Words, Vocabulary - Spelling and Pronunciation Shorts - Verbs - Word Order - Exercises - 2 - MX Lessons - Programs - Read and Listen to Dutch Find Dutch words: Dutch List - English to Dutch or:   my site

Dutch and English
Some Similarities and Differences

the friends of my father's 2
- a possesive-S like in German:
die Freunde meines Vaters
- in Dutch the noun does not have the possessive-S:
de vrienden van m'n vader

Vocabulary: Words

Cognates and Change
On my old Cognates page you can see and hear how English, Dutch and German words from the same root developed. Some words also shifted meaning.
For instance:

English	Dutch	German	hear
snow	(de) sneeuw	Schnee
weather	(het) weer	Wetter
sweet	zoet	süß
world	(de) wereld	Welt	2
harvest	(de) herfst	Herbst		Dutch and German: 'Autumn, Fall'

'Recognizable' Words and Pronunciation
My 'Easy Dutch' pages have Dutch words that are 'recognizable' from English. The first page is organized around pronunciation, how the words changed in Dutch and in English.
A few examples:

[(de)] mijn 2 'mine' (2) (de) dijk 2 'dike, levee' (het) ei 'egg' (het) eind 2 'end' (de) pijn 'pain' (de) trein 'train'

[(de)] bij 'bee' // 'at, near' vrij 'free' (de) geit 2 'goat' (de) eik 'oak' (de) grijns 'grin' stijf 'stiff, not flexible'

The second page is organized by subject (numbers, colors, body parts, animals etc.)
For instance:

(het) hoofd head (het) oor ear (de) neus nose (de) mond mouth (de) lippen lips (de) tong 2 tongue (de) kin chin (de) vinger finger (de) duim thumb (de) nagel nail

(de) elleboog 2 elbow (de) heup hip (de) dij 2 thigh (de) knie knee (de) enkel ankle (de) hiel heel (de) voet foot (het) bloed blood (het) zweet 2 sweat tranen tears

False Friends
Sometimes not only the pronunciation but also the meaning of words changed. For instance, Dutch smal 2 means 'narrow' and does not have the wider meaning of English small and there are many other words from different fields that look similar or identical but have a different meaning.
A few 'False Friends' examples:

Meaning of Dutch Word		Dutch	English		Dutch Translation   of English Word   synonyms, description, alternate words
well-behaved, harmless braaf / brave 2		brave 2	brave		moedig 2 courageous dapper courageous  de krijger  krijger 2 a brave (Native American warrior)
strange, weird, odd raar / rare 2		rare	rare		zeldzaam 2 uncommon, unusual - also: ongebruikelijk 2 kort gebakken 2 'sautéed shortly,' underdone meat - rood van binnen 2 ('red on the inside')
high winds, gale  de orkaan  ~orkaan 2 hurricane		de storm  storm 2	storm		het onweer  onweer electrical storm, thunderstorm:  de bliksem  bliksem 'lightning' &  de donder  donder 'thunder' erg slecht weer 2 very bad weather - also:  het noodweer  noodweer 2
miracle		het wonder  wonder	wonder		zich afvragen to wonder, to be curious

Pronunciation

Dutch Sounds not Heard in English

CH = G	- nacht (night) - dag 2 (day; goodbye) - gast 2 (guest) - chaos (chaos) - more CH - more G - See also: SCH
EI = IJ	- (het) feit (fact) - (de) trein (train) - (het) ijs (ice) - vrij (free) - more EI and IJ
EU	- neus (nose) - deur 2 (door) - leuk 2 (nice, entertaining) - steun (support) - more EU
UI	- huis 2 (house) - tuin 2 (yard, garden) - vuil (dirt, dirty stuff; dirty) - bui 2 (rainshower) - more UI
UU 2 ('long' U)	- uur (hour) - nu 2 (now) - muziek 2 (music) - uniek 2 (unique, one of a kind) - more 'long' U

Sounds Represented by Different Letters

Vowels and Diphthongs
Just a few examples, English spelling is too irregular for a good comparison of vowels.

Dutch AU and OU are like OU in English OUCH! or OW in English NOW au! (ouch!) - dauw (dew) - (de) klauw 2 (claw) - (de) saus 2 (sauce) - nauw (narrow) - nou (now) - jouw (your) - informal, singular) - oud (old) - koud (cold) - [(het)] zout 2 (salt) - more AU/OU Dutch 'long E' sounds like English A with silent E English 'bake' sounds like Dutch (de) beek (a brook) - English 'vale' sounds like Dutch veel ('much, many') - Dutch (de) keel sounds like 'kale' Dutch 'long I'/IE sounds like English EE zie! (see!) - zien (to see) - diep 2 (deep) - bier (beer) - koffie (coffee) - flexibel 2 (flexible) Dutch IEUW 2 is like EW in English NEW nieuw (new) - nieuws (news) - Dat is goed nieuws. (That's good news.) Dutch OE sounds like English OO (and Dutch OO is like most English OE's) voet 2 (foot) - voedsel (food) - boek (book) - goed 2 (good // well) - bloesem (blossom) - schoen (shoe) - more OE

Consonants
Dutch J is like English Consonant Y. A sound like English J is rarely found in Dutch. - Jan ('John') - ja 5 (yes) - (het) jaar (year) - jakkes! (yikes, yuck!) Dutch NG is always pronounced as NG in English THING, and NEVER as NG in DANGER or LINGER - (het) ding (thing) - (de) ringvinger (ring finger) - honger (hunger) - zanger (singer' - male) - brengen 2 'to bring'

Other Pronunciation Differences

B and D at the End of Words
B at the end of words is pronounced as P (de) krab 2 3 ('crab') / krabben ('crabs' // 'to scratch') more and D at the end of word is pronounced as T (het) bed 2 ('bed') / bedden ('beds') - more

Unlike in English, K before N is pronounced: - (de) knie ('knee') - (de) knokkel ('knuckle') - (de) knaak 2 ('a guilder' - slang) - (de) knoest ('a knot' - in wood) - (de) knauw 2 ('bite, blow') - (de) knecht 2 ('servant') - knarsen 2 ('to gnash') - knikkers 2 ('marbles' - glass) - kneden 2 ('to knead') - more KN

Unlike in English, P before S is pronounced: (de) psychiater ('psychiatrist') - (de) psycholoog 2 ('psychologist') - (het) pseudoniem ('pseudonym, pen name') - (de) psalm 2 ('psalm') - more PS

W before R is not dropped in Dutch, but it is pronounced as Dutch V - wreed / wrede ('cruel') - compare with: - (de) vrede ('peace') - wrijving 2 ('friction') - wrak ('wrecked ship') more VR

Dutch and English R
At the beginning of a word, English R starts with the tongue touching the top of the palate, and then moving down; it's a 'rolling' sound formed in the middle of the mouth.
Dutch R keeps the tongue flat, its tip touching the lower teeth, and it's formed in the back of the mouth.
Compare English and Dutch R's:

English	road	room	ram	fries
Dutch	rood	roem	rem	Fries
meaning	red	fame	a brake	Frisian

- er (~there) - (de) rijst (rice) - (de) borst (breast) - drie (3) - (het) gras (grass) - droog (dry) - (de) broer 2 (brother)

Dutch and English W
Dutch W starts with the top of the lower lip touching the front upper teeth — keep lips relaxed, not rounded as if for a kiss like in English W, and breathe out, not clearly blowing air like for a V or F. The sound is formed in the back of the mouth, and not in the front like English W.
"Wij willen water" ('we want water')
Hear my English 'weed' 2 - Dutch people call it wiet 2 3 - wakker (awake) - (de) waarde (worth, value) - (het) werk (work) - (de) wens (wish) - (de) wind (wind) - (het) woord (word) - (de) wijn 2 (wine) - (het) kwart (quarter, ¼) - (de) zwaan (swan) - (het) zwaard (sword) - the W page

The F/V and S/Z shift
English has 'wife/wives' and 'loaf/loaves,' Dutch has raaf / raven 'raven' (a bird) / 'ravens' and golf / golven 'wave' / 'waves' - but Dutch also has huis / huizen 'house' / 'houses' and vaas / vazen 'vase' / 'vases.' Most Dutch 'root' words ending in a long vowel or diphthong and F or S shift to V or Z in the plural or conjugated and declined forms - more

De  and Het  - 'The' - The Article:

de 2

het 2 3

't

één 2 3

(de) vrouw woman // wife (de) man man, male // husband (het) mes 2 knife (de) lepel spoon

(het) meisje girl (de) jongen boy (het) kind child (de) baby (E) baby

Adjectives and Adverbs

Most Adjectives in Most Positions Get an -E Ending
Only adjectives for singular het-words after een, geen  or no article don't get an -E ending.
Adjectives already ending in single E or -EN don't get -E endings - more
No Special Ending for Adverbs
Adverbs use the root form of the word, in Dutch there is not something like the English -LY ending for adverbs

de mars was lang		the march was long
de lange mars		the long march
een lange mars		a long march
geen lange mars		not a long march
het verhaal was lang		the story was long
het lange verhaal		the long story
een lang verhaal		a long story
geen lang verhaal		not a long story

Spelling Changes
Adding an -E ending (or other -E endings like for instance ‑EN or ‑ER) leads for some words to spelling changes. The rules are quite logical and straightforward.
rood / rode red
wit / witte white
groen / groene green
zwart / zwarte 2 black
Find the Spelling/Pronunciation Rules Yourself by studying and listening to many examples
or read: Short explanation - Longer explanation
other versions: 1 - 2 - smartphone

Comparative and Superlative degrees
Dutch and English both have -ER and -ST endings for the comparative and superlative degrees, and next to that the in Dutch less common meer ('more') and meest ('most')
klein / kleiner / kleinst 2 small, little / smaller / smallest
mooi / mooier / mooist beautiful/more beautiful/most beautiful
Comparative and Superlative degrees - more

Plurals are Different

unstressed E'

Placeholders: Translating 'it,' 'that' and 'what'

'It,' 'that' and 'what' as placeholders are usually translated as 'het,' 2 3 (or 't ) - 'dat' and 'wat' - but when there's a preposition in play, Dutch says 'er,' 'it,' - 'daar' 'that' and 'waar' 'what'
Ik zie het I see it ('it' - the thing mentioned before) Ik denk er vaak aan 2 3 I often think of it Translating Placeholders 'it,' 'that' and 'what'

Verbs

zoeken to search, seek	-	zocht sought	-	gezocht  sought	2
denken to think	-	dacht thought	-	gedacht thought

A verb example: denken to think

simple present tense
denken		to think
ik denk		I think		ik ('I')
jij denkt		you think		jij / je ('you' - singular informal)
hij denkt		he thinks		hij ('he') - zij / ze ('she') - het / 't ('it')
wij denken		we think		wij / we ('we')
jullie denken		you think		jullie ('you, you guys, y'all' - plural informal)
zij denken		they think		zij / ze ('they')
U denkt		you think		U ('you' - formal, polite)
		more denken - more personal pronouns

simple past tense
(denken)		to think
ik dacht		I was thinking
jij dacht		you were thinking
hij dacht		he was thinking
wij dachten		we were thinking
jullie dachten		y'all were thinking
zij dachten		they were thinking
U dacht		you were thinking
2

ik heb gedacht	I have thought
ik had gedacht 2	I had thought

hebben

ik heb gewacht	I have waited
ik ben gegaan	I have gone
(De sleutel is weg 2	'The key is gone, lost')
(Als ik er niet meer ben ... 2 3	When I'm no longer around, when I'm gone, dead ...)

worden 2

bij

Het huis wordt geverfd The house is painted, The house is being painted (right this moment, now) Het huis is geverfd geworden The house was painted

Introduction to Verbs - Another Introduction to Verbs
Learn Verbs

Word Order

Secondary verbs (past participles, infinitives) at the end of the line:

Jan heeft Piet een boek gegeven	Jan has given Piet a book
Ik heb een paar jaar pianoles gehad	I have had piano lessons for a [couple of] few years
Het brood is niet goed gerezen 2	The bread didn't rise properly
't Had erger kunnen zijn 2	It could have been worse

The verb comes before the subject in Dutch questions
- for all verbs. In English, that's only for a few verbs. In English, questions are often with 'to do,' but Dutch doesn't have something like that.

"Begrijp je 't?" 2 3 4	'Do you understand it?'
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 hoofdpijn? 2	Do you have a headache?
Heb je een auto?	Do you have a car?
Is het te laat?	Is it too late?

'Do Not'
English also often uses 'to do' in negative statements — 'do not, did not' — where Dutch just uses 'niet' 2 ('not')

Ik weet 't niet.	I don't know [it].
We hebben 't niet gedaan.	We did not do it.

'geen' ('no')

Word Order After a Statement of Time, Place, or a Condition After a statement of time, place, or a condition (which can be a word or a sub-sentence) the working verb comes before the subject:

In Nederland is het vaak bewolkt.	In Holland, it's often overcast.
compare: Het is vaak bewolkt in Nederland.	It's often overcast in Holland.
Vanmorgen scheen de zon.	This morning, the sun was shining.
Om elf uur viel ik in slaap. 2	At eleven I fell asleep.
In 1813 werd Nederland een koninkrijk.	In 1813 Holland became a kingdom.
Aan het eind van de straat gaan we rechtsaf.	At the end of the street we'll [go right] make a right turn.
Toen de oorlog begon was m'n vader tweeëndertig.	When the war started, my Dad was 32.
Als het regent wordt de wedstrijd afgelast.	If it rains, the game will be canceled

You can find some strange word order in Dutch sub-sentences. If I'm not mistaken grammarians call these sub-sentences 'subordinate clauses' - the Dutch word is (de) bijzin 2 - 'secondary sentence.' This kind of sub-sentence cannot stand on its own, does not appear as an independent sentence.
I'll just give some examples, read more about it in the linked pages:
't regent hard 2 it's raining hard als 't hard regent blijf ik thuis 2 if it's raining hard I'll stay home de zon ging onder 2 3 4 the sun went down toen de zon onderging begon de muziek when the sun went down the music started er is niet genoeg tijd there is not enough time Ze zeggen dat er niet genoeg tijd is They say that there's not enough time Het heeft vannacht geregend 2 It [has rained] did rain last night Ik ben blij dat het vannacht geregend heeft 2 I'm glad that it rained last night Complications in the 'Subordinate Clause' and Splitting Verbs
Differences in Dutch and English Word Order

Over the years, some actors have asked me to record English with a Dutch accent for characters in plays and movies. There are some general 'rules:' Dutch Accent for the Stage and you can hear some examples: Dutch people (me) speaking English
In books I've seen characters with a Dutch background speaking randomly garbled English - it would be much nicer for Dutch readers and also for the general public to see English words in the Dutch word order Writing for Dutch Characters

Advanced

In combinations with a certain group verbs in the perfect tenses infinitives are used instead of past participles:
Ik heb de vogels gehoord 2 3 I've heard the birds Ik heb de vogels horen fluiten 2 3 I've heard the birds [whistle] sing Modal Verbs - short version

Prepositions - words often have more than one meaning, which may not be shared by its translations, for instance Dutch over 2 can be translated as 'in,'  'past,'  'across, over,'  'about,'  'left, remaining,'  and other words, more Dutch over — while English 'to' can variously be translated as te - naar - voor 2 - aan - in 2 - om ... te - tot - op - tegen - met and other words - more English 'to'
Disambiguation: Prepositions and other 'Little Words'

Frederick Roberts of Lincoln, England suggested the page

email - Copyright © Marco Schuffelen 2023-2024. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, redistributed, or hotlinked to.
Gij zult niet stelen 'Thou shalt not steal'