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Vocabulary - Learn Dutch Words and Speech

See and hear more than 25.000 Dutch words and more than 7000 Dutch phrases and sample sentences on the Hear Dutch Here website
(het) woord click to hear 'word' - plural: woorden click to hear 'words'
(het) woordenboek click to hear 2 3 [book of words] - dictionary
(de) woordenschat click to hear 2 vocabulary
Using Words

Find Dutch Words: (pronunciation, English translation and links to explanation, sample sentences and/or related words)
English to Dutch - Dutch to English

Start learning a new language with words.
My website has four approaches to learning elementary vocabulary, four types of pages, four different collections of words for learning. Many words to learn — start with words and subjects that look useful or interesting to you:

Next are chapters about problematic words and about Speech, 'Conversation Templates,' examples of Dutch talk

 'Basic Dutch' 
 Pictures Dictionaries 
 Words by Subject 
 'Easy Dutch
 Double Meanings 
 Other Words Lists 
 'Sideways Learning
 Plurals 
 Speech, Dutch Talk, Conversations Templates 
 Advanced Vocabulary - Prepositions 

Before you start learning words, read about the two Dutch definite articles ('the') - de click to hear 2 and het click to hear 2 3 (often said as: 't click to hear - but not often written that way.) Read: The Article - about 2/3 of Dutch nouns are de-words, so when learning nouns, memorize which take het — there are not many useful rules.

If you didn't read up about pronunciation yet, you may be puzzled by the spelling of 'long' and 'short' vowels and the 'third E' click to hear — learning words will be easier when you understand how long and short vowels are written (it's fairly logical.) Read the first two chapters of Learn Pronunciation - or: The Spelling of Long and Short Vowels - or this long version
You could also find the spelling/pronunciation rules by yourself by studying and listening closely to many examples

Basic Dutch

Nouns
about 750 nouns, for instance (1/3 of a 'chapter')
Food and Drink ‑>> - flash cards: vocabulary / listening
(het) eten click to hear food ‑>> 2
(het) drinken click to hear drink ‑>> 2
(de) maaltijd click to hear meal ‑>>
(het) water click to hear water
(de) suiker click to hear sugar
(het) zout click to hear salt
(het) vlees click to hear meat
(de) vis click to hear fish ‑>>
(de) melk click to hear milk ‑>>

Basic Dutch Nouns
Smartphone 'Basic' Dutch Nouns List (1-column, narrow screen)
Nouns Flashcards exercises: 750 Nouns - By Chapter - Listening

Adjectives and Adverbs
about 200 adjectives and adverbs, for instance:

arm click to hear 2 / arme click to hear 2 3 poor ‑>>
rijk click to hear / rijke click to hear rich ‑>>
goedkoop click to hear / goedkope click to hear 2 3 cheap, inexpensive ‑>>
duur click to hear / dure click to hear 2 expensive, dear ‑>>

Basic Dutch Adjectives and Adverbs
Smartphone Version
Adjectives and Adverbs Flash cards exercises:
Vocabulary - (old version) - Listening - Opposites, Antonyms

Verbs
about 100 verbs, for instance:

EnglishDutch
infinitive
simple
present
singular
simple
present
plural
simple
past
singular
simple
past
plural
perfect
tense
English
example:
to come I come we come I came we came I have come
to come komen ik kom wij komen ik kwam wij kwamen ik ben gekomen click to hear 2 ‑>>
to go gaan ik ga wij gaan ik ging wij gingen ik ben gegaan click to hear 2 ‑>>
to give geven ik geef wij geven ik gaf wij gaven ik heb gegeven click to hear 2 ‑>>
to take nemen ik neem wij nemen ik nam wij namen ik heb genomen click to hear 2 3 ‑>>

Basic Dutch Verbs
~Smartphone Version
Verbs Flashcards Tests: Vocabulary - Listening

Prepositions and other 'Little Words' Pictorial
about 100 Prepositions and other 'little words,' with pictures for the literal meaning, for instance:

[in front of, between, behind: 3 balls in a
  row]
voor click to hear in front of, before - more
achter click to hear behind - more
tussen click to hear between -and- among - more
[3 balls (A,B,C) in a row, another ball (D) next to them]
naast click to hear next to, beside - more
A is voor B en C click to hear A is in front of B and C
B is tussen A en C click to hear B is between A and C
C is achter A en B click to hear C is behind A and B
D is naast A click to hear D is next to A
Dutch 'tussen' is both 'between' (two)
and 'among' (more than two.)

Basic Dutch Prepositions and other 'Little Words' Pictorial
Smartphone Version

Prepositions and other 'Little Words' Lists
Prepositions and other 'little words' Lists, for instance:

no- nee click to hear ‑>> "Heeft U bananen?" / "Nee." click to hear "Do you have bananas?" / "No."
- geen click to hear ‑>> er zijn geen bananen click to hear there are no bananas
er zijn geen bergen in Nederland click to hear there are no mountains in Holland

Prepositions and other 'Little Words Lists: Systematic - Alphabetic

Pictures Dictionaries

Studying my Pictures Dictionary is the most attractive way to learn words and build vocabulary, and for many people words with images are easier to remember:

Example of a 'line' in a Pictures Dictionary page (Beauty and Cleanliness)
[a pump bottle of liquid soap]
zeepflesje click to hear
[some liquid soap on my hand]
vloeibare zeep click to hear
[washing hands]
zeep click to hear
handen wassen click to hear
[a towel]
handdoek click to hear
[terrycloth, the materiasl that towels are made of]
badstof click to hear

The Picture Dictionary pages:
basic food pages: [cauliflower]
vegetables
[grapes]
fruits
[plate of food]
dinners
[loaf of bread]
other food
[Dutch flag]
colors
[plate of food]
meals
- 2 3
[books]
media
[jacket]
clothing
- 2
[a mirror]
beauty
[watch etc.]
necessities
[rainbow]
weather
- 2
[a path]
the outdoors
[cows]
animals
- 2
[tree]
trees
[rose]
flowers
- 2
[park]
parks
[a house]
the house
- 2 3
[a living room]
a livingroom
[lightswitch]
electricity
[flame]
fire
[garden]
yard
- 2
[clothespins]
laundry, cleaning
[grapes]
food
- 2 3 4 5
[pan]
kitchen
- 2 3 4 5 6
[Me riding a bicycle]
bicycles
[brooch]
jewelry
[a 50s radio]
days of old
[a bus]
traffic
- 2
[a building]
buildings
[shopping cart]
shopping
[A collection of tools]
tools
- 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
[chess pieces]
chess
[cards, dice]
cards and dice
The next picture segments are part of other pages and in part recycle material used before, but with another focus.
[street]
street
[desk]
desk
[sofa]
rooms
[park bench]
outdoors
[]
cleanliness
[hand]
a few body parts

Children's Dictionary - Plaatjes- en luisterwoordenboek voor kleine kinderen:
['Learning Words']
woordjes leren click to hear
[little geese]
Pictures and Audio Dictionary for Small Children - page 1
[playground]
page 2
[8 pieces]
Page 3

The Smartphone picture pages have a 1-column, narrow list of useful words:

[house]
first words 1
[hand]
first words 2
[bicycle]
first words 3
[front, back and sides]
prepositions

[purple flower]
colors
[red beets]
vegetables
[pears, one cut open]
fruits
[red cabbage, with bacon, potatoes and sausage]
meals
[a small bowl of porridge]
other foods

Words by Subject

Numbers, Money, Time, Days etc.
- a newer version of 'Time' in Lesson 6
- or the ultimate Time Thesaurus page
Numbers, simple math and dimensions - paragraphs from the 'Lessons:'  start - overview
Smartphone Versions: Numbers - Time

Family Tree - Birthday - The Dutch Family
- see also: Easy Dutch 2

Medical - health, body parts, doctors, ailments
- see also Easy Dutch 2

Chemistry - including the periodic table

Music Vocabulary and Musical Instruments

Words of Religion - also a few prayers and readings from the Bible

Food - one of many food pages (more in the Pictures Dictionary)

Ships - Military - Medieval - Fairy Tales - Mail - Shopping

Emotions with my take on the Plutchik diagrams

Size and Measurements - Location, Direction - Geographical Features

Short Lists

The 'Conversation Subjects' page has some vocabulary of these popular subjects:  Grammar - Sports - News and Politics

From the 'Dutch Food' page: Bread - Milk and Cheese - Nutritional Values - Spices

From other pages: Emergency Preparedness - Make-Up (etc.) - "Ladies' Stuff"

'Easy Dutch' - 'Recognizable' Words

Easy Dutch - You already know these words - Dutch words that look or sound like English words - easier to memorize and the differences can help you better understand Dutch spelling and pronunciation.
  1. Easy Dutch 1: Vocabulary and Pronunciation
    Introduction to the shared roots of English and Dutch, and the changes between them. Words lists organized by pronunciation.
    a few examples: ('long' A)
    (de) slaap click to hear 2
    (de) straat click to hear 'street'
    (de) baard click to hear 2 'beard'
    (de) tafel click to hear 2 3 4 'table'
    maken click to hear 'to make'
    later click to hear 'later'
    [(het)] haar click to hear 'her' // 'hair'
    normaal click to hear 'normal'
    sandalen click to hear 2 'sandals'
    (de) draak click to hear 2 'dragon'
    (de) haring click to hear 'herring'
    (het) wapen click to
  hear weapon
    (de) vader click to hear 'father'
    laatste click to hear 2 'last, final'
    maart click to hear 'March'
    (de) havik click to hear 2 'hawk'
    (de) maan click to hear 'moon'
    (de) klaver click to hear 2 'clover'

  2. Easy Dutch 2: Words by Subject
    Colors - Days, Months, Seasons - Numbers - Time - The Human Body - Family and Relatives - On the Farm - More Animals - Music - Trees
    an example:






    rood
    click to hear
    oranje
    click to hear
    geel
    click to hear
    groen
    click to hear
    blauw
    click to hear
    paars
    click to hear




    zwart
    click to hear
    wit
    click to hear
    bruin
    click to hear
    grijs
    click to hear
    Only black and purple are very different, but an old Dutch word for purple looks more familiar: purper click to hear

  3. Easy Dutch 3: 'Recognizable' Verbs with many simple sentences as examples
    for example:
    to break
    breken
    broke
    brak
    broken
    gebroken click to hear
    to see
    zien
    saw
    zag
    seen
    gezien click to hear
    to seek (search)
    zoeken
    sought
    zocht
    sought
    gezocht click to hear 2
    to bring
    brengen
    brought
    bracht
    brought
    gebracht click to hear

  4. The 'Smartphone Pronunciation Exercise' is a short version on the 'Easy Dutch' and False Friends pages mentioned above and below, three one-column lists, one of identical words with similar meaning, one of identical words with rather different meaning and one list of similar, from English recognizable words with about the same meaning
    a few examples:
    (het) advies click to hear 2 - (de) adviseur click to hear 2 - (het) alfabet click to hear 2 - (de) ambitie click to hear - analoog click to hear 2 - (de) anatomie click to hear - (de) arrogantie click to hear 2 - (de) bakkerij click to hear 2 - bizar click to hear - (de) combinatie click to hear 2 - complicaties click to hear 2 - conservatief click to hear 2 - (de) creatie click to hear 2 - [(de)] crimineel click to hear 2 3 - (het) debuut click to hear 2 - de) democratie click to hear - diagonaal click to hear 2

  5. The 'Easy Dutch' words are 'recognizable' from English and have about the same meaning, but the 'False Frends' ('Faux Amis)  pages have identical words of different meaning, not 'easy Dutch' but amusing:
    False Friends
    a few examples:
    Meaning Dutch English Dutch word, alternates
    bright, intelligent slim click to hear slim slank click to hear slender - also: dun click to hear thin
    or: mager click to hear skinny
    also: klein click to hear 2 small, little
    inflexible star click to hear star (de) ster click to hear distant sun // great performer
    beach (het) strand click to hear strand (de/het) draad click to
      hear thread, string, wire
    stairs (de) trap click to hear trap (de) val click to hear device or trick
    to catch an animal or person
    in de war click to hear
    confused
    war click to hear war (de) oorlog click to hear violent struggle
    between groups
    ~75 'Basic' False Friends  -  ~300 False Friends  -  'Medium' Version

Double Meanings

Many common words have more than one meaning, like for instance English 'much' and 'many' are both veel click to hear 2 3 in Dutch
Te veel mensen met te veel geld click to hear 2 Too many people with too much money

The many-meanings, many-translations are a more serious and difficult problem with prepositions and other 'little words.' Dutch prepositions are often translated into English by several different words, and English prepositions likewise by several different Dutch words.
- 'Advanced' Chapter below

Other Words Lists

A few other useful or entertaining words lists:

Niet, Geen  and Wel
'Heel,' 'Veel'  and 'Erg'
To Be: 'Zijn'  and 'Worden'
on- and -loos negating

Personal Pronouns - smartphone version

Diminutives Verkleinwoordjes - Examples - List

The Strong Verbs List comes with a collection of interesting related words

Another introduction to Adjectives and Adverbs

Units' - 'partitives' - a bar of soap, a head of lettuce - and other common combinations

Kind-of Random Words Collections: 1 - 2 - 3

The [ ] Square Brackets: [With] In Other Words page explains the literal-translations use of square brackets on my website and the Dutch use of seemingly meaningless, superfluous words

Sideways Learning

Next to the formal learning there are also many interesting, informative, entertaining and/or beautiful pages on my website for relaxed reading. On these pages you'll come across many Dutch words (with pronuciation) - a more pleasant way of building vocabulary than the rote learning of words and verbs lists.

The essays, mostly in the lessons, tell about a wide variety of Dutch things, and if you are so inclined, several of the recipes also have Dutch words.
'False Friends' are words that look the same in different languages but don't have the same meaning. They may make you think you know them but they're not what they look like. I hope my list of identical Dutch and English words provides an entertaining if unusual way to get to know some words - short version. Like on the 'Easy Dutch' pages (similar words with about the same meaning) you'll also quickly learn the differences between how letters are pronounced in English and Dutch.
Other 'Sideways Learning' pages:

Plurals

Most Dutch nouns have a plural either in ‑EN or ‑S, for instance:
(de) mens click to hear 2 human being, man / mensen click to hear human beings, men
(de) vogel click to hear 2 bird / vogels click to hear 2 3 4 5 birds
There are good rules for which nouns take ‑S and which take ‑EN.
A few nouns can have both ‑EN and ‑S plurals, sometimes with a different meaning, for instance:
hersenen click to hear 'the brain' (the body part)
hersens click to hear 'brains' (brainpower, intelligence)
(there is no singular 'hersen')
The -EN ending may cause spelling changes, like for instance:
(de) man click to hear 2 man, a male / mannen (man-nen) click to hear 2 men, males
(de) maan click to hear 2 moon / manen (ma-nen) click to hear moons
Nouns ending in a single vowel (except E) get apostrophe‑S plurals, for instance:
(de) auto click to hear car / auto's click to hear cars
(de) paraplu click to hear umbrella / paraplu's click to hear 2 umbrellas
Most nouns ending in ‑F or ‑S 'shift' to ‑V or ‑Z in the plurals, for instance:
(de) golf click to hear 2 wave / golven click to hear 2 waves
(de) doos click to hear box / dozen click to hear 2 boxes
A very small number of common nouns have plurals with a vowel change, for instance:
(de) stad click to hear city, town / steden click to hear 2 cities, towns
Several common nouns have a vowel lengthening in the plurals, for instance:
(de) dag click to hear 2 day / dagen click to hear 2 days
(het) spel click to hear game, play / spelen click to hear games
There are of course some irregular plurals, for instance:
(het) kind click to hear 2 child / kinderen click to hear 2 3 children
(de) hoeveelheid click to hear amount / hoeveelheden click to hear 2 amounts, quantities

Plurals - Flashcards Exercise

Lines and Phrases, Conversation, Dutch Talk

Having come this far in learning vocabulary you must have come across verb use and word order (where do the different kinds of words go in the sentences?) in the examples of usage. Some knowledge of those subjects will make it easier to understand the Dutch phrases and 'conversation templates' (Dutch talk) in this chapter.

You could read: Learning Verbs
and look at 100 Common Verbs Overview
Smartphone Version
60 Common Verbs - complete conjugation and examples of usage
Word Order: short version - longer version
Smartphone version
Differences between Dutch and English Word Order

Dutch Speech, Dutch Talk, The 'Conversation Templates'

The Sayings page has about 250 Dutch standard phrases - probably not for immediate use, but fun to read through and listen to, and maybe you can someday impress your Dutch friends with an appropriate quote ...

The 'Word Order' and Personal Pronouns Examples pages also have many lines, albeit not in a phrase-friendly order.
Next to the complete conjugation of verbs, the Smartphone Verbs Pages have many examples of verbs usage in sentences
The Words by Subject pages you may have seen above often have some examples of usage of the words

Advanced Vocabulary
- Prepositions and other 'Little Words'

Prepositions are a difficult part of learning a foreign language. Prepositions can have several meanings, which may translate into different words in the other language, and verbs may not use the equivalent prepositions. After many years of English, the prepositions are sometimes still a problem for me, I'm not always sure I'm using the right English prepositions. I hope my website will help you with what must be a similar problem for students of Dutch.
You might want to look at the Pictorial again for the literal meaning - Smartphone

(het) voorzetsel click to hear 2 preposition
Ik heb moeite met de voorzetsels click to hear [I have difficulty with ...] The prepositions are difficult for me

For instance, English 'then' is dan click to hear 2 for future events, but toen click to hear 2 3 for events in the past.
Dan ben ik op reis click to hear 2 Then, at that time I [am] will be traveling
Toen was ik op reis click to hear 2 3 I was traveling then, at the time I was traveling
But Dutch dan click to hear 2 can also be translated as English 'than'
Wim is groter dan Henk click to hear Wim is taller than Henk
Henk is kleiner dan Wim click to hear Henk is shorter than Wim

This is a difficult subject. It is of course not meant to scare you away, dear students ('scary Dutch') and send you to teachers who pretend that learning Dutch is easy — it needs hard work. I don't think you can learn, memorize all of this - look for common words and words that look useful to you. With much exposure to good Dutch you'll get a 'feel' for it.

I don't see great differences in the meaning or the situation described but Dutch 'aan' click to hear can be translated in English by many different words, like On, At, To, Of, For, In, From, By, and About. Even closely related languages like Dutch and English don't have straight equivalents for most prepostions. The usage has historically grown. You could say it's an acquired taste.
You might want to have another look at the Basic Dutch Prepositions Pictorial - Smartphone Version

aan click to hear
‑>>

on,
upon
Aan de ene kant ... click to hear 2 3 On the one [side] hand ... Zet je de vuilnisbak aan de straat? click to hear Will you put the garbage can [on the street] on the curb, to the side of the street? Harder werken aan Nederlands leren click to hear Work harder on learning Dutch
on,
not off
Doe 't licht aan click to hear 2 3 Turn on the light Doe laarzen aan click to hear 2 3 Put on boots Wat doe je me aan! click to hear 2 [What are you doing to me!] - You're causing me much grief
to Aan tafel! click to hear 2 [Come] to the table! (food is served) Aan alles komt een eind click to hear 2 There's an end to everything (nothing lasts forever) Laat het aan de vakman over click to hear Leave it to the professionals
at Hij zat aan tafel click to hear He was sitting at the table Aan het eind van de straat gaan we rechtsaf click to hear At the end of the street we'll go right
of een teveel aan informatie click to hear 2 an overabundance, overload of information (het) gebrek aan fantasie click to hear 2 3 lack of imagination
for de behoefte aan rust click to hear 2 3 the need for quiet, rest 't Is niet aan ons om te oordelen click to hear 2 3 4 It's not for (up to) us to judge
in,
into
Geen wolkje aan de lucht click to hear 2 (saying) [Not a cloud in the sky] No problems are expected
from Ze lijden aan geheugenverlies click to hear 2 'They are suffering from memory loss' - usually said when people ignore inconvenient history
by Ik herkende hem aan z'n stem click to hear 2 I recognized him by his voice zich ergeren aan click to hear 2 3 4 to be annoyed by (at, with)
about Je moet er wat aan doen click to hear 2 3 4 You have to do something about it Ik kan er niks aan doen click to hear ['I can't do anything about it']
1. 'I can't help it,'
2. I can't fix it

Introduction to Prepositions and other 'Little Words'
- Aan - Achter - Af - Al - Alleen - Als - Beneden/Boven - Bij - Bijna - Binnen/Buiten - Daar - Dan - Dat - Door - Dus - Eens - Enig - Er - Erg - Even - Geen - Haast - Heel - Het - Ieder/Elk - In - Klaar - Laat - Liever - Maar - Mee/Mede- - Met - Na - Naar - Net - Nog - Nogal - Of - Om - Omdat - Onder/Boven - Ook - Op - Open/Dicht - Over - Sommige - Te - Tegen - Terug - Toch - Toen - Tussen - Uit - Van - Voor - Vroeg - Waar - Wat - Want - Weer - Weg - Wel - Welke - Zo - Zonder - Zulk - more

For Comparison
Translating English 'to' into Dutch

EnglishDutch examples of usage

to
‑>>

te click to hear
‑>>
't Hoeft niet grappig te zijn click to hear 2 3 4 It doesn't have to be funny
naar click to hear
‑>>
Ik ga naar Parijs click to hear 2 I'm going to Paris
voor click to hear 2
‑>>
Twee voor twaalf click to hear two to twelve (11:58) Was dat duidelijk voor je? click to hear 2 Was that clear to you?
aan click to hear
‑>>
Aan de kant! click to hear 2 3 4 To the side! Get out of the way! Jan geeft een boek aan Piet click to hear Jan gives a book to Piet
in click to hear 2
‑>>
Ik ben nog nooit in Rome geweest. click to hear I've never been to Rome. Welkom in mijn nederige stulp click to hear 2 Welcome to my humble dwelling
om ... te click to hear
‑>>
Om te beginnen ... click to hear 2 To start with ..., For starters ... Om 't af te leren click to hear 2 3 'to unlearn it,' 'to break the habit' - said when you take one too many drinks or snacks
tot click to hear
‑>>
28 tot 31 dagen in een maand click to hear
(achtentwintig tot éénendertig) 28 to 31 days in a month van Gouda tot Schoonhoven click to hear 2 from Gouda to Schoonhoven (the area, or the distance)
op click to hear
‑>>
van de ene dag op de andere click to hear 2 3 [from, between one day to [another] the next] - suddenly, unexpectedly Het viel op de grond click to hear 2 3 It fell to the [ground] floor het antwoord op Uw vraag ... click to hear the answer to your question ...
tegen click to hear
‑>>
Hij loog tegen mij click to hear 2 He lied to me Er is geen enkel bezwaar tegen click to hear 2 There is [not any] no objection to it
met click to hear
‑>>
Hij stond te praten met Piet click to hear He was talking [with] to Piet Vergeleken met Rusland ... click to hear 2 Compared to Russia ...
other
‑>>
Neem de tweede weg links en dan de derde weg rechts click to hear take the 2nd road to the left and then the 3rd to the left Van de hand in de tand leven click to hear [Existing from the hand into the tooth] - living hand to mouth
There is only one page about English prepositions

email - Copyright © Marco Schuffelen 2024. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, redistributed, or hotlinked to.
Gij zult niet stelen click to hear 'Thou shalt not steal'