In this text and following lessons we'll use /Word/ to give an example of an English word which contains one

more (capitalized) letters which have an approximate pronunciation as the Dutch letters, syllable or word. We'll use (and already have) {word} to denote the English translation of a Dutch word. The consonants are: * B as in "bad" /Bath/ (B at end of words sounds like "P") * D as in "dom" /Doll/ (D at end of words sounds like "T") * F as in "fijn" /Fix/ and "laf" /lauGH/ * G as in "god" (sounds somewhat like the "ch" in /loCH ness/, very throaty, and "dag" * G as in "garage" /SHow/ only used in words originating from the French. * H as in "help" /Help/ * J as in "jas" /Yes/ (not like J in /Jet/, that's more a DJ sound) * J as in "journaal" /CHopin/ * K as in "kat" /Cat/ and "ik" /liCK/ * L as in "los" /Lot/ and "tol" /toLL/ * M as in "mijn" /Mine/ and "dom' /suM/ * N as in "niet" /Not/ and "tin" /tiN/ * P as in "pas" /Pen/ and "sop" /cuP/ * Q as in "quiz" /Quiz/ * R as in "rot" /Run/ and "kar" /faR/ (don't roll it) * S as in "sop" /Sob/ and "los" /boSS/ * T as in "tin" /Tin/ and "rot" /weT/ * V the same as "F", "V" can't be at the end of a word or syllable. * W as in "wat" /Where/ and "ruw" /hoW/ * X as in "sex" /seX/ * Z as in "zak" /Zoo/ and "quiz" /quiZ/ The vowels differ more from the English, and they are so many ways to pronounce them!! Pffff. To make it more difficult is that the sound of a vowel depends (just like in English) on the surrounding consonants and other vowels. Two or three adjacent vowels can also form diphthongs, i.e. they makes one sound together. The vowels are: * A as in "kat", sounds something like /cUt/ * E as in "ben" /zEn/ * E as in "gokken", this is another sound for the single E, it sound like the mute "e" in English, like in {givEn}, it is used mostly when the syllable with the "e" doesn't have the emphasis

(stress handled in further lesson) * I as in "ik" /dIck/ * O as in "dom" /sOld/ * U as in "put" (sounds a bit like /wOrd} or {bIrd}, say the "i" sound and round your lips to a small circle) * IJ as in "hij", sounds not entirely not like /whY/ The diphthongs are: * AA as in "daar" (a bit like /jA/ or /fAther/, but not really) * AAI as in "saai", a bit like the "ij" sound, only longer * AU as in "rauw" (same sound as OU) * CH as in "lach" (same sound as "G") * CH as in "douchen" /SHow/ (pronounced like "sj"), from the French, always pronounced like this before the "OU" difhthong * EAU as in "bureau" /gO/ (pronounced like an "oo"), it's a French word, in previous spelling also written with "o" instead of "eau" * EE as in " reet" /rAte/, sounds different before an "R", more like a long "i", like as in "meer" /gEAr/ * EI as in "zeik" /dIke/, sounds like the "ij" * EEU as in "eeuw", almost like the long "ee" sound. It's always followed by a "w" * EU as in "neus" (a sound not known in English, just listen), sounds different before an "R", more like a long mute "E", like in "deur". * IE as in "lief" /sEE/ * IEU as in "nieuw" a bit like /sEAl/, always before a 'w' * NG as in "zingen" and "lang" /loNG/ * OE as in "boek" /lOOk/ * OEI as in "groeien" /OOJ/ * OI as in "hoi" /bOY/, not many words with this sounds though. * OO as in "hoop" /hOpe/, sounds different before an "R", more like a long "o", like as in "door" /dOOr/ * OOI as in "mooi", a long OI * OU as in "goud" /lOUd/ * OU as in "douchen" /lOOse/ (pronounced like an "oe"), from the French, always prononced like this before "CH", and in some other French words * SCH as in "schip", the "s" followed by the "CH" sound, but when an "r" follows "sch", as in "schreeuwen". At the end of a word its always preceded by a "i" and sounds like the "ies" sound, like in "logisch" (sometimes even written with "ies", like "logies", but only in 'rebelian', non-standard Dutch texts). * SJ as in "sjaal" /SHow/ * TS as in "tsaar" /TSar/ * UI as in "huis" (a sound not present in English, a bit like saying the mute "e" followed by the

"UU" sound, but very smooth) * UU as in "muur" (a sound not present in English, sounds like the French 'lune', try to say the "ie" /sEE/ sound, and round your lips) The short vowels "a", "e", "o" and "u" are pronounced as the long vowels "aa", "ee", "oo" rsp. "uu" when they are in a so-called 'open' syllable. An open syllable ends with a single consonant and is followed by another vowel. So examples are: "tAken", "gOdin", "gEven", "Uren". NOT open syllables are: "lAchen", "wErken", "hEbben", "hEb". But the "e" is pronounced as a mute "e" when the emphasis (stress) is not on the syllable (more about this in another lesson). The "a", "o" and "u" are also pronounced long when the are at the end of a word (or used as a single letter, but then the word would consist of this single letter, and would therefore end with the letter, so what am I getting on about?), like in "ja", "zo" and "nu". Finally the letters of the alphabet as promounced: ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXIJYZ This article was used with permission from: Introductions to the Dutch Lang

Dutch for Beginners: Basic Vocabulary

The following words are indispensable if you want to understand Dutch. They are "building blocks" that are used over and again! Belangrijke woorden Een Important words A Indefinite article, singular (as in English, no article is used for the plural indefinite form). E.g., "een kind" = "a child"; "kinderen" = "children". The Definite article, singular; used with a limited group of nouns. E.g., "het kind" = "the child". The Definite article, used for the singular form of all other nouns, as well as the plural form of all nouns that can have an article. E.g., het kind, but "de kinderen" = "the children". And Or Because In spite of Therefore

Het

De

En Of Omdat Ondanks Daarom

Alle, allemaal All Elke Every Iedereen Everyone Wie? Wat? Waar? Waarom? Hoe? Ik Jij U Hij Zij (1) Who? What? Where? Why? How? I You You (polite form, singular or plural) He She

Wij Jullie Zij (2) Mijn Jouw Uw Zijn Haar Ons Jullie Hun Omhoog Omlaag Links Rechts Binnen Buiten Voor (1) Achter Naast Bij Naar Vanaf Eerste Laatste Voor (2), or: Voordat Na, or: Nadat Veel Weinig Meer Minder Meest Minst Met Zonder

We You (plural) They My Your Your (polite form, singular or plural) His Her Our Your (plural) Their Up Down Left Right Inside Outside In front of Behind Next to Near Towards Away from; or: Starting at First Last Before After

Much; many Little; few More Less Most Least With Without

Dutch I Tutorial: Basic Phrases, Vocabulary and Grammar

Thanks to Mariska for the mp3s!

1. Basic Phrases
Goedemorgen khoo-duh-mawr-ghuh Good Morning Goedemiddag khoo-duh-mih-dahkh Good Day Goedenavond khoo-duh-nah-fohnt Good Evening

Goedenacht khoo-duh-nahkht Good Night

Hoi / Hallo / Daag / Doei hoy / hah-loh / dahk / doo-ee Hi / Bye

Tot ziens toht zeens Goodbye

Tot straks toht straks See you later (in the same day)

Tot zo toht zoh See you soon

Alstublieft / Alsjeblieft ahlst-ew-bleeft / ahl-shuh-bleeft Please

Dank u wel / Dank je wel dahnk-ew-vehl / dahnk-yuhvehl Thank you

Hartelijk bedankt hahr-tuh-lik buh-dahnkt Thank you very much

Graag gedaan khrahkh khuh-dahn You're welcome (don't mention it)

Sorry saw-ree I'm sorry / Excuse me

Pardon, wat zei u? pahr-dohn, vat zay ew Pardon me (didn't understand)

Ja / Nee yah / nay Yes / No

Hoe gaat het met u? hoo khaht ut meht ew How are you? (formal)

Hoe gaat het? hoo khaht ut How are you? (informal)

Goed / Heel goed khoot / hayl khoot Fine / Very well

Het gaat / Slecht

Ik ben moe / ziek

Ik heb honger / dorst

uht khaht / slehkht So so / Bad

ik ben moo / zeek I'm tired / sick.

ik heb hohng-ur / dohrst I'm hungry / thirsty.

Hoe heet u? hoo hayt ew What's your name? (formal)

Hoe heet je? hoo hayt yuh What's your name? (informal)

Ik heet... ik hayt... My name is (I'm called)...

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

Aangenaam (kennis te maken) ahn-guh-nahm (ken-nis tuh mah-kuh) Nice to meet you.

meneer / mevrouw / mejuffrouw muh-nayr / muh-frow / muhyuh-frow Mister / Misses / Miss

Waar komt u vandaan? vahr kawmt ew fun-dahn Where are you from? (formal)

Waar kom je vandaan? vahr kawn yuh fun-dahn Where are you from? (informal)

Ik kom uit Nederland. ik kawm owt nay-der-lant I am from the Netherlands.

Waar woont u? vahr vohnt ew Where do you live? (formal)

Waar woon je? vahr vohn yuh Where do you live? (informal)

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

Hoe oud bent u? hoo owt bent ew How old are you? (formal)

Hoe oud ben je? hoo owt ben yuh How old are you? (informal)

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

Spreekt u Nederlands? spraykt ew nay-der-lahnds Do you speak Dutch? (formal)

Spreek je Engels? sprayk yuh ehng-uhls Do you speak English? (informal)

Ik spreek [geen]... ik sprayk [khayn] I [don't] speak...

Ik spreek niet zo goed... ik sprayk neet zoh khood I don't speak ... very well.

Ik begrijp het [niet.] ik buh-khraip ut neet I [don't] understand.

Ik weet het [niet.] ik vayt ut [neet] I [don't] know.

Wat kost het? vat kohst ut How much is it?

Ik wil graag... ik vil khrahk I'd like...

Proost! prohst Cheers!

Veel plezier! fayl pleh-zeer Have fun!

Veel succes! fayl suk-sehs Good luck!

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

Dat is geweldig / vreselijk! dat is khuh-vehl-duhkh / frayzuh-likh That is great / terrible!

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 vreemd! vaht fraymt How funny / odd!

Wat jammer! vaht yah-mer What a pity!

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

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 English sound ch sch g w v r j sj 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

tj aa ee ie oo oe eu uu a e i o u ei / ij aai oei ooi ou / au eeuw ieuw uw ui

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 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 j k
yay

s t

ess

kah

tay

c say d day e ay f
eff

ell

ew

m emm v n o
enn

fay

w vay x y z
eeks

oh

g khay p h hah i
ee

pay

ee-grek

q r

kew

zett

air

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 & Demonstratives

common Singular "the" Plural "the" de de neuter het

Indefinite "a" or "an" common Singular this that Plural these those

een

neuter

deze die

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
ik

ik

I you (singular informal) you (formal) he she it

wij (we)

vay

we

jij (je) u

yay ew

jullie

yew-lee

you (plural informal)

hij zij (ze) het

hay zay ut

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 & to Have

Present tense of zijn - to be (zayn) I am You are He, she, it is ik ben jij / u bent hij, zij, het is ik ben we are wij zijn jullie zijn zij zijn vay zayn yew-lee zayn zay zayn

yay / ew bent you are hay, zay, ut is they are

Present tense of hebben - to have (heh-buhn) I have You have ik heb jij / u hebt ik hep yay / ew hept we have you have wij hebben jullie hebben zij hebben vay heh-buhn yew-lee heh-buhn zay heh-buhn

He, she, it is hij, zij, het heeft hay, zay, ut hayft they have

Past tense of zijn - to be (zayn) I was You were ik was jij / u was ik vas yay / ew vas hay, zay, ut vas we were you were they were wij waren jullie waren zij waren vay vah-ruhn yew-lee vah-ruhn zay vah-ruhn

He, she, it was hij, zij, het was

Past tense of hebben - to have (heh-buhn) I had You had ik had jij / u had ik haht yay / ew haht hay, zay, ut haht we had you had wij hadden jullie hadden vay hah-duhn yew-lee hah-duhn

He, she, it had hij, zij, het had

they had

zij hadden

zay hah-duhn

You must use the subject pronouns; however, I will leave them out of future conjugations since most verbs only have two forms for each conjugation. 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

sometimes always never often usually now and but or very here there

soms altijd nooit vaak, dikwijls gewoonlijk nu en maar of zeer, heel hier daar

also much another already perhaps

ook veel een ander al misschien

9. Question Words
who what why when how wie wat waarom wanneer hoe where where to where from which Isn't it?, etc. waar waar... naartoe waar... vandaan welk / welke 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 nul een twee 1st 2nd eerste tweede

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23

drie vier vijf zes zeven acht negen tien elf twaalf dertien veertien vijftien zestien zeventien achttien negentien twintig eenentwintig tweentwintig drientwintig

3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th 13th 14th 15th 16th 17th 18th 19th 20th 21st 22nd 23rd

drede vierde vijfde zesde zevende achtste negende tiende elfde twaalfde dertiende veertiende vijftiende zestiende zeventiende achttiende negentiende twintigste eenentwintigste tweentwintigste drieentwintigste

30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 101 110 200 1,000 1,001 million billion

dertig veertig vijftig zestig zeventig tachtig negentig honderd honderd en een honderd tien tweehonderd duizend duizend en een een miljoen een miljard

30th 40th 50th 60th 70th 80th 90th 100th 101st 110th 200th 1,000th 1,001st millionth billionth

dertigste veertigste vijftigste zestigste zeventigste tachtigste negentigste honderdste honderd en eerste honderd tiende tweehonderdste duizendste duizend en eerste miljoenste miljardste

de helft een derde een kwart

half one third one quarter

een keer twee keer drie keer

once twice three times

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 Saturday Sunday day morning afternoon evening night today tomorrow tonight yesterday last night day after tomorrow maandag dinsdag woensdag donderdag vrijdag zaterdag zondag dag ochtend middag avond nacht vandaag morgen deze nacht gisteren (de) afgelopen nacht overmorgen

day before yesterday week last week weekend daily weekly

eergisteren week afgelopen week weekend dagelijks wekelijks

12. Months of the Year

January February March April May June July August September October November December januari februari maart april mei juni juli augustus september oktober november december

month year last year monthly yearly

maand jaar het afgelopen jaar maandelijks jaarlijks

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

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

15. Colors & shapes

orange oranje square vierkant

pink purple blue yellow red black brown gray white green silver gold beige light dark

roze paars blauw geel rood zwart bruin grijs wit groen zilver goud beige licht donker

circle triangle rectangle oval box sphere cube pyramid cone cylinder heart star diamond crescent

cirkel driehoek rechthoek ovaal vak bol kubus piramide kegel cilinder hart ster diamant halvemaan

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

16. Time
What time is it? It's 1:00 Hoe laat is het? Het is een uur.

2:00 3:30 5:45 7:03 at 9:30 noon

Het is twee uur. Het is half vier. Het is kwart voor zes. Het is drie (minuten) over zeven. om half tien twaalf uur 's