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Dutch Phrases - A Letters and Conversations Template (Suggestions)

This page is in flux. Several of the original paragraphs have already been upgraded and became separate pages, like:
Weather - Food and Drink - Travel - Sleep - Jobs and Lines of Work - The Senses - Health and Medical - Sayings and Idiom
See also: Basic Phrases - 2 - 3 and Speaking Dutch, Speaking about Dutch
And see also: Conversation Words

Letter Start See also: Mail Beste Jan, Lieve Tine, Hallo Jan, Dear Jan, Dear Tine, Hello Jan,	Letter End Groet, Veel groeten, 2 Met vriendelijke groet, Hoogachtend, 2 Greeting, (regards) Many greetings, (regards) 'With a friendly greeting, (regards') 'Yours Truly,' (very formal - rarely spoken. Can you imagine a formal audio letter?)
In general, I write 'Beste' but to my mother, sisters or wife I would write 'Lieve.' People younger than me may write 'Hallo.' Formal letters should start with 'Geachte Heer,' or 'Geachte Mevrouw,' or 'Mijne Heren, Dames,' (search the Internet for 'titulatuur')

Opening Remarks	see also: Birthday
Bedankt voor je brief 2	Thank you for your letter.
Hoe is 't ermee?	How are you?
Met mij gaat 't goed.	I'm fine.
Maak je geen zorgen over mij.	Don't worry about me.
Hoe is het met je moeder? alternatives:	How is your mother? vader ('father') - baby ('baby') - kindje 2 ('little one') man ('husband') - vrouw ('wife') - see also: Family vriendin ('girlfriend') - vriend ('boyfriend')
Heb je 't leuk gehad?	Did you have a good time?
Heb je wat leuks gedaan in het weekend?	Did you do something nice in the weekend?
Hoe doen je kinderen 't op school?	How are your kids doing at school?
Hoe is 't op school? 2	How are things at school? (in Dutch, 'school' is only elementary or secondary school, not college or university.)
Hoe gaat 't met je studie?	How is school? (literally: your studies.)
Ik ben blij dat je voor het examen geslaagd bent. 2	I'm glad you passed the test.
Ik ben blij dat het goed is afgelopen.	I'm glad it came to a good end (ended well.)
Ik word droevig van de toestand in de wereld. 2	I'm saddened by the state of the world.
Phatic Remarks and Questions
Heb je goed geslapen? 2 Heb je lekker geslapen? 2	Did you sleep well?
Heb je 't koud? 2 3	Are you cold?
Wat heb je gegeten? 2	What have you eaten? What did you have for lunch/dinner?
Waar heb je gegeten? 2	Where have you eaten? Where did you go to eat?
Heb je lekker gegeten?	Did you enjoy your meal(s)?
Was 't lekker? 2	Was it good? Did you enjoy it?
Dat is een goede vraag. 2 3	That's a good question.
Dat is een ander verhaal. 2	That's another story.
Weather	chapter became separate page: Weather 2 (more than 125 lines)
Travel	chapter became separate page: Talking about Travel
Work	chapter became separate page: Jobs and Lines of Work
Health	moved to: Medical
Opinion	see also: Conversation Subjects
Het boeide me niet.	[It did not grab my attention] It was not really interesting.
Ik vind er niks aan	It's not interesting, I don't care for it
Dat geloof ik niet!	I don't think that's true!
Wat denk jij d'r van? 2	What do you think [of it]?
Vertel de waarheid! 2	Speak the truth! Tell us what really happened!
Ik ben van gedachten veranderd.	I changed my mind.
Ik heb me bedacht 2 3	I changed my mind, I'm of another opinion now - or: I have other plans now
Ik ben ervan teruggekomen 2 3	[I have come back on it] - I've changed my mind about it
Ik zag op het nieuws dat er ...	I saw on the news that ...
't Is maar een verhaaltje.	It's only a story.
tegen beter weten in 2 3	against (my, his) better judgement
zonder nadenken 2	unthinkingly, without thinking about it
Colloquial
Gek hè. 2	Funny, isn't it? (literally: crazy, weird)
Nou en?	[Now and?] So what?
Echt waar? 2	Really?
Wat een onzin! 2	Such nonsense!
Wat een verschil! 2 3	What a difference!
Dat is interessant. 2 (3)	That's interesting. Fascinating!
Maar gaat U verder. 2 3	But - please continue.
Dat zie je zo. 2	You notice that right away.
Dat was te verwachten. 2	That was to be expected, no surprises here.
't Verbaast me niks. 2	I am not surprised.
Dat is ook goed 2	That's also OK, that's all right too
Dat is een goed idee	That's a good idea
Wat is er aan de hand? 2 Er is wat aan de hand 2	What's going on? 'There's something [unusual, fishy] going on'
Ga je gang.	Go ahead, do it your way.
Ben je boos?	Are you angry?
Wat vervelend!	What a bore! It sucks. (literally: How unpleasant, annoying.)
Als 't moet 2	'if it has to be, if there is no other way'
Moet je niet doen!	Not a good idea to do that!
Moet kunnen! 2	It should be possible, you should be allowed to do that
Ga je mee?	Are you coming (with us)?
Ga zitten 2	Have a seat
Wat kan ik voor U doen? 2	(What can I do for you?) Can I help you?
Te veel gedoe	Too much hassle
Dat is te veel gedoe 2	That's too much hassle
Wat jammer!	It's a pity.
Misschien valt 't mee 2	'Maybe it will not be as bad as we're afraid of'
't Had erger kunnen zijn.	It could have been worse.
Schiet op! 2	'Hurry up, don't be slow'
Ik weet 't niet.	I don't know [it.]
Dat weet ik niet. 2	I don't know about that.
Dat wist ik niet. 2	I didn't know that.
Daar weet ik niks van. 2	I [know nothing] don't know anything about it
Hij weet waar-(d)ie het over heeft ( 2)	He knows what he's talking about, he knows his stuff. (Sometimes a D is added to 'ie' for easier pronunciation
Hij heeft er niet lang over nagedacht 2	'He didn't think long about it'
En jij gelooft dat? 2 En gij geleuft dat? 2 3	'And you believe that is true?' Try a kind-of Limburg accent version:
Al zeg ik 't zelf. 2 3	If I may say so (myself.)
Als ik dat vragen mag.	If I may ask [that.]
't Gaat me niet aan.	It's none of my business.
't Gaat je niets aan.	It's none of your business.
't Geeft niet. 2 3	It doesn't matter, it's OK, don't worry about it.
't Maakt me niet uit. 2	It doesn't matter to me.
't Kan me niet schelen. 2	I don't care.
't Kan me geen zier schelen. 2 3	I don't care at all.
Er is niks te lachen 2 3	[There is nothing to laugh about.] It's not funny.
Ik moet er niet aan denken. 2	I'd rather not think about it, I'm afraid to consider.
Ik vind het heel erg	I think it's very bad, I'm upset
Vertel eens wat leuks. 2	Tell (us, me) something nice.
Wie weet er nog een mop?	Anyone has a joke to tell?
Iets om naar uit te kijken. 2	Something to look forward to.
Eerlijk zullen we alles delen 2 Eerlijk delen!	We'll share everything [honestly] fairly between us telling children to share something fairly between them
Er moet nog hard gewerkt. ('worden' is dropped from the line)	It still needs a lot of work
Het is bewerkelijk.	It is a lot of work.
Dan hoor je het ook eens van een ander 2	~ You'll hear it from someone else, then.
Heb je Piet gekend? Heb je Piet nog gekend?	Have you known Piet? Have you still known Piet? (Piet has died or moved away)
Wat is er van hem geworden? 2	What has become of him?
Wat is er met Jan? 2 3	What is with Jan? (There is something going on, he's not his usual self)
Statement Modifiers	Fine-tuning your comments
(het) commentaar 2	comment
volgens mij ...	[According to me ...] I think ...
als je goed kijkt ... 2	upon closer inspection, when you look closely ...
bij nader inzien ...	upon closer (inspection?) reflection, now that I think about it ...
Het betekent dat ... 2	It means that ...
min of meer	more or less
Een klein beetje 2 Een heel klein beetje 2	a little bit, a small amount a very small amount
trouwens	by the way ...
eigenlijk 2 (3)	actually
ongetwijfeld zonder twijfel	undoubtedly without doubt
waarschijnlijk 2	probably
vermoedelijk	supposed(ly), supposed, presumptive
blijkbaar	apparently
schijnbaar	seeming, seemingly
geloofwaardig	[belief-worthy] credible
vanzelfsprekend	self-evident
natuurlijk	[naturally] of course
enzovoort 2	etcetera - think of: 'and so forth'
't zou kunnen 2	it could be, it's possible
General	See also: New Year's Resolutions
Leer de regels!	Learn the rules.
Leer me de regels.	Teach me the rules.
Conversation Problems	chapter became separate page: Speaking Dutch, Speaking about Dutch
Time	See also: Lesson 6: Time or the Time Thesaurus
Hoe laat is het? 2	What's the time? What time is it?
Weet jij hoe laat het is? 2	Do you know what time it is?
Heb je nog even tijd?	Do you still have a moment?
't Wordt laat. 2	It's getting late.
Er is nooit genoeg tijd.	There's never enough time.
Op tijd naar bed	Go to bed in time
't Komt slecht uit.	It's not a good time.
Ik wil er nog een nachtje over slapen. 2	I'd like to sleep on it, take a decision tomorrow.
Als 't mee zit is het morgen klaar	If we're lucky, if things work out well, it will be ready tomorrow
Als 't tegen zit kan 't nog wel een week duren	If we're unlucky, if things don't work out, it may take a week
Waar blijft de tijd? 2 3	Where does the time go?
Food and Drinks	chapter became separate page: Conversations: Eating and Drinking, Food Phrases (about 200 lines)
Music	see also: Music Vocabulary - Musicians
Vorige week vrijdag was er een concert van ...	Last week Friday there was a concert by ...
Hij speelde Schubert en Chopin.	He played Schubert and Chopin.
Ik luister nog vaak naar ... 2	I still (often) listen to ...
De CD ... van ... draai ik ook nog vaak.	I still often play the CD ... by ...
Een paar maanden geleden zijn we naar een optreden van ... geweest. 2	A few months ago we were at a ... concert.
M'n zoon vond 't erg leuk.	My son really enjoyed it.
Movies	see also: Media
Vanavond gaan we naar de bioscoop.	Tonight we'll go to the cinema.
Zullen we naar de film gaan? 2	Shall we go see a movie?
Gisteren heb ik ... weer eens gezien.	Yesterday I've seen ... again.
Het is een fantastische film.	It's a great movie.
't Was de derde keer dat ik 'm zag.	It was the third time I saw it.
Ik vond het nog steeds erg goed.	I still thought it was great.
De film ... van ... vind ik ook erg goed.	I also really like the movie ... by ... (literally: I think it's very good.)
Vorige week hebben we ... gezien.	Last week we've seen ...
Ik vond er niet veel aan.	I did not like it. (I didn't care for it.)
Books
Ik heb een boek gekocht 2	I have bought a book
Heb je de laatste tijd nog een goed boek gelezen?	Have you read a good book lately?
Ik heb laatst 'Startide Rising' nog eens gelezen.	Recently I've read ... again.
't Is een van m'n favoriete Science-Fictionboeken.	It's one of my favorite Science Fiction books. >>
Ik heb 't met veel plezier gelezen. 2	I really enjoyed reading it. (literally: I read it with great pleasure.)
Het boek gaat over dolfijnen.	The book is about dolphins.
Ik wil weten hoe 't afloopt. 2	I want to know [how it ends] the ending.
't Enige boek dat dit goed beschrijft. 2 3	The only book that describes (deals with) this well.
't Deed me denken aan een boek ... 2	It made me think of a book ...
Ik heb 't boek uit	I finished (reading) the book
Laments
Er is nog zò veel te doen! 2 3 4	There is still soooo much to do
Er gaat altijd zoveel mis! 2	So many things go wrong, all the time!
Er is elke dag weer te weinig tijd	Every day again, [too little] not enough time
Het blijft tobben.	It's never easy, things never go entirely right.
Ik word er doodmoe van. 2 Ik word er misselijk van 2	I'm getting so tired of it. It makes me sick. (figuratively)
Al die moeite voor niks!	All that [effort] trouble wasted! (literally: for nothing)
Er is altijd wel iets. D'r is ook altijd wat.	There's always something (bad, unexpected, complicating things.)
Ik word geleefd Ik heb geen moment voor mezelf 2 3	[I am being lived] I have no life of my own I don't have any time to myself
Ik kan er niet meer tegen 2 3	I can't stand it anymore
't Heeft toch geen enkele zin 2 3 't Maakt toch allemaal niks uit 2	It's no use, nothing can be done, it's hopeless It doesn't make any difference, it's no use
Ik word er gek van Ik erger me dood 2 3 't Irriteert me mateloos 2 3	It's driving me nuts I'm annoyed to no end I'm very irritated by it, major annoyance
't Had zoveel mooier kunnen zijn	It could have been so much [more beautiful] nicer
Alles blijft veranderen.	Everything keeps changing. (Not necessarily a lament. Some change is good.)
Ik kan het niet meer bijhouden. 2	I can't keep up with it.
Waaraan heb ik dit verdiend? 2 Waaraan heb ik dit te danken? 2	What did I do to deserve this? (misfortune, disability)
Waarom moet 't zo moeilijk zijn? 2	Why [should] is it so difficult?
Waarom kan 't niet gemakkelijk zijn? 2	Why [can't it be] isn't it easy?
Waar is de dankbaarheid? 2 3	Where is the gratitude?

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More Phrases: The Most Basic Phrases - Weather - Food and Drink - Travel - Sleep - Fun Things to Say
- Jobs and Lines of Work - The Senses - Speaking Dutch, Speaking about Dutch - Sayings and Idiom
Further Study: Basic Dutch Words - Pictures Dictionary - Easy Dutch - Lessons - Pronunciation - Listening - Reading - Grammar

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Don't be a dief (thief) / dievegge (female thief) - diefstal (theft) - stelen (to steal) - heler (dealer in stolen goods) - hear Dutch - 2