(little) cup
[noun]
[het kop-je, de kop-jes]

“Kopje” – literally “little cup” – is the diminutive of “kop”, but this is often lost in translation.

“Kop” also translates to “head”, therefore “kopje” would also translate to “little head”, but this is only used in a couple of expression, listed under Extra 2.

Examples:
– “Wilt u een kopje koffie, meneer?” 
(“Would you like a cup of coffee, sir?”)

– “Ik drink mijn thee liever niet uit een plastic bekertje, maar uit een echt kopje.”
(“I’d rather not drink my tea from a plastic cup, but from a real cup.”)

– “Kopje koffie, glazenwasser?”
(“Cup of coffee, Mr. Window-cleaner?” Famous line from a popular Dutch TV series “Pisa” in the 80s)

Related words:
– Beker: mug [noun] [de beker, de bekers].
– Koffie: coffee [noun] [de koffie, <no plural>].
– Thee: tea [noun] [de thee, <no plural>].
– Lepeltje: (little) spoon [noun] [het lepeltje, de lepeltjes].
– Roeren: to stir [verb] [roeren, roerde, geroerd].

Extra:
In the eighties, VOF de Kunst was a popular Dutch band. They had two big hits: “Suzanne” and “Eén kopje koffie“. Check out the clips on YouTube…and you maybe able to sing along whenever they play them in a bar 😉

Extra 2:
– “Kopje duikelen”: to turn somersaults.
– “Kopje onder gaan”: to get a ducking.
– “Kopjes geven”: a cat rubbing its head against someone/something.

1. usual, common, ordinary, regular, plain
[adjective/adverb]
[ge-woon]

The Dutch think they’re pretty common people. We even feel that it’s a virtue to be “common”…see the – very common – first expression under Expressions.

Examples:
– “Ik ben slechts een gewone jongen.” 
(“I’m just a common guy.”)

– “In Nederland is het heel gewoon dat mensen elkaar tutoyeren.”
(“In the Netherlands, it’s very normal that people are on a first-name basis with each other.”)

– “Dit is geen gewone man, nee dit is Superman!”
(“This is not an ordinary man, no this is Superman!”)

– “Ik wil graag een gewone koffie.”
(“I would like a regular coffee.”)

– “Hebben ze in Jordanië gewone stopcontacten?”
(“Do they have normal power plugs in Jordan?”)

Expressions:
– “Doe nou maar gewoon, dan doe je gek genoeg”: There’s no need to act all crazy like that. Lit.: Just act normal, that’s crazy enough”.
– “Zoals gewoonlijk”: As usual.

Related words:
– Gewoonlijk: usually [adjective].

2. just, simply
[adjective/adverb]
[ge-woon]

Examples:
– “Dit is gewoon liefde op het eerste gezicht.” 
(“This is just love at first sight.”)

– “Het is gewoon de bedoeling dat deze ellende ophoudt!”
(“This misery is simply supposed to stop!”)

– “Het was niet gewoon een vluggertje…Frank is echt verliefd...”
(“It wasn’t simply a quickie…Frank is really in love…”)

– “Gewoon doen.”
(“Just do it.”)

3. used to, accustomed to
[adjective/adverb]
[ge-woon]

Using “gewoon” in this context is somewhat formal. A less formal synonym you may see more often is “gewend”.

Examples:
– “Ik ben dit niet gewoon.” 
(“I’m not accustomed to this.”)

– “De burgemeester is niet gewoon zich te begeven onder het gewone volk.”
(“The mayor is not used to make his way among the common people.”)

Related words:
– Gewend aan: used to [adjective].

Example:
– “Frank is niet gewend aan deze hoge temperaturen.”
(“Frank is not used to these high temperatures.”)

socket, wall socket/plug, power socket, power-point
[noun]
[het stop-con-tact, de stop-con-tac-ten]

“Stopcontacten” are everywhere in the Netherlands 🙂 Sometimes you may hear the somewhat more formal term “wandcontactdoos” or “contactdoos”.

Dutch power sockets have two holes, and sometime a ground pin. For the nerds among us: the official socket standard(s) used in the Netherlands is Type C and Type F and Type E/F…

Examples:
– “Kinderen, probeer nooit een pen in een stopcontact te steken…”  – “Doe niet zo betuttelend…”
(“Children, never try to stick a pen into a power socket…” – “Don’t be patronizing like that…”)

– “Steek eerst de stekker in het stopcontact, zet dan de computer aan.”
(“First put the plug in the power socket, then turn on the computer.”)

– “Als je de gloeilamp gaat vervangen, trek dan eerst de stekker uit het stopcontact.”
(“If you’re going to change the light bulb, first pull the plug from the socket.”)

Expressions:
– “Balen als een stekker”: to be really fed up with something.
– “Zijn/haar stoppen sloegen door”: He/she went berserk, lit.: He/She blew his/her fuses.

Example:
– “Toen Frank hoorde dat hij ontslagen zou worden, sloegen bij hem de stoppen door.”
(“When Frank heard that he would be fired, he went berserk.”)

Related words:
– Stop: plug, fuse [noun] [de stop, de stoppen].
– Stekker: plug [noun] [de stekker, de stekkers].

Example:
– “Of je stopt de stekker erin…”
(“Or you could put the plug in…” See Extra)

– Doos: box [noun] [de doos, de dozen].
– Stekkerdoos: multiple socket
– Kortsluiting: short-circuit [noun] [de kortsluiting, de kortsluitingen].
– Elektriciteit: electricity [noun] [de elektriciteit, <no plural>].
– Stroom: current [noun] [de stroom, de stromen].
– Spanning: voltage [noun] [de spanning, de spanningen].

Extra:
Somewhere in the eighties, there was a commercial by IBM running on Dutch television, which became very popular. It became particularly popular because of the phrase “Of je stopt de stekker erin” … Check out the very, very out-dated clip on YouTube 🙂