Dutch Tutorial Basic Phrases, Vocabulary and Grammar

Note: Before heading to the tutorial I would Strictly recommend to download any
online dictionary which could easily translate the difficult Dutch words provided below so that you can understand them easily and learn quickly, if you have one so thats good if not then Ill personally prefer BabelFish dictionary which is free so you dont need to buy it. The download link is provided below:

Download BabelFish Translator

1. Basic Phrases
Goedemorgen khoo-duh-mawr-ghuh Good Morning Goedenacht khoo-duh-nahkht Good Night Tot straks toht straks See you later (in the same day) Dank u wel / Dank je wel dahnk-ew-vehl / dahnkyuh-vehl Thank you Sorry saw-ree I'm sorry / Excuse me Hoe gaat het met u? hoo khaht ut meht ew How are you? (formal) Goedemiddag khoo-duh-mih-dahkh Good Day Hoi / Hallo / Daag / Doei hoy / hah-loh / dahk / dooee Hi / Bye Tot zo toht zoh See you soon Goedenavond khoo-duh-nah-fohnt Good Evening Tot ziens toht zeens Goodbye Alstublieft / Alsjeblieft ahlst-ew-bleeft / ahl-shuhbleeft Please Graag gedaan khrahkh khuh-dahn You're welcome (don't mention it) Ja / Nee yah / nay Yes / No Goed / Heel goed khoot / hayl khoot Fine / Very well

Hartelijk bedankt hahr-tuh-lik buh-dahnkt Thank you very much Pardon, wat zei u? pahr-dohn, vat zay ew Pardon me (didn't understand) Hoe gaat het? hoo khaht ut How are you? (informal)

Het gaat / Slecht uht khaht / slehkht So so / Bad Hoe heet u? hoo hayt ew What's your name? (formal)

Ik ben moe / ziek ik ben moo / zeek I'm tired / sick. Hoe heet je? hoo hayt yuh What's your name? (informal) Aangenaam (kennis te maken) ahn-guh-nahm (ken-nis tuh mah-kuh) Nice to meet you. Waar kom je vandaan? vahr kawn yuh fun-dahn Where are you from? (informal) Waar woon je? vahr vohn yuh Where do you live? (informal) Hoe oud ben je? hoo owt ben yuh How old are you? (informal) Spreek je Engels? sprayk yuh ehng-uhls Do you speak English? (informal) Ik begrijp het [niet.] ik buh-khraip ut neet I [don't] understand. Ik wil graag... ik vil khrahk I'd like...

Ik heb honger / dorst ik heb hohng-ur / dohrst I'm hungry / thirsty. Ik heet... ik hayt... My name is (I'm called)... meneer / mevrouw / mejuffrouw muh-nayr / muh-frow / muh-yuh-frow Mister / Misses / Miss Ik kom uit Nederland. ik kawm owt nay-der-lant I am from the Netherlands.

Ik ben... ik ben I am...

Waar komt u vandaan? vahr kawmt ew fun-dahn Where are you from? (formal) Waar woont u? vahr vohnt ew Where do you live? (formal) Hoe oud bent u? hoo owt bent ew How old are you? (formal) Spreekt u Nederlands? spraykt ew nay-der-lahnds Do you speak Dutch? (formal) Ik spreek niet zo goed... ik sprayk neet zoh khood I don't speak ... very well. Wat kost het? vat kohst ut How much is it?

Ik woon in Amerika. ik vohn in ah-meh-ree-kah I live in America.

Ik ben ... jaar (oud). ik ben ... yahr owt I am ____ years old.

Ik spreek [geen]... ik sprayk [khayn] I [don't] speak... Ik weet het [niet.] ik vayt ut [neet] I [don't] know. Proost! prohst Cheers!

Veel plezier! fayl pleh-zeer Have fun! Dat is geweldig / vreselijk! dat is khuh-vehl-duhkh / fray-zuh-likh That is great / terrible! Wat vreemd! vaht fraymt How funny / odd!

Veel succes! fayl suk-sehs Good luck!

Wees voorzichtig! vays fohr-zikh-tikh Be careful!

Ik hou van je. ik how fahn yuh I love you. (informal)

Ik hou van jullie. ik how fahn juh-lee I love you (all).

Wat jammer! vaht yah-mer What a pity!

Wat is dit / dat? vut iss dit / dut What is this / that?

Note: In the pronunciations, kh denotes a uvular guttural sound. Meneer, mevrouw and mejuffrouw are all written with a small letter when they precede a name. When typing, de Heer is used instead of meneer and Dhr. is used on envelopes. Mevrouw and mejuffrouw are abbreviated as Mevr. and Mej. In addition, Mw. can be used as an equivalent of the English Ms.

2. Pronunciation
Dutch letters ch sch g w v r j sj tj aa ee ie oo oe eu English sound guttural sound, made at back of mouth s followed by guttural ch sound same as ch, guttural sound from back of mouth like v before r, otherwise like w but with bottom lip against top teeth like v, but sometimes closer to f either rolled or guttural y as in yes sh as in ship ch as in chip ah as in father, but longer ay as in hail, but shorter ee as in neat, but shorter oh as in boat oo as in pool, but shorter

uu a e i o u ei / ij aai oei ooi ou / au eeuw ieuw uw ui

ur as in hurt, but with lips rounded ew, but with lips rounded (sound not found in English) ah as in father, but shorter eh as in bed ih as in bit aw as in paw, with lips rounded ir as in dirt, but very short between the sounds in "light" and "late" combination of aa and ie combination of oe and ie combination of oo and ie like ow, as in house combination of ee and oe combination of ie and oe combination of uu and oe combination of a and uu

The consonants s, f, h, b, d, z, l, m, n, and ng are pronounced the same way in Dutch as in English. P, t, and k are pronounced without the puff of air (called aspiration.) Sometimes the g is pronounced like zh in words borrowed from French. One last vowel sound is found in various Dutch spellings. It is pronounced like uh, as in along or sofa. For example, this sound is found in de (the), een (a), aardig (nice), and vriendelijk (kind).

3. Alphabet a ah b bay c say d day e ay f

eff

j k l

yay kah ell

s t

ess tay

u ew
fay

m emm v n o
enn oh pay kew air

w vay x y z
eeks ee-grek zett

g khay p h hah i
ee

q r

4. Nouns and Gender

All nouns have a gender in Dutch, either common (de words) or neuter (het words). It is hard to guess which gender a noun is, so it is best to memorize the genders when memorizing vocabulary. However, two-thirds of Dutch words are common gender (because the common gender has combined the former feminine and masculine genders.) So it may be easier to memorize which nouns are neuter, and then assign common gender to the rest. All diminutives (words ending in -je) and infinitives used as nouns, as well as colors, metals, compass directions, and all words that end in -um, -aat, -sel, -isme are neuter. Most nouns beginning with ge- and ending with -te are neuter, as are most nouns beginning with ge-, be-, and ver-. Common noun endings include: -aar, -ent, -er, -es, -eur, -heid, -ij, -ing, -teit, -tie.

5. Articles and Demonstratives

common neuter de het de een

Singular "the" Plural "the" Indefinite "a" or "an"

common neuter Singular this deze that die Plural these those dit dat deze die

The definite article is used more in Dutch than in English. It is always used before the names of the seasons, street names and in an abstract sense. There are some idioms that should be memorized, however: in het Nederlands (in Dutch), in de stad (in town), in het zwart (in black), met de auto (by car), met de tijd (in/with time); op tafel (on the table), in zee (in the sea), op kantoor (at the office), in bad (in the bath), op straat (in the street).

6. Subject Pronouns

Subject Pronouns ik jij (je) / u hij zij (ze) het ik yay / ew hay zay ut I you (singular informal / sing. and plural formal) he she it wij (we) jullie vay yewlee we you (plural informal)

zij (ze)

zay

they

Unstressed forms (shortened forms used in the spoken language) are in the parentheses. There are also unstressed forms of ik ('k), hij (ie) and het ('t) but these are not written.

7. To Be and to Have
Present tense of zijn - to be (zayn) ik ben we are wij zijn yay / ew bent you are they are

I am You are He, she, it is I have

ik ben jij / u bent

vay zayn

hij, zij, het is hay, zay, ut is

jullie zijn yew-lee zayn zay zayn zij zijn vay heh-buh

ik heb

Present tense of hebben - to have (heh-buh) ik heb we have wij hebben yay / ew hebt hay, zay, ut hayft

You have jij / u hebt He, she, it hij, zij, het is heeft I was You were He, she, it was I had You had He, she, it had ik was jij / u was hij, zij, het was

you have jullie hebben yew-lee heh-buh they zay heh-buh zij hebben have vay vah-ruh

Past tense of zijn - to be (zayn) ik vas we were wij waren yay / ew vas hay, zay, ut vas you were

jullie waren yew-lee vah-ruh zay vah-ruh

they were zij waren

Past tense of hebben - to have (heh-buh) ik hahd we had ik had wij hadden vay hah-duh yay / ew hahd you had jullie hadden yew-lee hah-duh jij / u had hij, zij, het had hay, zay, ut hahd they had zij hadden zay hah-duh

Note: You must use the subject pronouns; however, I will leave them out of future conjugations. Expressions with zijn and hebben: Het/dat is jammer - It's/that's a pity jarig zijn - to have a birthday kwijt zijn - to have lost op het punt staan - to be about to van plan zijn - to intend voor elkaar zijn - to be in order honger / dorst hebben - to be hungry / thirsty gelijk hebben - to be right haast hebben - to be in a hurry het hebben over - to talk about het druk hebben - to be busy het koud hebben / warm - to be cold / warm last hebben van - to be bothered by nodig hebben - to need slaap hebben - to be sleepy zin hebben in - to feel like

8. Useful Words
soms sometimes altijd always nooit never vaak, often dikwijls usually gewoonlijk now nu and en but maar or of very zeer, heel here hier there daar also ook much veel another een ander already al perhaps misschien

9. Question Words
Who What Why When How Wie Wat Waarom Wanneer Hoe vee vaht Where Where to Waar vahr

Waar... naartoe vahr nahr-too Waar... vandaan Welk(e) vahr vun-dahn velk(-uh) neet vahr

vah-rohm Where from vah-nayr hoo Which

Isn't it?, etc. Niet waar?

Welk is used before het words, and welke is used before de words and plural nouns. Niet waar is a tag question, and is added to the end of statements to make them questions. It can translate several ways into English: isn't it?, doesn't it?, isn't he?, doesn't he?, isn't she?, doesn't she?, aren't we?, don't we?, aren't they?, don't they?, aren't you?, don't you?, right?, yes?, etc.

10. Numbers
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 nul een twee drie vier vijf zes zeven acht negen tien elf twaalf dertien veertien vijftien zestien zeventien nuhl ayn tvay dree feer faif zehs zay-fuh akht nay-khuh teen ehlf tvahlf dayr-teen fayr-teen faif-teen zehs-teen zay-fuh-teen

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th 13th 14th 15th 16th 17th

eerste tweede drede vierde vijfde zesde zevende achtste negende tiende elfde twaalfde dertiende veertiende vijftiende zestiende zeventiende

18 19 20 21 22 23 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 101 110 200 1,000 1,001

achttien negentien twintig eenentwintig tweentwintig drientwintig dertig veertig vijftig zestig zeventig tachtig negentig honderd honderd en een honderd tien tweehonderd duizend duizend en een

ahkh-teen nay-khuh-teen tvin-tuhkh ayn-ehn-tvin-tukh tvay-ehn-tvin-tukh dree-ehn-tvin-tukh dayr-tukh fayr-tukh faif-tukh zes-tukh zay-fun-tukh takh-tukh nay-guhn-tukh hohn-dert hohn-dert en un hohn-dert teen tvay-hohn-dert dow-zuhnt dow-zent meel-yoon meel-yart

18th 19th 20th 21st 22nd 23rd 30th 40th 50th 60th 70th 80th 90th 100th 101st 110th 200th 1,000th 1,001st

achttiende negentiende twintigste eenentwintigste tweentwintigste drieentwintigste dertigste veertigste vijftigste zestigste zeventigste tachtigste negentigste honderdste honderd en eerste honderd tiende tweehonderdste duizendste duizend en eerste

million een miljoen billion een miljard

millionth miljoenste billionth miljardste

Note: In the word for twenty-two, the is necessary because there are three of the same vowels in a row, and the accent mark shows that the third one needs to be pronounced separately. The use of commas and decimals is reversed in Dutch. Also note that I speak American English, so billion means 1,000,000,000 and not the British counterpart.

11. Days of the Week

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday maandag dinsdag woensdag donderdag vrijdag mahn-dahkh dins-dahkh voons-dahkh dohn-der-dahkh frai-dahkh

Saturday Sunday day morning afternoon evening night today tomorrow tonight yesterday last night day after tomorrow day before yesterday week last week weekend daily weekly

zaterdag zondag dag ochtend middag avond nacht vandaag morgen deze nacht gisteren (de) afgelopen nacht overmorgen eergisteren week afgelopen week weekend dagelijks wekelijks

zah-ter-dahkh zohn-dahkh dahkh awkh-tehnt mih-dahkh ah-fohnt nahkht fahn-dahkh mawr-khuh khih-stuh-ruh oh-fer-mawr-khuh ayr-khih-stuh-ruh

12. Months of the Year

January February March April May June July August October januari februari maart april mei juni juli augustus oktober yah-noo-ah-ree fay-broo-ah-ree mahrt ah-pril mai yoo-nee yoo-lee ow-khus-tus sep-tehm-ber awk-toh-ber

September september

November December month year last year monthly yearly

november december maand jaar het afgelopen jaar maandelijks jaarlijks

noh-fehm-ber day-sehm-ber mahnt yahr mahn-duh-luks yahr-luks

13. Seasons
Winter Spring Summer Autumn de winter de lente / het voorjaar de zomer de herfst / het najaar

14. Directions
Compass/Wind Location/Movement North noord South zuid East West oost west noorden zuiden oosten westen right left rechts links

straight rechtdoor

15. Colors
orange pink purple blue yellow red black brown gray oranje roze paars blauw geel rood zwart bruin grijs oh-rahn-yuh roh-zuh pahrs blow khayl rohd zvahrt brown grah-ees

white green silver gold beige

wit groen zilver goud beige

viht khroon

Licht and donker are added to the colors to mean light and dark: lichtbruin - light brown.

16. Time
What time is it? Hoe laat is het? It's 1:00 Het is een uur. 2:00 Het is twee uur. 3:30 5:45 7:03 at 9:30 noon midnight Het is half vier. Het is kwart voor zes. Het is drie (minuten) over zeven. om half tien twaalf uur 's middags hoo laht is ut ut is ayn ewr ut is tvay ewr ut is half feer ut is kvahrt for zehs ut is dree mih-new-tuh oh-fer zayfuh awm half teen tvahlf ewrs mihd-dahkhs

twaalf uur 's nachts / middernacht tvahlf ewrs nahkhts

In the morning 's ochtends During the day 's middags In the evening At night 's avonds 's nachts Minuten can be omitted, just as in English.

17. Weather
How's the weather today? It's cold beautiful hot Wat voor weer is het vandaag? Het is koud mooi heet

clear icy warm windy cloudy hazy muggy humid foggy It's snowing It's raining It's freezing

open / helder het vriest/ijzig warm windig bewolkt mistig drukkend/benauwd vochtig mistig het sneeuwt het regent het vriest

18. Family and Pets

Parents Mother Father Son Daughter Brother Sister Grandfather Grandmother Grandson Granddaughter Niece Nephew Cousin (m) Cousin (f) Uncle Aunt Boy Girl Child ouders moeder vader zoon dochter broeder, broer zuster, zus grootvader, opa grootmoeder, oma kleinzoon kleindochter nicht neef neef nicht oom tante jongen meisje (n) kind dog cat bird goldfish hond poes vogel goudvis adult relative siblings twin birth death marriage divorce volwassene bloedverwant broers en zusters tweeling geboorte dood huwelijk (n) echtscheiding

Man, husband Woman, wife Friend (m) Friend (f)

man vrouw vriend vriendin

Note: In the vocabulary lists, (n) after the noun denotes neuter nouns.

19. To Know People and Facts

kennen - to know people ken kennen ken-nuh ken kent kent kent kent kennen kennen ken-nuh ken-nuh weten - to know facts weet vayt weten vay-tuh weet vayt weten weet vayt weten vay-tuh vay-tuh

20. Formation of Plural Nouns

Most plural nouns are formed by adding either -en or -s. Remember that the definite article is always de before plural nouns. 1. -en (the n is pronounced softly) is added to most nouns, with a few spelling changes boek - boeken book(s) jas - jassen coat(s) haar - haren hair(s) huis - huizen house(s) Spelling changes: Words with long vowels (aa, ee, oo, and uu) drop the one vowel when another syllable is added. Words with the short vowels (a, e, i, o and u) double the following consonant to keep the vowels short. The letters f and s occur at the end of words or before consonants, while the letters v and z occur in the middle of words before vowels. (These spelling rules are also used for conjugating verbs, so it's best to memorize them as soon as possible.) 2. -s is added to nouns ending in the unstressed syllables -el, -em, -en, and -er (and aar(d), -erd, -ier when referring to people), foreign words and to most nouns ending in an unstressed vowel tafel - tafels table(s) jongen - jongens boy(s)

tante - tantes aunt(s) bakker - bakkers baker(s) Nouns ending in the vowels -a, -o, and -u add an apostrophe before the s: foto's, paraplu's Irregular forms 3. Some nouns containing a short vowel do not double the following consonant in the plural before -en. The plural vowel is then pronounced as long. bad - baden bath(s) dag - dagen day(s) spel - spelen game(s) (like the Olympics, smaller games are spellen) glas - glazen glass(es) weg - wegen road(s) 4. A few neuter nouns take the ending -eren (or -deren if the noun ends in -n) blad - bladeren leaf(leaves) kind - kinderen child(ren) ei - eieren egg(s) been - beenderen bone(s) [Note: been - benen leg(s)] lied - liederen song(s) volk - volkeren nation(s), people 5. Nouns ending in -heid have a plural in -heden. mogelijkheid - mogelijkheden possibility(ies) 6. Some other common irregular plurals are: stad - steden town(s) schip - schepen ship(s) lid - leden member(s) koe - koeien cow(s)