Home
Site Map
Mobile

Learning Dutch?
There's Never Been
A Better Time

Pronunciation
Listening
Hear Names

Words
Phrases
Grammar

Search my site:

Facebook

Lesson 13 - 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

13 (dertien)

- het ongeluksgetal

('the unlucky number') - (het) bijgeloof

2 ('superstition')
(het) voorgevoel

('premonition') - (het) voorteken

('omen') - (de) zwarte kat

2 3 ('black cat') - even afkloppen

2 3 ('knock on wood')

(de) waarzegster

2 ("truth-teller" - 'fortune teller, psychic' - female) - (de) helderziende

2 ('clairvoyant, psychic')
(het) medium

2 ('medium' - conduit to the dead)

The Lady of Stavoren - The Passive Voice - Word Order (2) - Grams and Kilograms to Ounces and Pounds - Elections, Parties and Government in Holland

Superstition Words		Listen		The Passive Voice		Word Order		Metric and Imperial: Weight

	Elections and Government in Holland

- An old Dutch folktale, rewritten by me from childhood memory.

The Lady of Stavoren		Het Vrouwtje van Stavoren

There was a time that Stavoren, Friesland was a prosperous port.		Stavoren was ooit een welvarend havenstadje in Friesland.
It is said the houses of the richest merchants had golden doorknobs and marble doorsteps.		Men zegt dat de huizen van de rijkste kooplieden gouden deurknoppen hadden, en stoepen van marmer.
Every year more ships docked in the harbor, and people came from near and far looking for work and a better life.		Elk jaar legden er meer schepen aan in de haven, en van heinde en verre kwamen er mensen naar toe, op zoek naar werk en een beter leven. 2

One of the wealthiest people in town was a woman who always wanted the best of everything.		Een van de rijkste inwoners was een vrouw voor wie alleen het beste goed genoeg was.
One day she called in her most trusted captain.		Op een dag riep ze haar meest vertrouwde kapitein bij zich.
"Right now, they're loading your ship with gold," she said, "and I want you to buy the most expensive item in the world, so everyone in town will know how wealthy I am.		"Ik laat je schip volladen met goud," zei ze, "en ik wil dat je voor mij het kostbaarste koopt dat er op de wereld bestaat, om iedereen in de stad te laten zien hoe rijk ik ben.
"The most valuable item in the world - not a few random nice things for my house, but really that one thing that is the most expensive."		"Het meest waardevolle dat er op de wereld is - niet hier en daar iets leuks om mijn huis mooier te maken, maar echt dat ene ding dat het duurste is."

The captain sailed the seven seas to all ports he knew and saw many beautiful things.		De kapitein voer over de zeven zeeën naar alle havens die hij kende en zag veel mooie dingen.
He visited craftsmen that had exotic wood furniture, wood carving and ivory, tailors that had beautiful clothes of silk and velvet, and gold- and silversmiths that had jewelry with pearls and diamonds.		Hij bezocht handwerkslieden met meubels van zeldzaam hout, houtsnijwerk en ivoor, kleermakers met prachtige kleren van zijde en fluweel, en edelsmeden met schitterende sieraden van goud en zilver met parels en diamanten. 2
Painters, sculptors and dealers showed him artworks, but he kept asking himself, is this really the most valuable on earth? Is this what the Lady wants?		Schilders, beeldhouwers en handelaren lieten hem kunstwerken zien, maar steeds weer vroeg hij zich af: Is dit echt het meest kostbare dat er is op aarde? Is dit wat de Vrouwe wil hebben?

Looking at the gold bars in the ship's hold, he started to wonder what actually was more beautiful than gold itself: What is of more value?		Als hij in het ruim van het schip naar de opgestapelde baren goud ging kijken, begon hij zich af te vragen wat er eigenlijk mooier was dan goud zelf: Wat is van meer waarde? 2
He kept on searching for a while, but couldn't find the one item that was without doubt the most valuable on earth, and he felt there was other way than to return home empty-handed.		Hij zocht nog een tijd verder, maar vond niet iets dat zonder twijfel het meest kostbare op aarde was, en hij zag geen andere mogelijkheid dan onverrichter zake naar huis terug te keren.
"What's more beautiful than gold itself?" was what he would tell the lady.		"Wat is mooier dan goud zelf?" zou hij de vrouwe zeggen.
But sailing along the Baltic coast he saw the ripening grain on the fields ripple in the wind, and then understood this was what he had been looking for all along.		Maar op de kust van de Oostzee zag hij vanaf het schip in het glooiende land het rijpende graan op de velden wuiven in de wind, en toen begreep hij dat dit het was wat hij al die tijd gezocht had.

The harbor lookout sent a boy into town when he saw the ship approaching.		De uitkijk bij de haven stuurde een jongen het stadje in toen hij het schip aan zag komen.
Soon, half the town was waiting on the quay.		Al gauw stond de halve bevolking van het stadje op de kade.
"Skipper, what are you bringing me?" the lady of Stavoren said.		"Schipper, wat heb je voor me meegenomen," zei het vrouwtje van Stavoren.
The skipper pulled a handful of wheat from a pocket of his coat.		De schipper haalde een handvol graankorrels uit een zak van z'n jasje.
"The golden grain - there is nothing more precious on earth - for what is more important than our daily bread, the staff of life?"		"Het gouden graan - het waardevolste op aarde - want wat is belangrijker dan ons dagelijks brood?"
For a moment, the woman looked at him incredulously, and then she became very angry. "You idiot," she cried, "Throw it overboard."		De vrouw keek hem even aan alsof ze het niet kon geloven en barstte toen in woede uit. "Idioot," schreeuwde ze, "Gooi het overboord."
"No, no!" the harbor master quickly said. "We don't throw things overboard in the harbor."		"Nee, nee," zei de havenmeester snel, "We kunnen geen dingen overboord gooien in de haven."
"Then leave port and throw it into the sea," the woman said.		"Vaar dan uit en gooi het in zee," zei de vrouw.
"But Ma'am, can't we give it to the poor?" the captain asked		"Mevrouw, kunnen we het niet aan de armen geven?" vroeg de kapitein.
"No," the woman said, "Throw it into the sea."		"Nee," zei de vrouw, "Gooi het in zee." 2
"But imagine that you'd be poor yourself," the captain said.		"Maar stelt U zich eens voor dat U zelf arm zou zijn," zei de kapitein.
The woman took a ring with a large diamond from a finger and angrily threw it far away into the water. "It's more likely that I'll see that ring back than that I'd ever be poor," she said.		De vrouw nam een ring met een grote edelsteen van een vinger en gooide hem woedend ver weg het het water in. "Ik zal nog eerder die ring terugzien dan dat ik ooit arm zou worden."

A few days later there was a frightening shriek from the kitchen of the lady of Stavoren, and a cook was running through the house, "Ma'am, Ma'm ... I was cleaning fish ... your ring ... in the belly of a fish."		Een paar dagen later klonk er een ijselijke gil uit de keuken van het vrouwtje van Stavoren en een kokkin rende door het huis, "Mevrouw, mevrouw ... ik was vissen aan het schoonmaken ... Uw ring ... in de buik van een vis." 2

Over the next weeks, skippers said that where the grain had been dumped the water was turning greenish. Was the grain sprouting?		In de weken daarna zeiden schippers dat waar het graan gestort was het water een beetje groen leek. Begon het graan te ontkiemen?
A sandbank developed, and it was getting more and more difficult for ships to enter the harbor.		Er vormde zich een zandbank, en het werd steeds moeilijker voor schepen om de haven binnen te komen.
After a few years, only small ships put into port anymore.		Na een paar jaar kwamen er alleen nog kleine schepen.
The great merchants and many of the harbor workets left, the golden doorknobs disappeared and it became very quiet.		De grote handelaren en veel van de havenwerkers vertrokken naar elders, de gouden deurknoppen verdwenen en het werd er heel rustig.
The Lady of Stavoren didn't leave. She still wandered around town for years, dressed in black.		Het vrouwtje van Stavoren ging niet weg. Ze dwaalde nog jaren door het stadje, geheel in het zwart gekleed.

Geef ons heden ons dagelijks brood Give us this day our daily bread >> The Lord's Prayer

het gouden graan

'n brood

Stavoren

in The Netherlands

Verbs: The Passive Voice

As I've said before, I am not a grammarian, and don't plan to become one. In these lessons I'm just trying to explain structures to people who want to learn a little Dutch. Grammatical terms are used in a loose sense. (>> Dutch grammar words)

In the passive form (lijdende vorm ) the object is passively subjected to an activity: The book is read. or The house was built. In Dutch, the passive form uses the auxiliary verb 'worden' with a past participle - English uses 'to be' and that may be a bit confusing.
active: Ik verf het huis ('I'm painting the house')
passive: Het huis wordt geverfd ('The house is being painted')
passive: Het huis wordt door mij geverfd ('The house is being painted by me')
passive: Ik word geschopt door Jan ('I am kicked by John')

ik word
jij wordt
hij wordt
wij worden
jullie worden
zij worden
U wordt

(I am)
(you are)
(he is)
(we are)
(you are)
(they are)
(you are)

word ik?
word jij?
wordt hij?
worden wij?
worden jullie?
worden zij?
wordt U?

(am I?)
(are you?)
(is he?)
(are we?)
(are you?)
(are they?)
(are you?)

ik werd
jij werd
hij werd
wij werden
jullie werden
zij werden
U werd

(I was)
(you were)
(he was)
(we were)
(you were)
(they were)
(you were)

(you - singular, informal)

(you - plural, informal)

(you - polite)

Do note that word and wordt are pronounced exactly the same. D at the end of a word is pronounced as T and 'double' consonants are rarely pronounced with a pause in between. ik word 2 hij wordt 2

Ik word gevraagd 2 ('I am asked')
Ik werd gevraagd 2 ('I was asked')
Hij werd gemarteld 2 ('he was tortured')
De bal wordt geschopt ('the ball is kicked')
De bal werd geschopt 2 ('the ball was kicked')
De bal werd door Jan in het doel geschopt 2 ('The ball was kicked into the goal by Jan')
De bal wordt in het doel geschoten 2 ('The ball is shot into the goal')
Er wordt gebeld 2 ('the bell is rung' - there is someone at the door)
An often-heard complaint is:
"Ik word geleefd." [I am lived] ~ 'I have no life of my own.'

The perfect tense of the passive voice uses 'zijn' (to be) - and (unlike in German) the past participle geworden 2 is usually dropped:
het huis wordt geverfd ('the house is being painted')
het huis is geverfd ~~geworden~~ ('the house has been painted')
Ik ben geschopt ~~geworden~~ ('I have been kicked')

Ik ben gevraagd ~~geworden~~ 2 ('I have been asked' - to perform a task, or fill a position or job)
Not to be confused with:
Ik heb gevraagd 2 ('I have asked' - I have put a question)

Ik heb gegeten ('I have eaten')
The ghost of a cow or pig could say:
Ik ben gegeten ~~geworden~~ ('I was eaten')

English uses 'to be' for the passive form. Confusion may arise because Dutch uses 'zijn' (to be) as the auxiliary verb for the perfect tense of some verbs.
Note the different use of 'is' in English and Dutch in the following sentences:
Hij wordt door een wesp gestoken! ('He is being stung by a wasp' - right this moment)
Hij is door een wesp gestoken ~~geworden~~ ('He has been stung by a wasp' - some time ago)
Ik werd afgeleid 2 (I was distracted)

'Worden' is also used in the sense of 'to become,' and in that meaning the past participle geworden 2 does appear, when appropriate:
Wat is er van hem geworden? 2 ('Whatever became of him?')
"Wat wil je later worden?" ('What do you want to be when you grow up?')
't Wordt donker ('It is getting dark')

<< previous - verbs central - next >>

Word Order (2)

Basic Sentences		The Complement		The Object		The Indirect Object

	Combining Object and Complement		Simple Questions

previous: placement of adjectives

smartphone version of word order (narrow pages)
another approach: Differences between Dutch and English Word Order

Simple, Basic Sentences

Very simple sentences can just be a subject (onderwerp

) and a verb (werkwoord

) in that order - very much like in English.

subject	verb

Zij zingt.	She sings.
Hij rookt. 2	He smokes.
De tijd vliegt.	Time flies.
Het concert begon.	The concert started.
De trein vertrok. 2	The train left.
Het touw brak. 2	The rope broke.
Een hond blafte.	A dog barked.
De bom ontplofte. 2	The bomb exploded.
De zon schijnt.	The sun [shines] is shining.
't Regent.	It [rains] is raining.

Katten spinnen.	Cats purr.
Katten blazen. 2	Cats hiss.
Honden grommen.	Dogs growl.
Varkens knorren.	Pigs oink.
Slangen sissen.	Snakes hiss.

Het and its abbreviated form 't can mean It - like in 't Regent , or it can be the article (the - next to de). When apostrophe-T 't is the first word of a sentence, the second word is capitalized.
As you can see in some of the examples, Dutch often just has a simple verb where English uses the continuous (is ...-ing.) A later lesson will show a Dutch grammar figure to indicate ongoing activity. >>

Adding A Complement

To make a statement more interesting and/or informative, add something like an adverb. Some grammarians call this part of the sentence a complement.

subject	verb	complement

't Regende hard.	It was raining hard.
Hij is oud.	He is old.
't Was koud.	It was cold.
't Werd koud.	It [became] turned cold.
't Water is koud.	The water is cold
De appels zijn groen.	The apples are green.
Hij was jarig.	[He had] It was his birthday.
Het is te druk. 2	It is too busy.
Het was te veel.	It was too much.
Wij waren arm.	We were poor.
Zij waren rijk.	They were rich.
Wij waren net op tijd.	We [were] arrived just in time.
Zij waren te laat.	They were too late.
De koffie is klaar.	Coffee is ready.

Ik ben ziek. 2	I am sick.
Zij zingt mooi.	She sings beautifully.
Hij zingt vals. 2	[He is singing] His singing is off-pitch.
Hij lacht hard.	He is laughing loudly.
Wij lachen luid.	We laugh loudly.
De boot vaart snel.	The boat sails/moves quickly.
Hij werkt hard.	He works hard.
Ik loop langzaam.	I'm walking slowly.
Ze zwemt snel.	She [swims fast] is a fast swimmer.
Het duurt lang.	It takes [long] a long time.
Het gaat goed.	It [goes] is going well.
De winter was lang. 2 3	Winter [was] lasted long.
Het houten huis is heel oud.	The wooden house is very old.

Adding Objects

A sentence can be more meaningful when an object is added to the subject and verb.

subject	verb	object

Ik zei: "Nee."	I said: "No."
Hij schopt de bal.	He kicks the ball.
Ik schopte een bal. 2	I kicked a ball.
Ik hoor een vliegtuig.	I hear a plane.
Ik had een wapenbroeder.	I had a brother-in-arms.
Hij eet een appel.	He [eats] is eating an apple.
Zij leest een boek.	She [reads] is reading a book.
Hij drinkt een kopje thee.	He [drinks] is having a cup of tea.
Ik verf het huis.	I'm painting the house.
Zij zingt een lied.	She is singing a song.
Zij is een zangeres.	She is a singer.
Ik heb hoofdpijn.	I have a headache.
Ik ben 1 meter 80.	I am 1 meter 80 centimeters (5'11") [ tall.]
Hij speelt gitaar.	He plays the guitar.
Hij stemt de gitaar.	He is tuning the guitar
Hij speelt een akkoord.	He plays a chord.
Zij speelt saxofoon.	She plays the saxophone.
Ik had geluk	I was lucky.
Hij drinkt bier.	He is drinking beer.
De raket trof een kleuterschool.	The rocket hit a nursery school.

De ramen hebben luiken.

2
The windows have shutters.

The Indirect Object

Actually, there are two kinds of objects. The most common, and the one in the examples above, is called the 'direct object' in English, and in Dutch (often fittingly) lijdend voorwerp

('suffering entity/object.')
The second class of objects is called the 'indirect object' in English, and meewerkend voorwerp

('cooperating entity/object') in Dutch. It's usually found in sentences with verbs like 'to give' (geven

2), 'to say' (zeggen

) and 'to tell' (vertellen

), that describe someone receiving something. Its usual position is right after the verb, before the direct object.

subject	verb	indirect object	direct object

Jan geeft Piet een boek.	Jan gives Piet a book.
Karel geeft Elly een ring.	Karel gives [Elly a ring] a ring to Elly. (ring for finger)
Het geeft de mensen hoop.	It gives the people hope.
Ik vertel je de waarheid.	I'm telling you the truth.
Het is mij een genoegen ....	[It is a pleasure to me ...] It is with pleasure that I ...
Ik geef Marietje bloemen.	I'm giving Marietje flowers.

You may find the indirect object preceded by prepositions like 'for' or 'to' - but then both Dutch and English place it after the direct object.

subject	verb	direct object	indirect object with preposition

Jan geeft een boek aan Piet	Jan gives a book to Piet.
Ik geef bloemen aan Marietje	I'm giving flowers to Marietje.
Zij zingen een lied voor mij. 2	They are singing a song for me.

Do note that zij and ze can mean both 'she' and 'they' - but you can tell the difference because the verb form is different for plural and singular:

Zij zingt een lied.

She is singing a song.

Combining Object and Complement

If there is both a 'complement' and an object, the object ususally comes first, right after the verb, like in English.

subject	verb	object	complement

Hij schopt de bal hard.	He kicks the ball hard. (?)
Hij schopt de bal heel hard.	He kicks the ball very hard. (?)
Hij verft het houten huis wit. 2	He is painting the wooden house white.
Ik kende die mensen goed. 2	I knew those people well.
Hij bedoelt 't goed. 2	He means [it] well.
Hij verfde het huis snel 2	He quickly painted the house, he painted the house quickly.

But unfortunately it's not always as straightforward as in English.
In the examples above, the object has the definite article (de/het) but in the examples below, where the complement is put before the object, the object doesn't have the definite article but the indefinite article (een, 'n,) no article or a number -- though that does not cover all examples.
You'll notice the use of the article is not exactly the same in English as in Dutch.

Hij speelt heel goed gitaar. 2	He plays the guitar very well.
Ik gaf haar snel een knipoogje.	I quickly [gave her a wink] winked at her.
Hij vertelde ons snel een paar mopjes. 2	He quickly told us a few jokes.
Hij drinkt snel een biertje. 2	He is quickly drinking a beer, he quickly has a beer.
Hij maakte snel twee kistjes 2 3	He quickly built 2 small boxes
Hij berekende het verschil snel 2	He calculated the difference quickly
Hij berekende snel het verschil 2	He quickly calculated the difference
There is a slight difference in meaning in the last two examples. 'Hij berekende het verschil snel' is a stand-alone remark indicating the subject is a clever or competent person; while 'Hij berekende snel het verschil' implies 'he' is in a hurry and you expect another statement on why the rush or what 'he' did next. In the examples above, only the similar 'Hij verfde het huis snel' can be turned around like that and still be good Dutch.

exception? Honger maakt rauwe bonen zoet 2 3	Hunger makes raw beans [taste] sweet.

I moved the line below from the unexplained exception group above because 'goed' is an adjective - though translated into English as the adverb 'well'
Je spreekt goed Nederlands. 2	You speak Dutch well.
Hij spreekt goed Nederlands 2 3	He speaks Dutch well
Hij spreekt geheel onverwacht toch heel goed Nederlands 2 3 4	He quite unexpectedly speaks Dutch very well

in case you were wondering:
Hij speelt op een dure gitaar 2 3	He plays an expensive guitar

It's maybe not very important, not many sentences are like this, but to say 'Hij speelt gitaar goed' or 'Je spreekt Nederlands goed' is not good Dutch.

Question Mode (simple sentences)

Turn the verb and subject around to make a statement sentence into a question.
In speaking, the sentence melody changes to a higher pitch at the end:
Er is wat brood over.

('There is some bread left.')
Is er wat brood over?

('Is there any bread left?')
exaggerated: Is er wat brood over?

When talking with friends and acquaintances, you'll use the informal 'je' or 'jij.' Do note that in the present tense for those words (the second person singular, informal) the T is dropped from the verb when it comes before the personal pronoun:

ben je boos? 2	are you angry?
je bent boos 2	you are angry

heb je genoeg geld?	do you have enough money?
je hebt genoeg geld 2	you have enough money

verb	subject	(object)	(complement)

Ben je ziek?	Are you sick?
Ben je bang?	Are you afraid?
Is het te laat?	Is it too late?
Was je moe?	Were you tired?
In English, turning around verb and object for question mode only works for to be (other verbs add to do) - but in Dutch all verbs can be turned around for question mode.
Regent 't?	Is it raining?
Schijnt de zon?	Is the sun shining?
Ga jij? 2	[Go you?] Are you going? (Like, to an event)
Heb je honger?	Are you hungry?
Heb je hoofdpijn? 2	Do you have a headache?
Heb je een auto?	Do you have a car?
Heeft Jan een auto? 2	Does John have a car?
Had je een lekke band?	Did you have a flat tire?
Hadden jullie pech?	[Did you have bad luck?] Usually, this means: Did your car break down?
Verveel je je?	Are you bored? (informal) >> reflexive verbs
Verveelt U zich?	Are you bored? (polite)
Zijn de appels groen? 2	Are the apples green?
Zijn de bananen nog groen?	Are the bananas still green?
Zijn de bananen al geel? 2	Are the bananas already yellow?
"Heeft U bananen?" - "Nee."	"Do you have bananas?" - "No."
Er zijn geen bananen.	There are no bananas.
"Heeft U sinaasappels?" - "Ja."	"Do you have oranges?" - "Yes."
Er zijn wel sinaasappels.	[Yes] we do have oranges.

<< previous - word order central - next >>

Ambiguous

The following Dutch sentence is a rare example of confusion between subject and object:
Het land dat God vergat.

It could mean either:
The country that God forgot. (The country forgotten by God.) or:
The country that forgot God.

Metric and Imperial: Weight

ounces to grams (g)

[a bar chart comparing imperial and metric dimensions]

1 ounce = 28.35 grams

1 gram = 0.035 ounces

[a bar chart comparing imperial and metric dimensions]

16 ounces = 1 pound = 453 grams = 0.453 kilograms

1 kilogram = 1000 grams = 2.205 pounds = 35.27 ounces

pounds to kilograms (kg)

[a bar chart comparing imperial and metric dimensions]

1 pound = 0.453 kilograms

1 kilogram = 2.205 pounds

The old English weight stone (14 Lb) is 6.35 kg

more dimensions

[a bar chart comparing imperial and metric dimensions]

(het) gewicht

('weight')

(de) massa

2 ('mass')

(het) milligram

2
1mg = ¹/₁₀₀₀ g

(de/het) gram

(de) kilogram

2 = (de/het) kilo

2
1 kg = 1000 g

(de) ton

(1 ton = 1000 kilograms)

In Dutch, the units of measure are rarely used in the plural (except in time.)
1 kilo, 2 kilo

2 - 500 gram

pond (500 grams, about 1 pound)		ons 2 (100 grams, about 3 ounces)
Though widely used, pond and ons are not official weights. Een ons ham 2 3 ('100 grams, about 3 ounces of ham') Een pond kaas 2 ('500 grams, about a pound of cheese') Elk pondje gaat door 't mondje. ('Every pound passes through the mouth.' - dieting slogan.) << - numbers, simple math and dimensions - >>

Elections, Political Parties and Government in Holland

In Holland, on separate 4-year cycles, there are elections for

city government: de gemeenteraad 2 ('city council')
provincial government: de Provinciale Staten
national government: De Tweede Kamer 2 ('The Second Chamber')

In recent years, elections for het Europarlement

have been added.

For the national government, Holland has a 'bicameral system,' like the UK and the US. The 150-seat 'Second Chamber' (De Tweede Kamer 2) is comparable to the US House of Representatives or the UK House of Commons. Governments need to have the support of a majority in the Second Chamber.
Next to the 'Second Chamber' is de Eerste Kamer ('The First Chamber,') also called de Senaat 2, somewhat like the English House of Lords, but (even relatively speaking) far less powerful than the American Senate. It is indirectly chosen, by the Province Representatives, and membership is not a full-time job. Laws are discussed and voted on in the Second Chamber, and then passed on to the First Chamber for approval; the First Chamber only votes on laws, and cannot propose or amend laws. In a famous case in the early 1970s, the delegates of the (so-called) 'liberal' party VVD in the First Chamber voted against a liberal abortion law, showing that their party is really not liberal but conservative.
(de) abortus 2 abortion

Holland does not have a district system where the majority in a district chooses the delegate and the minority is not represented. All the votes count towards national totals. There are 150 seats in the Second Chamber, so 0.67% of the national vote means one seat. Turnout for the national elections is usually between 70 and 80%, and one seat requires about 65.000 votes. Parties representing small groups in Dutch society usually have a few seats in the Second Chamber.

After elections, the queen used to consult with the party leaders and appoint an informateur

2 (usually an elder politician) to find common ground and explore possible compromises between parties, to create a coalition that will have a majority in the Second Chamber - but now the queen will no longer be involved with the process. Instead, the outgoing Second Chamber appoints a verkenner

('scout') to start the consultations, and the new 'Second Chamber' appoints one or more informateurs.
A concept program for the next government may be prepared: (het) regeerakkoord

2. Next, a formateur

2 will be appointed, usually the next prime minister: (de) premier

/or/ (de) minister-president

2, who will form a cabinet (het) kabinet

2, his team of ministers and secretaries. Occasionally, a coalition falls apart, and then usually new elections will be called.

In the 1977 elections, labor PvdA gained 10 seats, for a total of 53 seats, its best result ever. Christian-Democrat CDA won 49 seats, and the conservative VVD 28. A Labor-led government was expected, but the concessions demanded by Christian-Democrat leader Dries van Agt 2 were unacceptable to the Labor party, though party leader Joop den Uyl 2 was willing to go ahead with Van Agt. In the end the Christian-Democrats formed a government coalition with the conservative party. Sad, but not undemocratic.

The 2010-2012 coalition government of Conservatives and Christian-Democrats was supported by Mr Wilders' party, who did not have ministers in the cabinet. This support is called (de) gedoogsteun

(de) partij ('political party') - plural: partijen
(de) meerderheid 2 ('majority')
(de) regering ('the government, the cabinet')
(de) oppositie 2 3 the political parties in parliament opposed to the government
(de) stembus ('ballot box') - stemmen 2 ('to vote') the complete verb
"Heb je al gestemd?" 2 'Did you vote already?'
"Ik heb nog niet gestemd." 'I have not voted yet.'
"Wie heeft de verkiezingen gewonnen?" 'Who has won the elections?'

Party Name, Party Leader, Position - website	number of seats
	1998	2002	2003	2006	2010	2012	2017	2021	2023
Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie (VVD) Dilan Yesilgöz conservative - >>	38	24	28	22	31	41	33	35	24
Partij van de Arbeid (PvdA) 2 Lilianne Ploumen 2 labor - >>	45	23	42	32	30	38	9	9	~
PvdA/GroenLinks Frenske Timmermans 2 (Frans 2)									25
Partij voor de Vrijheid Geert Wilders 2 right-wing, concerned about extremist tendencies in Islam - >>	-	-	-	9	24	15	20	17	37
Socialistische Partij 2 Lilian Marijnissen 2 left-wing, maoist, grassroots; has never been in government - >>	5	9	9	26	15	15	14	9	5
Christen-Democratisch Appèl (CDA) 2 Henri Bontenbal 2 3 christian-democrats, centrist - >>	29	43	44	41	21	13	19	15	5
D66 - Democraten '66 2 Rob Jetten used to be left-wing liberals - >>	14	7	6	3	10	12	19	23	9
Christen Unie 2 Mirjam Bikker 2 3 4 5 christian, mixed on left/right - >>	(5)	4	3	6	5	5	5	5	3
Groen Links Jesse Klaver 2 (3) - de Jessias 2 left-wing, environmentalist - >>	11	10	8	7	10	4	14	8	~
Staatkundig Gereformeerde Partij (SGP) Chris Stoffer 2 3 Kees van der Staaij orthodox protestant - >>	3	2	2	2	2	3	3	3	3
Partij voor de Dieren Esther Ouwehand 2 3 animal rights - >>	-	-	-	2	2	2	5	6	3
50+ ('Vijftig Plus') 2 Liane den Haan 2 seniors, pensioners - >>	-	-	-	-	-	2	4	1	-
Denk 2 3 ‑>> Stephan van Baarle 2 Turkish, Muslim - >>	-	-	-	-	-	-	3	3	3
Forum voor Democratie 2 3 Thierry Baudet 2 3 right-wing - >>	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	8	3
JA21 2 3 Joost Eerdmans 2 Annabel Nanninga 2 right-wing - >>	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	3	1
Volt 2 Laurens Dassen 2 3 European Union - >>	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	3	2
BoerBurgerBeweging 2 (BBB 2) Caroline van der Plas 2 'the voice of the countryside' - >>	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	7
Bij1 2 3 Sylvana Simons 2 3 anti-racism - >>	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-
Fortuyn 2 Pim Fortuyn 2 (2002) Olaf Stuger (2003) right-wing	-	26	8	-	-	-	-	-
others	-	2	-	-	-	-	-	-
Nieuw Sociaal Contract 2 3 NSC 2 Pieter Omtzigt 2 3 - >>	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	20
	___	___	___	___	___	___	___	___	___
	150	150	150	150	150	150	150	150	150
more: election results over the years - Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek (The Dutch Statistics Office)

Retired or Deceased Recent Party Leaders:
VVD: Mark Rutte

PvdA: Lodewijk Asscher

2 - Job Cohen

2 (PvdA) - Diederik Samsom

2
PvdA/GroenLinks: Frenske Timmermans

2 (Frans

2)
D66: Sigrid Kaag

2 3 4 - Alexander Pechtold

CDA: Hans Huibers

2 - Wopke Hoekstra

2
Sybrand Buma

2 (Sybrand van Haersma Buma

2)
- Maxime Verhagen

2 - Jan-Pieter Balkenende

2 3
Socialistische Partij: Emile Roemer

- Jan Marijnissen

Groen Links: Femke Halsema

- Jolande Sap

2 - Bram van Ojik

2
Christen Unie: André Rouvoet

- Arie Slob

2 - Gert-Jan Segers

2
Partij voor de Dieren: Marianne Thieme

50+: Henk Krol

2 (left party)

The three mainstream Christian parties:

(de) Katholieke Volkspartij (KVP) 2 ('katholiek' Roman catholic)
(de) Anti-Revolutionaire Partij (ARP) 2 ('gereformeerd' somewhat strict protestant)
(de) Christelijk-Historische Unie (CHU) 2 ('hervormd' somewhat less strict protestant)

entered the 1977 elections with one list of candidates, and formally became one party in 1980, (het) Christen-Democratisch Appèl (CDA)

2.
From 1918 till the 1990s, those Christian parties had taken part in every government, in coalitions with either labor or the conservatives (occasionally one of the original three parties stayed out); but in the 1990s there were two paars

(paars/paarse

2 - 'purple') cabinets of labor and conservatives, without the Christian Democrats.

The great changes in support for the traditional parties and the emergence of new parties in recent elections show that the voters are unhappy and looking for new answers. The upheavals of the late 1960s resulted in two new parties, de Boerenpartij 2 ("the peasants' party") led by Boer Koekoek 2 of Bennekom who one year got 8 seats in parliament, but the party broke up quickly. D'66 was a more serious party with new ideas like referendums and elected majors, and is still represented in parliament.
Before the 2002 elections, many people were hoping Pim Fortuyn 2 would bring a new style and fresh ideas to Dutch politics. The country was shocked when two weeks before the elections he was murdered (by an animal-rights activist) - Holland's first political assassination in more than 300 years. His party won big, but lacked a leader and fell apart. Mr. Fortuyn would probably have brought great changes to Dutch politics. (Two years later, film maker Theo van Gogh was murdered by an islamist.)

The 17th-Century Dutch Republic was not a democracy. In 1581 the Dutch revolutionaries stated their reasons for leaving the rule of the King of Spain in a document called het Plakkaat van Verlatinghe

2 - also called de Acte van Verlatinghe

('the Act of Abjuration.') It said the king should be to his people like a father to his children, but the Spanish king had turned into a tyrant. The declaration also stated that ultimately power belonged to local authorities, not to the king - a step in the right direction. Those local authorites were the city rulers, mostly families long-serving in government. Some rich merchants and leaders of the revolution joined the ruling class; nobility only played a very small role after the Middle Ages. The descendants of the leader of the Dutch revolution William of Orange (Willem van Oranje

nicknamed Willem de Zwijger

'William The Silent') had the title of stadhouder

- something like a heriditary presidency. Some of their opponents lost their lives in power struggles. Only after the French occupation (1795-1813) did the Orange-Nassau family become the royal rulers of the Netherlands, but already during that 19th century reformers like Thorbecke

greatly reduced the King's power, and Holland became a parliamentary democracy. Presently, the only practical power the queen has is her role in the formation of government coalitions and in the appointments of high civil servants and military officers.
The first government elections in Holland were early in the 19th Century, and like in the early days of the US, only a small percentage of the male population was considered qualified to vote, measured by education level and tax payments. In the 1890s, 50% of Dutch male citizens voted, in 1917 all male Dutchmen and in 1919 all Dutch women were given the right to vote in elections. Actually, until the 1960s, voting was not just a right: (het) stemrecht

2 - but a duty: (de) stemplicht

- failure to vote was punishable by a fine. Only citizens can vote in Dutch national elections, but foreigners may vote in City elections after five years' legal residency.

The formal meeting hall of the Dutch parliament

De Ridderzaal

2 ("the knights' hall") on het Binnenhof

2 ('the inner court') in Den Haag

On the third Tuesday in September, the queen presents the government's plans for the next year (de) miljoenennota

2 (mostly financing and spending) in a speech called (de) troonrede

2 to de Staten-Generaal

2 (the First and Second Chamber combined) at de Ridderzaal

2 in The Hague. Amsterdam

is formally the capital of The Netherlands, but parliament meets in The Hague, and most of the government departments and embassies are in that city. >> maps

A Few Postwar Politicians

- politicus / politici

2 'politician'/'politicians'

Willem Aantjes

(ARP/CDA)

Marcus Bakker 2
(Communist Party CPN)

Barend Biesheuvel
(ARP)

Jaap Boersma 2
(ARP/CDA)

Jo Cals
(KVP)

Pim Fortuyn 2

Hans Gruijters

(D'66)

Piet de Jong 2 3
(KVP)

Wim Kok 2
(PvdA)

Ruud Lubbers 2
(CDA)

Jozef Luns
(KVP)

Hans van Mierlo
(D'66)

Ed Nijpels

2
(VVD)

Norbert Schmelzer
(KVP) (last name is German)

Jan Terlouw 2
(D'66)

Joop den Uyl 2
(PvdA)

Hans Wiegel 2
(VVD)

In English, 'the government' means two things, that Dutch has separate words for:

the prime minister or president and his ministers or secretaries, the small group at the top that takes the most important decisions, also called 'the cabinet.' In Dutch: (de) regering - or also the less common (het) kabinet 2.
all the govenment departments and administration bodies, the whole government bureaucracy. This is called de overheid 2 in Dutch, or more colloquially 't Rijk 2 for all Dutch government institutions together.
Het Rijksmuseum 2 3 'the national museum' (in Amsterdam) that a.o. houses Rembrandt's 'The Night Watch'
(de) rijksuniversiteit 'national, government-funded university'
Rijkswaterstaat 2 the government agency for water management
(het) Staatsbosbeheer 2 3 the National Forest Service
Stelen van 't Rijk 2 Stealing from the government, the state See also: Arm en Rijk (Rich and Poor)

Written from memory of books, history lessons and newspaper articles. Recently read books, and facts checked in:
Moerman, Geïllustreerde Vaderlandse Geschiedenis (Van Holkema & Warendorf, Amsterdam 1960)
Hans van der Horst: Nederland (Bert Bakker, Amsterdam 2005)
Geert Mak: De Eeuw van Mijn Vader (Atlas, Amsterda m 1999)

See also: Politics Words - The News Words

Democracy (democratie

) is more than having elections (verkiezingen

.) It requires equality (gelijkheid

) between people, leaving the choice to each individual, and not with men (always men) that tell you how to vote because they feel they have a natural right to govern and/or claim to be closer to God than the common people. Alle mensen zijn gelijk

('all people are equal.')
Elections should be free and fair, and voters need to be able to make an informed choice, which requires freedom of expression (vrijheid van meningsuiting

) and the related freedom of the press (persvrijheid

2) and freedom to meet and discuss any issues (vrijheid van vergadering

2.) Other important liberties are freedom of religion (godsdienstvrijheid

) and freedom of conscience (gewetensvrijheid

) which means the freedom to leave or change your religion.
Democracy also requires protection for minorities. Should people who think their ideology gives them more rights than others have the vote? I think not. Should criminals have the vote? I think not.
Could we vote to limit the rights of, expel or exterminate a harmless minority? Could it be democratically decided to abolish democracy? I hope not.
Should we allow immigration by groups hostile to freedom, equality and democracy, and lacking in respect for the rights of others? Should those immigrants be allowed to settle and given voting rights?

(de) revolutie 2 revolution - the usage is different from English. I think in Dutch it's an internal affair. We say 'de Franse Revolutie' - but the American Revolution is called 'de Amerikaanse Vrijheidsoorlog' 2 ("war of liberation") and the Dutch Revolt is de Tachtigjarige Oorlog 2 3 ('the 80-years war' - 1568-1648)
(de) opstand 2 uprising, revolt, rebellion
de opstand van de gewone mensen 2 3 4
the revolt of the common people

<< - essays - >>

Home
(Learning Dutch)

previous
vorige

next
volgende

Site map - email - Copyright © Marco Schuffelen 2011. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, redistributed, or hotlinked to.
Don't be a dief (thief) / dievegge (female thief) - diefstal (theft) - stelen (to steal) - heler (dealer in stolen goods) - hear Dutch - 2