Dutch phrasebook
Phrasebook
Dutch (Nederlands) is a Germanic language spoken by about 27 million people world-wide. Most people living in the Netherlands and Flanders (the northern part of Belgium) use it as a first language, while in Suriname, Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten, and the Caribbean Netherlands, it is widely used as a second language. Historically, French Flanders and parts of the Lower Rhine Region in Germany also belong to the Dutch language sphere, and during the age of colonization it also spread to Indonesia and other former Dutch colonies.
Use
English is widely spoken throughout all the areas where Dutch is the primary or secondary language. Government officials, including police officers, but also train conductors, medical personnel and staff working in the tourist industry will usually have at least reasonable English language skills. Elderly people and young children typically do not, however, so a bit of Dutch can come in handy. At train stations, departure screens may display notices of service disruptions in Dutch only, making the ability to read Dutch a convenience. Most Dutch and Flemish people have a reasonable to excellent command of English, and tend to switch to English when they estimate their level of English is more advanced than a visitor's command of Dutch. While the intent is to make communications easier, this habit makes it harder to improve your language skills. In situations where time pressure is not an issue, feel free to explain that you're trying to practice your Dutch, and most people will make an effort to converse with you in simple Dutch. If you attain a basic fluency in Dutch, you will find that many people will converse with you in Dutch despite your foreign accent.
Grammar
Standard Dutch divides nouns into three different genders, namely masculine, feminine and neuter. However, many Dutch dialects merge the masculine and feminine genders into a single "common" gender. The traditional three-gender system survives most robustly in the dialects of Belgium and the southern Netherlands. Unlike in English, inanimate objects often have a gender other than neuter assigned to them. Articles and inflection of nouns differ based on gender. Masculine and feminine nouns take on the definite article de, while neuter nouns take on the definite article het. The pronoun hij is used to refer to masculine nouns, zij for feminine nouns and het for neuter nouns. However, dialects that use the two-gender system use hij for both masculine and feminine nouns, and use zij only for female persons.
Pronunciation
Dutch has some vowel sounds that are not known in many other languages so they may be hard to learn.
Short vowels a 'ah' /ɑ/ : like 'a' in "calm", (but shorter) e 'ay' /ɛ/ə/ : like 'e' in "pen" or 'e' in "the" (at word endings) i 'ee' /ɪ/ : like 'i' in "pin" o 'oh' /ɔ/ : like 'o' in "fork" oe /u/ : like 'oo' in "too" (but shorter) u 'ueh' /ʊ/ : like 'u' in "shut" y 'GHREEK-suh ay' ("Greek Y") / 'IHP-see-lon' ("ypsilon") / 'EE-greg' /ɪ/i/ : like 'i' in "like" or 'ee' in "deep"
Long vowels a, aa /aː/ : like 'aa' in "Afrikaans" e, ee /eː/ : like 'a' in "day" (without pronouncing the 'y'-sound at the end, something in between bed & team) eu /ɜː/ : similar to 'e' in "mercy" ie /i/ : like 'ie' in "thief" o, oo /oː/ : like 'o' in "ago" (without pronouncing the 'w'-sound at the end) oe /uː/ : like 'oo' in "too" u, uu /yː/ : like 'ü' in German "München"
Diphthongs
au, ou /aʊ/ : like 'ow' in "how" eeuw /eːu/ : like 'a' in "day" and substituting the 'y'-sound at the end with a 'w'-sound ei, ij 'KHOR-tuh ay' ("short ei"), 'LANG-uh ay' ("long ij") /ɛɪ/ : doesn't exist in English, but somewhat resembles the 'y' in "my" In outdated contexts (before World War II), these were also written as 'ey' or 'y'. ieuw /iːu/ : like 'ea' in "sea" followed by a 'w'-sound ui /ɜːu/ : like 'i' in "sir" followed by a 'w'-sound. ië, eë Not a dipthong but can be mistaken for one. Any ë indicates that this is where the word breaks up. The ë is the first letter of the new syllable. For example: Bel·gi·ë (bal-GHEE-yuh) - Belgium I·dee·ën (EE-day-un) - Ideas
Consonants b 'bay' /b/ : like 'b' in "bed" c 'say' /k/s/ : like 'c' in "can" (k) or the 'c' in "certain" (s) ch /x/ : like 'ch' in Scottish "loch" d 'day' /d/ : like 'd' in "do" f 'eff' /f/ : like 'f' in "feel" g 'ghey' /ɣ/ : voiced 'ch'-sound h 'haa' /h/ : like 'h' in "have" j 'yay' /j/ : like 'y' in "you" k 'khah' /k/ : like 'k' in "kilo" l 'el' /l/ : like 'l' in "low" m 'am' /m/ : like 'm' in "man" n 'an' /n/ : like 'n' in "no"; often dropped at the end of words p 'pay' /p/ : like 'p' in "pet" q 'kuuh' /k/ : like 'q' in "quick" r 'ehr' /ʁ/ : similar to 'r' in "row" but from the back of the throat, like the French 'r'. Varies by di
Phrase list
Basics Hello. Hallo. (HAH-low) How are you? Hoe maakt u het? (hoo MAHKT uu hut?) How are you? (informal, used in almost every situation) Hoe gaat het? (hoo GAHT hut?) Fine, thank you. Goed, dank u. (GOOT dahnk uu) Fine, thank you. (informal) Goed, dank je. (GOOT dahnk yuh) What is your name? Hoe heet u? (hoo HAYT uu?) What is your name? (informal) Hoe heet je? (hoo HAYT yuh?), or Wat is jouw naam? (wat is yow NAHM?) My name is ______ . Ik heet ______ . (ick HAYT _____ .) Mijn naam is ______ . (meyn NAHM is _____ .) Nice to meet you. Aangenaam kennis te maken. (AHN-guh-nahm KEH-nis tuh MAH-kun) Aangenaam. (AHN-guh-nahm) Please. (formal) Alstublieft. (AHL-stuu-BLEEFT) (informal) Alsjeblieft. (AHL-syuh-BLEEFT) Thank you. (formal) Dank u. (DAHNK uu) (informal) Dank je. (DAHNK yuh) You're welcome. Graag gedaan. (GRAHG guh-DAHN) No problem. Geen probleem. (GAYN pro-BLAYM) Most of the time in Dutch, people will say "alstublieft" when they give you something; before that, you say "dank je": "alstublieft" also means You're welcome.
Yes. Ja. (YAH) No. Nee. (NAY) Excuse me. (getting attention) Mag ik even uw aandacht? (mahg ick AY-vuhn uuw AHN-daght?) Pardon (PAR-don) Excuse me. (begging pardon) Sorry. (SOH-ree) I'm sorry. Het spijt me. (het SPAYT muh) Sorry. (SOH-ree) Goodbye Tot ziens. (TOT seens) I can't speak Dutch. Ik spreek geen Nederlands. (ick SPRAYK gayn NAY-dur-lahnts) I can't speak Dutch well. Ik spreek niet goed Nederlands. (ick SPRAYK neet goot NAY-dur-lahnts) I only speak English. Ik spreek alleen maar Engels. (ick SPRAYK a-LAYN mahr ANG-uls) Do you speak English? Spreekt u Engels? (SPRAYKT uu ENG-uls?) Is there someone here who speaks English? Spreekt hier iemand Engels? (SPRAYKT heer EE-mahnt ENG-uls?) Help! Help! (HEHLP!) Good morning. Goedemorgen. (GOO-duh-MORE-gun) Good afternoon. Goedemiddag. (GOO-duh-MIH-dahgh) Good evening. Goedenavond. (Goo-duh-NAH-vunt) Good night. Goedenavond. (Goo-duh-NAH-vunt) Good night (to sleep) Slaap lekker. (SLAHP LECK-uhr) I don't understand. Ik begrijp het niet. (ick buh-GRAYP hut neet) Where is the toilet? Waar is het toilet? (wahr is hut twah-LET?)
Problems Leave me alone. Laat me met rust. (LAHT muh met RUST) Don'
Adapted from Wikivoyage (CC BY-SA)