Author Archives: Sander

Instellen

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1. to adjust, tune, set Iconspeaker_3
[verb]
[in-stel-len, stel-de in, in-ge-steld]

Instellen "Instellen" can generally be used in three translations. It is also figuratively used in the expressions "zich instellen op", or "ingesteld zijn op", which respectively translate as "to (mentally) prepare oneself for" and "to be geared towards / be prepared/equipped for"; see the Expressions for examples.

Examples:
– "Ik weet zeker dat ik de wekker op mijn iPhone goed heb ingesteld en toch ging hij niet af!" 
("I'm positive that I set the alarm on my iPhone correctly, and still it did not go off!")

– "Waren je vakantiefoto's leuk?" – "Man, ik baal als een stekker, de belichting was verkeerd ingesteld; alles is mislukt!" 
("Did your holiday pictures turn out nicely?" – "Man, I'm really upset, the exposure setting was incorrect, everything was ruined!" Note that "mislukken" translates as "to fail / go wrong / be unsuccessful".)

– "Het lukt me nooit om de radiozenders op mijn autoradio goed in te stellen, kun jij me daar een keer bij helpen?" 
("I never succeed in correctly programming the radio stations on my car radio, are you able to help me with that sometime?")

Expressions:
– " (…) ingesteld zijn": to have a (…)-like attitude.

Example:
– "Hij is nogal negatief ingesteld dus ik zou hem niet vragen als ik jou was."
("He is rather negative so I wouldn't ask him if I were you.")

– "Ingesteld zijn op (…) ": to be equipped for, to be geared towards.

Example:
– "Sorry, maar we zijn niet ingesteld op beginners. We raden je aan eerst elders een beginnerscursus te volgen."
("I'm sorry, but we are not geared towards beginners. We recommend that you first do a beginners course elsewhere.")

– "Zich instellen op": to (mentally) prepare (oneself) for.

Example:
– "Is het goed als Eva ook meekomt?" – "Nou, liever niet, je weet hoe het tussen ons is; ik ben er niet op ingesteld, sorry!"
("Is it alright if Eva comes along?" – "Well, preferably not, you know how it is between the two of us; I'm not prepared for it, I'm sorry!")

Related words:
– Instelling: setting, mentality [noun] [de instelling, de instellingen].
– Configureren: to configure [verb] [configureerde, geconfigureerd].
– Voorbereiden: to prepare for [verb] [bereidde voor, voorbereid].

2. to establish, found, institute Iconspeaker_3
[verb]
[in-stel-len, stel-de in, in-ge-steld]

Regels This is typically used when establishing rules, setting up a committee etc.

Examples:
– "De commissie is vanochtend ingesteld en gaat direct aan de slag." 
("The committee has been set up this morning and will start work immediately.")

– "Er zijn nieuwe regels ingesteld omtrent het gebruik van de gemeenschappelijke ruimte." 
("New rules have been established regarding the use of the common area.")

Related words:
– Instellling: establishment, creation [noun] [de instelling, de instellingen].

3. to start, to set up Iconspeaker_3
[verb]
[in-stel-len, stel-de in, in-ge-steld]

OnderzoekIngesteld In this translation "instellen" is typically used when starting or opening an investigation.

Examples:
– "Er is een onderzoek ingesteld naar het handelen van de dader; we moeten oppassen om geen voorbarige conclusies te trekken!" 
("An investigation has started on the perpretator's actions; we must be careful not to jump to conclusions!" Literally: "…draw premature conclusions".)

Het zit er weer op!

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it's over/gone again, we're done Iconspeaker_3
[Dutch phrase of the week]
[Het zit er weer op]

HetZitErWeerOp You can use this phrase when you've completed an activity or when a period of time (such as: morning, hour, year) has ended. Either use "het" when it's clear from context or be more specific, see the examples. The use of 'weer' indicates that it's over 'again' (as in rather quickly or when it feels that way). You can leave it out if you want ("het zit er op!")

Examples:
– "Het jaar zit er al weer bijna op!" 
("The year is almost over again! / the year has almost ended!")

– "Jongens, het zit er op, we kunnen gaan lunchen!" 
("Guys, we're done, let's have lunch!" Lit. "we can have lunch / we are able to have lunch".)

– "En daarmee sluiten we af, de ochtendsessie zit er weer op, en dan nu het nieuws van 12 uur." 
("And with that we conclude, the morning session is over again, next the 12 o'clock news.")

– "De week zit er weer op, heerlijk, eindelijk weekend!" 
("The week has come to an end again, splendid/great, weekend finally!")

– "Het zit er weer op voor dit jaar, in 2011 zijn er weer nieuwe DWOTD's!" 
("And we're done for the year, in 2011 there will be new DWOTDs again!")

Related words:
– Voorbij: over, gone, past, finished[adjective].

Example:
– "De vakantie is weer voorbij; balen!"
("The holidays are over again; bummer / that sucks!")

– Over: past, finished [adjective].

Example:
– "Het is over, klaar, voorbij! Wat snap je daar niet aan?"
("It's over, finished, done! What part do you not understand?")

Ramp

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disaster Iconspeaker_3
[noun]
[de ramp, de ram-pen]

Bosbrand Today I spent 7 hours in my car due to snowfall, and yes, that was a disaster!

Examples:
– “Het vertrek van de topspeler was een ramp voor de voetbalclub.” 
(“The departure of the top(-class) player was a disaster for the football/soccer club.”)

– “De uitbraak van cholera in Haïti is een humanitaire ramp.” 
(“The outbreak of cholera in Haiti is a humanitarian disaster/crisis.”)

– “Wat een ramp! Er gaan geen treinen meer naar huis!” 
(“What a disaster! All trains home have been cancelled!”)

– “Tegenwoordig heb je overal skateparken. Wij hadden vroeger niet eens een ramp. Dat was pas een ramp!” 
(“Nowadays there are skateparks everywhere. When I was young we didn’t even have a (skateboard) ramp. Now that was a disaster!” Literally: “Nowadays one has skateparks everywhere. We did not even use to have…” Note that there is also a skateboard trick called “disaster” 😉 )

Related words:
– Natuurramp: natural disaster [noun] [de natuurramp, de natuurrampen].
– Catastrofe: catastrophy [noun] [de catastrofe, de catastrofes].
– Verwoesting: devastation [noun] [de verwoesting, de verwoestingen].
– Rampzalig: disastrous [adjective/adverb].

Example:
– “Ik vind ‘onfortuinlijk’ een understatement; ik zou deze ontwikkeling als ‘rampzalig’ willen betitelen.”
(“I believe that ‘unfortunate’ is an understatement; I would like to describe this development as ‘disastrous’. “Betitelen” is like giving something a ‘label/title’.”)

– Desastreus: disastrous [adjective/adverb]. This is the slighly posher version of ‘rampzalig’.
– Nood: emergency [noun] [de nood, de noden].

Hartverwarmend

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heartwarming Iconspeaker_3
[adjective/adverb]
[hart-ver-war-mend]

Hart gevuld met emoticonsThe Dutch verb for “to heat” or “to warm” is “verwarmen”. A word you may know is “verwarming”: heating (in your house for example). The adjective ‘heartwarming’ can be created in Dutch by combining the noun “hart” and the adjective “verwarmend”, the latter is created from the verb by adding -d (whereas in English you would add -ing).

Examples:
– “De reactie van het publiek was hartverwarmend.” 
(“The response of the audience was heartwarming.”)

– “Het hartverwarmende gebaar van de politicus deed zijn populariteit onmiddellijk stijgen.” 
(“The heartwarming gesture of the politician made his popularity increase immediately.”)

– “Heb je nog een cadeau gekregen voor je veertigjarige dienstverband?” – “Nee, en ook de receptie was niet hartverwarmend te noemen, eerder kil…” 
(“And, did you get a present for your forty years of service (in the company)?” – “No, and also the reception could not be called heartwarming, rather cold…” The word ‘dienstverband’ translates as ’employment’ and ‘veertigjarig’ as ‘having taken forty years’.)

– “Ik wil jullie allemaal bedanken voor deze hartverwarmende ontvangst!” 
(“I would like to thank you all for this heartwarming welcome!” Note that ‘ontvangst’ is typically translated as ‘reception’.)

– “Het tv-programma ‘All you need is love‘ is een aaneenschakeling van hartverwarmende momenten.” 
(“The TV show ‘All you need is love’ is a succession/chain of heartwarming moments.”)

– “Hartverwarmend gezongen jongen, ik ben bijzonder ontroerd!” 
(“Heartwarmingly sung man, I am very moved!”)

Expressions:
Check out DWOTD Hart for an overview of expressions with “Hart”.

Related words:
– Hart: heart [noun] [het hart, de harten].
– Warm: warm [adjective/adverb].
– Verwarmen: to heat, to warm [verb] [verwarmde, verwarmd].
– Ontroerend: moving, poignant [adjective/adverb].

Bijleggen

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1. to settle, reconcile, make up Iconspeaker_3
[verb]
[bij-leg-gen, leg-de bij, bij-ge-legd]

RudiVollerFrankRijkaard "Bijleggen" is what people do when settling a dispute, or when making up afterwards. Note that when using this verb, you need to add the article 'het' which implicitly refers to whatever dispute you are settling; check out the examples.

"Bijleggen" is less used when it regards more serious occasions of dispute; in that case you may encounter words such as "verzoening" (reconciliation), "zich verzoenen" (to reconcile), "conflictoplossing" (conflict resolution).

Another translation of "bijleggen" is given in 2. below.

Examples:
– "Het akkefietje was onverwachts op een ruzie uitgelopen, maar beide partijen hebben het gelukkig snel weer bijgelegd." 
("The quarrel had turned into a fight unexpectedly, but luckily both parties made up again quickly.")

– "Wordt het niet eens tijd dat jullie het bijleggen, dit conflict duurt al veel te lang!" 
("Isn't it about time that you (guys) settle things, this conflict has been going on for much too long now!")

– "En?" – "We hebben het bijgelegd. Het berustte allemaal op een misverstand." 
("And?" – "We've resolved everything. It was all due to a misunderstanding.")

Expressions:
– "De strijdbijl begraven": to bury the hatchet.
– "Zand erover!": let's forget it! Let bygones be bygones, etc. Literally: "cover it with sand!"

Example:
– "Ok, zand erover, we beginnen met een schone lei!"
("Alright, let's forget it, we'll start (again) with a clean slate!")

Related words:
– Conflict: conflict [noun] [het conflict, de conflicten].
– (Het) Goedmaken: to make amends, to reconcile, to make up [verb] [maakte goed, goedgemaakt].

Example:
– "Na een fikse ruzie hebben Franka en Casper het weer goedgemaakt."
("After a hefty fight, Franka and Casper made up again.")

– Oplossen: to resolve [verb] [loste op, opgelost].
– Verzoening: reconciliation [noun] [de verzoening, de verzoeningen].

Extra:
The picture shows Rudi Völler and Frank Rijkaard in the 1988 European championship football/soccer semi-final between West-Germany and the Netherlands. The Netherlands moved on to the final and beat Russia which is the only time we ever won a (football) final. It is said that both players "hebben het bijgelegd" after the match 🙂

2. to contribute, compensate/make up (financially) Iconspeaker_3
[verb]
[bij-leg-gen, leg-de bij, bij-ge-legd]

Bijleggen When there is a deficit you will have to "bijleggen" 🙂 It is sometimes also used when you are losing money on a deal (e.g. offering somebody a very good (financial) deal, but having to invest money to make it happen).

Examples:
– "Jongens, er ligt niet voldoende geld op tafel om de rekening te voldoen, hup, iedereen 5 euro bijleggen!" 
("Guys, there is not enough money on the table to settle the bill, come on, everybody contribute (another) 5 euro!")

– "Uiteindelijk heb ik maar gewoon een tientje bijgelegd om van het gezeik af te zijn!" 
("Eventually I (just) put in a tenner more in order to be done with all the fuss!")

– "Ik moest van Den Haag naar Amsterdam rijden om m'n stereo te verkopen. Ja, dan moet ik erop bijleggen, ik ben gekke Henkie niet!" 
("I was supposed to drive from The Hague to Amsterdam in order to sell my stereo. Right, that way I'll lose money on it, I'm not stupid!!" In this example you may also hear "toeleggen" instead of "bijleggen".)

Related words:
– Tekort: deficit [noun] [het tekort, de tekorten].
– Aanvullen: to supplement, to complete [verb] [vulde aan, aangevuld].
– Rekening: bill, check [noun] [de rekening, de rekeningen].