Author Archives: Sander

Vooruitgang

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progress,
improvement, headway Click to listen
[noun]
[de
voor-uit-gang, <no plural>]

Vooruitgang "Vooruitgang" (with the stress on "uit") is used for positive
progress. The opposite of "vooruitgang" is "achteruitgang":
deterioration. Note that when you put the stress on "voor" the word
changes meaning radically: "front exit", with the base noun "uitgang":
exit.

A closely related word is "voortgang": general progress (in
time). So: there can be "voortgang" but this does not necessarily imply
"vooruitgang" (although quite often it is used that way).

Examples:
– "Ik moet u helaas mededelen dat er nog geen
vooruitgang is in de toestand van de patiënt." 
("Regrettably I have to inform you that there is no
improvement yet in the patient's condition.")

– "In de 19e eeuw is er behoorlijk wat
vooruitgang geboekt." 
("In the
19th century quite some progress was made." Note the use of "boeken": as
a verb typically used as "to book", but in combination with
"vooruitgang" it translates as "to make headway/progress".)

– "Als het gaat om het sociale karakter
van onze samenleving, dan vind ik dat er eerder sprake is van
achteruitgang dan van vooruitgang." 
("When it concerns the social character of our
society, I believe it is rather a matter of decline than of
advancement.")

Related words:
– Voortgang: progress, continuation [noun] [de voortgang, <no plural>].
–
Vooruitgaan: to progress, to go forward, to improve [verb] [ging
vooruit, vooruitgegaan].
– Ontwikkeling: development, growth [noun] [de ontwikkeling, de ontwikkelingen].
– Achteruitgang: decline,
deterioration [noun] [de achteruitgang, <no plural>].
– Achteruitgang: rear exit [noun] [de uitgang, de uitgangen].

Example:
– "De bankovervaller ontsnapte
via de achteruitgang."
("The bank robber escaped through the rear
exit.")

Voorspellen

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Nostradamus prophecies book to predict, to forecast, to bode Click to listen
[verb]
[voor-spel-len, voor-spel-de, voor-speld]

"Voorspellen" is used for general prediction but also in the meaning of to prophesy or to foretell. Yesterday's DWOTD unfortunately turned out to be somewhat "voorspellend" (portentous) as 70 Dutch died today in a plane crash.

Examples:
– "Mijn buurvrouw kan de toekomst voorspellen. Tenminste dat beweert ze, maar ik voorspel dat daar niks van waar is." 
("My neighbour can predict the future. At least that is what she claims, but I predict that that is not true at all." Lit. "… that nothing of that is true.")

– "Ik voorspel voor uw zoon een gouden toekomst. Dat is dan 50 euro. Dankuwel." 
("I predict a rosy future for your son. That will be 50 euros. Thank you." Lit.: "golden future".)

– "Dat het zo zou aflopen, had niemand kunnen voorspellen." 
("Nobody could have predicted that it would end this way.")

– "Er is voor vanmiddag mooi weer voorspeld, maar daar merk ik eerlijk gezegd niks van." 
("They forecast nice weather for this afternoon, but I don't really notice it to be honest.")

– "De donkere wolken voorspellen niet veel goeds." 
("The dark clouds bode nothing good.")

– "Het einde der tijden is al diverse keren voorspeld." 
("The end of times/the world has been prophesied several times." Notice the use of the genitive case, it can be used but most of the time you will see it in fixed expressions.)

Related words:
– Voorspellend: portentous [adjective].
– Voorspel: foreplay [noun] [het voorspel, de voorspelen].
– Helderziend: clairvoyant [adjective]. The noun is "helderziende".

Dat zal mij worst wezen

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I couldn't care less Click to listen
[Dutch phrase of the week]Worst

Literally "that would be sausage to me", this expression is used to say that you couldn't care less about something. Note that you cannot use it to say that you don't care about somebody. Often the "mij" becomes "me". You will also hear "dat zal me worst zijn".

Check out the comments to this post for a discussion on the use of 'wezen'.

Examples:
– "De Giro d'Italia start in Amsterdam dit jaar!" – "O ja? Dat zal me worst wezen, wielrennen boeit me niet." 
("The Giro d'Italia starts in Amsterdam this year!" – "Really? I couldn't care less, bicycle racing does not interest me at all.")

– "Dit kun je toch niet maken man? Asociaal!" – "Ik doe waar ik zin in heb, OK? Wat jij van mij vindt zal me worst wezen!" 
("You can't do this / be serious about this! That is so rude! – "I can do what I want, OK? I couldn't care less about what you think of me!")

– "Heb je je targets van dit jaar al met je manager besproken?" – "Targets? Dat zal me allemaal worst wezen, want iedereen wordt toch ontslagen door de crisis!" 
("Have you already discussed this year's targets with your manager?" – "Targets? I couldn't care less about my targets because due to the crisis everybody will get the sack anyway!" Note that when the Dutch use management terminology it is often in English.)

Expressions:
– "Wat kan mij het schelen!": what do I care!
– "Dat kan me niet rotten": I couldn't care less [informal].
– "Boeien!": Boring / not interesting at all / I so not care etc… The verb "boeien" translates as "to fascinate/captivate".

Related words:
– Worst: sausage [noun] [de worst, de worsten].
– Saucijzenbroodje: 'sausage roll' [noun] [het saucijzenbroodje, de saucijzenbroodjes]. Popular Dutch snack that you can often buy in department stores or at train stations.
– Slager: butcher [noun] [de slager, de slagers].

Extra:
Hema rookworst The "HEMA" is a popular department store in the Netherlands, where you can buy almost anything of reasonable quality at a reasonable price. This includes the famous "HEMA rookworst": HEMA smoked sausage. Although the Dutch are not really 'sausage minded' (as some people would say of the Germans) the HEMA rookworst is a popular snack amongst the old and young. After having successfully expanded to Belgium, HEMA tried its luck in Germany. Soon the number one selling item was… the rookworst!

Opklaren

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to clear/brighten up Iconspeaker_3
[verb]
[op-kla-ren, klaar-de op, op-ge-klaard]

Opklaren
Today is Koninginnedag and that is one of the days in the year of which you can be sure there will be no DWOTD… Well, as the weather is not cooperating much, I haven’t gone ‘downtown’ yet 🙂 However, it seems the sky is clearing up! "Opklaren" can also be used figuratively.

Examples:
– "Het leek vandaag een grauwe dag te worden, maar nu klaart het gelukkig op."
("It looked like today was going to be a gray day, but fortunately it’s brightening up now.")

– "Gaat het nog regenen denk je?" – "Volgens mij niet, de lucht is opgeklaard!" 
("Do you think it will rain?" – "I don’t think so, the sky has cleared up!")

– "En, hoe is het nu?" – "Nou, de situatie leek uitzichtloos, maar nu lijkt het op te klaren!" 
("So, how are things now?" -"Well, the situation seemed hopeless, but now it looks like it’s brightening up!" ‘Uitzichtloos’ translates as something like "without a positive outlook at all"; you can also use ‘hopeloos’.)

Expressions:
– "Na regen komt zonneschijn": after a storm comes a calm. Lit.: "after rain comes sunshine".

Related words:
–
Betrekken: to become overcast, to cloud over [verb] [betrok, betrokken].

Example:
– "De lucht was opgeklaard, en nu betrekt hij weer. Wat hebben we daar nu aan?!"
("The sky cleared up, and now it’s clouding over again. What good is that to us?!")

– Onbewolkt: cloudless, clear [adjective].
– Zonnig: sunny [adjective].

Ik heb met hem te doen

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I feel sorry for him Iconspeaker_3
[Dutch phrase of the week]

5344612871_40eaf88962_z“Met iemand te doen hebben” does not translate as “to have to do with somebody” but as “to feel sorry for somebody” and implies you feel empathy for that person. Today’s phrase with “hem” is just an example of its usage, see the examples below for more. It’s quite common to emphasize with the word “echt”: I feel really sorry for him.

Note that the Dutch also use the word “sorry”, but then as an “excuse me” or a weak “I apologize”. Infamous is the “sorry hoor!” 🙂
(Photo: The Pug Father (flickr.com) – some rights reserved.)

Examples:
– “Simons vriendin heeft het uitgemaakt en nu zit hij in de put. Ik heb echt met hem te doen.” 
(“Simon’s girlfriend broke up with him and now he feels really down. I really feel sorry for him.” Lit.: “and now he sits in the pit/hole/well.)

– “Annelies had net een nieuw fietsje gekregen en toen werd het direct dezelfde dag gestolen! Ik had zo met haar te doen…” 
(“Annelies just got a new bicycle and then it got stolen the exact same day! I felt really sorry for her.” Note that the use of “fietsje” implies that Annelies is a child.)

– “Al die gestrande reizigers op het vliegveld… Je zou er maar 4 nachten moeten slapen; ik heb met ze te doen.” 
(“All those stranded travellers at the airport… Imagine having to spend 4 nights there; I feel sorry for them.” Literally “je zou” translates as “you should” but is also often used as in this example.)

– “Na al die jaren nog steeds geen promotie, het is een schande, ik heb met je te doen hoor!” 
(“After all these years still no promotion, it is a disgrace, believe me I feel sorry for you!”)

Related words:
– Medelijden: pity [noun] [het medelijden, <no plural>].
– Meeleven: to feel for, to empathize with [verb] [leefde mee, meegeleefd].

Example:
– “Wij hebben enorm met de slachtoffers meegeleefd.”
(“We really empathized with the victims.”)