Author Archives: Dutch Gurus

Wekker

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alarm clock [noun] [de wekker, de wekkers]

"Wekker" is the noun that goes with the verb "wekken" (see ‘Related words’).

Examples:
1. "Wekkerradio": radio alarm (clock).

2. "Hoe laat heb je de wekker gezet?"
("For what time did you set the alarm?")

3. "Ik heb de wekker op 7 uur gezet."
("I have set the alarm for 7 o’clock.")

Related words:
1. "Wekken": to wake somebody up.
Example: "Je moet je vader om 6 uur wekken."
("You have to wake up your father at 6 o’clock.")

2. "Wakker": awake.

3. "Wakker worden": to wake up.

Raket

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rocket, missile [noun] [de raket, de raketten]

Examples:
1. "De raket wordt om half negen gelanceerd."
("The rocket will be launched at half past 8.")

2. "De lancering ging niet door, want de raket had gebreken."
("The launch was cancelled because the rocket had some defects.")

3. "De regering erkent het gevaar van een raketaanval."
("The government acknowledges the danger of a missile attack.")

Extra:
Raketje"Raket" is also the name of a traditional and still very popular popsicle/ice lolly, which to no surprise looks like a rocket. It was introduced in 1962 by a company called "Ola" (www.ola.nl) and an estimated 30 million "raketjes" are consumed yearly in the Netherlands (source Wikipedia).

Example:
"Een raketje alstublieft!"
("A raketje please!")

Stoel

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Grammar: <stoel> [noun] [de stoel, de stoelen].

Translates to: chair, seat.

Examples:
1. "Schommelstoel": rocking chair.

2. "Vliegtuigstoel": airplane seat.

3. "Stoelendans": musical chairs (literally "chairs dance").
"Stoelendans is een populair spelletje op kinderfeestjes."
("At children’s parties, musical chairs is a popular game.")

4. "Is deze stoel bezet/vrij?"
("Is this seat/chair taken/free?" In Dutch it is more common to ask if the chair is "vrij".)

5. <encouraging someone to join you at the table:> "Pak een stoel!"
("Pull up a chair!")

Expression:
"Iets niet onder stoelen of banken steken."
("To make no attempt to hide how you feel/ To state clearly how you feel about something." Literally: "To not stick something under chairs or sofas.")

Example: "Wederom steekt Frank het niet onder stoelen of banken."
("Once again Frank makes no attempt to hide how he feels about it.")

See also "DWOTD (25): Bank".

Note: the English word "stool" translates to "kruk" in Dutch. A "bar stool" is a "barkruk".
The Dutch word "stoel" and the English word "stool" are almost identical in pronunciation and apparantly have a mutual root.

Klad

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(rough) draft [noun] [het klad, de kladden]

Although "klad" has a plural form, this is never used. "Klad" is often used in conjunction with other nouns, see ‘Examples’ and ‘Related words’.

Examples:
1. "De schilder maakte eerst een tekening in klad voordat hij het penseel ter hand nam."
("The painter first made a drawing in (rough) draft, before taking up the pensil/ (paint) brush.")

2. "De kladversie van deze presentatie moet nog aangepast worden voordat ik hem in het management team presenteer."
("The draft version of this presentation has to be adjusted before I present it in the management team.")

Related words:
1. "Kladderen": to smudge.
2. "Kladblaadje" or "kladpapiertje": a piece of scrap paper.

Expression:
"De klad komt erin": things are slowing down / getting worse.
(Literally: "The rough draft gets in it).

Afstandsbediening

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remote control [noun] [de afstandsbediening, de afstandsbedieningen]

The two words in "afstandsbediening" are "afstand" and "bediening" (see ‘Related words’).

The ‘s’ is used as glue. It is not always necessary to insert the ‘s’ when combining two words in one. But even for Dutch people that is sometimes hard to determine!

Examples:
1. "Kun je mij de afstandsbediening aangeven?"
("Can you hand me the remote control?")

2. "We moesten handmatig een ander kanaal kiezen omdat de afstandsbediening kapot was."
("We had to choose a different channel manually because the remote control was broken.")

Related words:
1. "Afstand": distance.
Example: "Ik voel een afstand tussen ons."
("I feel a distance between us.")

2. "Bediening": control(s), service (e.g. in a restaurant).
Examples:
a. "De bediening van deze machine is niet intuïtief."
("The controls of this machine are not intuitive.")

b. "De bediening hier is echt waardeloos!"
("The service here is really bad!" Literally: "… worthless!")