u Engels? (formal) / Spreek je Engels?(informal)
Can you speak a bit slower? - Kunt u (formal) / Kan je (informal) wat langzamer praten?
Congratulations! - Gefeliciteerd

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Question words

Who? - wie?
What? – wat?
Where? - waar?
When? - wanneer?
Why? - waarom?
How? - hoe?
How much? – hoeveel?

Prepositions and directions

At - bij
By (me) - door (mij)
With - met
From - van
To - naar
For - voor
Here/There - hier / daar
Inside/Outside - binnen / buiten
Front/Back - voorkant, achterkant
Next to - naast
Opposite - tegenover
Up/Down - op/onder
Left/Right - links/rechts
Middle - midden
North/South/East/West - noord/zuid/oost/west
Centre - centrum

Terms of address

I - ik
You - jij / u (u is polite, used for older persons)
He/She/It - hij / zij / het
They/Them - hun
Our - ons
You (plural) - jullie
Person - persoon
Male/Man - man
Female/Woman -vrouw
Child - kind
Boy - jongen
Girl - meisje
Children - kinderen
Mr - meneer
Mrs - mevrouw
Miss - mejuffrouw
Father - vader / papa
Mother - moeder / mama
Brother - broer
Sister - zus
Cousin - neef (male)
Niece - nicht (female)
Grandfather - opa
Grandmother - oma
Uncle - oom
Aunt - tante
Foreigner - buitenlander

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Common Questions

Where is the bathroom? - Waar is de WC / Waar is het toilet? (WC is pronounced something like Way Say)
What time is it? - Hoe laat is het?
Where is the hotel? - Waar is het hotel?
Where can I find a telephone? - Waar kan ik hier een telefoon vinden?
When does the train arrive? - Wanneer komt de trein? / Hoe laat komt de trein aan?
How much does this cost? - Hoeveel kost dit?