Meet and Greet

Home
Site Map
Mobile

Learning Dutch?
Now Is The Time
Program 3

Pronunciation
Listening
Hear Names

my site

The Small Change of Conversation™
I found the phrase in a book by Henry James. It's a useful concept for students of foreign languages. The pages in this series (and my website in general) will help you speak with Dutch people.
I hope you have the passive vocabulary to understand what people say or write to you - to comment on that, learn the phrases on this page that look useful to you, make them part of your active vocabulary.

Meet and Greet

the: de

2 / het

2 3 - 't

->>
Plurals always take 'de'
a: (een) - 'n

/ one: één

2 3

	Hello		How Are You?

Birthdays and Holidays		Goodbye

Hallo = 'Hi, Hello'

Goedemorgen	Good morning!
Goedemiddag	Good afternoon!
Goedenavond	Good evening!

Hallo	Hi, Hello
Ik heet ...	My name is ..., I'm called ...
Hallo, ik heet Marco	Hi - my name is Marco
Ik ben ...	I am ...
ik ben zevenentwintig 2	I am 27 years old
ik ben één meter tachtig	I am 1 meter 80 cm tall (about 5'11")
Hallo, ik ben Marco	Hi - I am Marco
Mijn naam is ...	My name is ...
Mijn naam is Daniël	My name is Daniel
Wat is Uw naam? 2	What's your name? (polite, formal)
Hoe heet je?	What's your name? (informal)

(de) naam name - (de) voornaam first, given name - (de) achternaam last, family name
Common First and Last Names

Mevrouw 2 3 Ma'm and Mrs.
Meneer ("Mijnheer") Sir and Mr.
Juffrouw 2 3 4 Miss (old-fashioned)

Aangenaam kennis te maken 2 3 Nice meeting you (slightly formal) Kan het zijn dat ik U ken?
['Could it be that I know you?'] - 'Have we met before?' 't Spijt me, ik ben Uw naam vergeten 2 I'm sorry, I forgot your name Hoe heet-ie ook-al-weer? 2 3 4 What's his name again? - I don't remember (Wat een rare naam! 2 3 What a strange name!) Zoals je 't zegt? 2 3 Like you say it? (Asking if a name is written phonetically, according to the spelling rules)

How Are You? + Answers

In Dutch, we don't say something like "How are you?" to about everyone you come across, like in America. I only say it to people I already know.

Hoe gaat 't?	How are you? (informal)
Hoe is 't? 2 3	How are you? (informal)
Hoe is 't ermee?	[How are things?] - How are you (informal)
Hoe maakt U het?	How are you? (polite)

Hoe is het met je moeder?

How is your mother?

alternatives: vader

('father') - baby

('baby') - kindje

2 ('little one') - man

('husband') - vrouw

('wife') - vriendin

('girlfriend') - vriend

('boyfriend') - see also: Family

Heel goed, dank je 2	Great! Very good, Thank you
goed 2	good
't Gaat goed	It's going well
redelijk	reasonably, relatively well
best 2	OK, fine, not bad, carrying on ‑>>
niet zo goed	not so good, not that good
belabberd 2	miserable, pretty bad
Men sleept zich voort 2 3	'Carrying on' (in less-than-ideal circumstances)

Gaat 't wel? 2	Are you OK? (It looks like there is a problem)
't Gaat wel 2 3	I'm OK (but not great)

Birthdays, Holidays

(De) verjaardag

birthday
"Hartelijk gefeliciteerd met je verjaardag!"

[Heartfelt congratulations on your birthday] - Happy birthday (informal) Gefeliciteerd!

2 Congratulations! Van harte gefeliciteerd

2 Congratulations 'from the heart' Hartelijk gefeliciteerd!

Many Congratulations! more Birthday
Do note that Dutch people congratulate on birthdays, there is no Gelukkige verjaardag (or Gelukkige moederdag etc.)
But next to the congratulations you could write or say in a phone call:
Een prettige dag gewenst

Wishing (you) a nice day Een prettige dag nog

Wishing you an enjoyable day (said when that day has already begun) Een gezellige dag gewenst

2 3 Wishing (you) a pleasant day in the company of friends and/or relatives

Prettige Kerstdagen! 2 Merry Christmas! - >> Prettige Kerstdagen en een Gelukkig Nieuwjaar! 2 Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Vrolijk Kerstfeest! 2 quick Merry Christmas! Zalig Kerstfeest! 2 Blessed Christmas! (said by Roman Catholics) Zalig Uiteinde! 2 Happy Year's End! (jocular and among Catholics) Prettige Jaarwisseling! 2 3 [Happy Year's Change] Happy New Year's Eve and New Year's Day Gelukkig Nieuwjaar! Happy New Year! - Resolutions Prettige Paasdagen! Happy Easter! Vrolijk Pasen! Happy Easter Zalig Pasen! 2 3 Blessed Easter! (said by Roman Catholics) Prettige Feestdagen! 2 Happy Holidays! Ik kijk uit naar de kerstdagen I'm looking forward to the Christmas [days] holiday Ik kijk uit naar de feestdagen I'm looking forward to the holidays more Holidays

Tot Ziens Goodbye, See you

For 'goodbye' there is the somewhat informal 'dag'

- which is often stretched out to da-ag

- or even into a long goodbye dag - da-ag - dag hoor - nou, dag hoor

2.
Some people say 'dag'

as a 'Hello' but I think that's confusing.

Tot ziens	See you, Goodbye
Tot zo 2	See you in a moment
Tot straks 2	See you later
Tot vanmiddag	See you this afternoon
Tot vanavond	See you tonight, this evening
Tot morgen 2	See you tomorrow
(Dutch [(de)] morgen 2 can mean both 'morning' and 'tomorrow')
Tot maandag	See you Monday

Prettige avond	Have a nice evening
Prettig weekend	Have a nice weekend
Een prettige dag nog	Have a nice day
Sterkte	[wishing you strength] - Good luck

To friends, you can use the somewhat-slang expressions doei or doe-ie
Originally from Groningen, but now a generally popular 'goodbye' is hoi or even moi .

Letters (and email)

The Small Change of Conversation™
More pages like this:
Talking about Time
Ziek - Talking about Not Feeling Well
Commenting on Statements and Opinions
Why? / Because / The Reason / Cause & Effect
Chance, Luck, Outcomes and Risk
Expectations and What Happens

Weather - Food - Drink - Travel - Sleep - Work - Money - Speaking Dutch

- The Senses - Using Words - 'What I Want' - Likes and Loves - Sayings, Standard Phrases - Fun Things to Say - Life - Change - Time

email - Copyright © Marco Schuffelen 2021. 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