shoe [noun] [de schoen, de schoenen]

Alright, let’s brush up on your shoe vocabulary here! It turns out that there is a lot to say about shoes in Dutch!

Look at your shoe (if you are wearing one) and repeat after me: schoen ("shoe"), zool ("sole"), veters ("(shoe)laces") and hak ("heel"). Now do you need some "schoenpoets" ("shoe polish"), or are you wearing "sportschoenen" ("running shoes", "trainers" etc.)? Possibly even "sneakers" ("sneakers")? What about "sandalen" ("sandals"), or "laarzen" ("boots"). Or do you prefer to go about "blootsvoets" ("bare foot(ed)")? (Which I don’t recommend if you have "zweetkakkies" 🙂 )

Now let’s look at some Examples, and don’t forget the Expressions (of which only a few are listed. Check out the dictionary to find more!).

Examples:
– "Ik kan mijn schoenen nergens vinden!"
("I can’t find my shoes anywhere!")

– "Morgenochtend heb ik een belangrijke presentatie dus ik moet mijn schoenen maar eens gaan poetsen."
("Tomorrow morning I have an important presentation so I guess I have to (go and) polish my shoes.")

– "Sinterklaas kapoentje, gooi wat in mijn schoentje…"
("Sinterklaas kapoentje, throw something in my shoe…" Line from children’s "Sinterklaas" song.)

– "Over het algemeen draag ik geen nette schoenen, alleen als het echt moet!"
("In general I do not wear dress shoes, only if absolutely necessary!")

– "Mevrouw, heeft u deze schoen in maat 42?"
("Miss/Madam, do you have this shoe in size 42?")

– "Laarzen, schoenen of sandalen, maakt niet uit, een ding is zeker: mijn vriendin heeft er te veel!"
("Boots, shoes or sandales, it doesn’t matter, one thing is for sure: my girlfriend has too many of them!" Note that here you have to write "te veel" and not "teveel", the latter being a noun: "surplus" ("het teveel"). By the way, this is done wrong by almost the entire Dutch population including journalists.)

Expressions:
– "Naast je schoenen lopen": literally "to walk next to your shoes", this says you’re to big for your boots (or full of conceit).
– "Stevig in je schoenen staan": to stand firm, to be sure of oneself.
– "Ik zou niet graag in zijn/haar schoenen willen staan": I wouldn’t like to be in his/her shoes.
– "Wie de schoen past, trekke hem aan": if the cap/shoe fits, wear it. Note that this is an example of the rare usage of the subjunctive in Dutch.
– "De stoute schoenen aantrekken": to do something that requires you to gather courage first, to pluck up one’s courage.

Example:
– "Weet je wat, ik trek de stoute schoenen aan, ik ga haar nu mee uit vragen."
("You know what, I’ll pluck up my courage, I’m going to ask her out right now.")

– "De schoen zetten": ‘to place/put your shoe’ this is the act of leaving your shoe somewhere hoping that Sinterklaas will leave you some candy (in your shoe).

Related words:
– (Schoen)veter: (shoe)lace [noun] [de veter, de veters].
– Laars: boot [noun] [de laarzen, de laarzen].
– Hak: heel [noun] [de hak, de hakken]. Note that in case of the heel of a foot, we say "hiel".
– Sandaal: sandal [noun] [de sandalen, de sandalen].
– Schoenen poetsen: to polish (shoes) [verb] [poetste, gepoetst].
– Schoenpoets: shoe polish [noun] [de schoenpoets, no plural].
– Schoenmaat: shoe size [noun] [de maat, de maten].
– Schoenlepel: shoehorn [noun] [de lepel, de lepels]. Note that a "lepel" is a spoon.
– Schoenenzaak: shoe shop/store [noun] [de zaak, de zaken].
– Handschoen: glove.

Extra:
When you need your shoes to be mended/repaired, you will have to find a "schoenmaker" ("shoemaker") or a "schoenmakerij" (the -ij indicates that it is a place ‘where shoes are made’). Nowadays, they don’t make shoes anymore so the common translation is that of a shoe repairman.
A "schoenmaker" is also typically the place where you’d go to have a copy made of a key.

Unfortunately there are not many traditional "schoenmakers" left and it can be difficult to find value for money. A bad example in this aspect is the "Hakkenbar" chain you will find in most bigger cities in the Netherlands. I only mention it here because the word itself is interesting: with a "hak" being the heel of the shoe, and "bar" the "bar" where you would hand over the shoes, this is an obvious choice of assonance.

"Mager" has three common translations related to body volume, quality or food.

1. slim, thin, skinny [adjective/adverb]

This is the most common translation of "mager": the opposite of "fat". We also say "dun" ("thin"), but "mager" is ‘thinner than thin’ and is more associated with not eating enough.

Examples:
– "Een collegaatje van mij is zo mager, we vragen ons af of ze wel goed eet!"
("A (female) colleague of mine is so thin, we wonder whether or not she eats properly!")

– "Veel sporten is goed voor de lijn, maar je moet niet te mager worden."
("Exercising often is good for the figure, but you shouln’t become too skinny.")

– "Kate Moss dun? Mager zal je bedoelen!"
("Kate Moss thin? You must mean skinny!")

Related words:
– Broodmager: scrawny [adjective].
– Dun: thin [adjective/adverb].
– Dik: fat [adjective/adverb].
– Afvallen: to lose weight [verb] [viel af, afgevallen].
– Aankomen: to gain weight [verb] [kwam aan, aangekomen].
– Dieet: diet [noun] [het dieet, de diëten].

2. feeble, weak, poor [adjective/adverb]

You can also use "mager" to indicate low quality or poor performance.

An interesting development in the Dutch language is that we sometimes create an informal version of an adjective by turning it into what I can best describe as a "plural diminutive". Which is weird for an adjective! 🙂 So in this case you could say that something is "magertjes". See the examples. You might also hear it applied in the first translation above. Other examples of this phenomenon are "zachtjes" (quietly) or "eventjes" (for a short while).

Examples:
– "Ik vond de bijdrage van Frank wat magertjes. Normaal gesproken levert hij betere kwaliteit!"
("I found Frank’s contribution quite poor. Usually he provides better quality!")

– "Wat een mager excuus, hij wist toch al lang dat hij dat weekend vrij moest houden in zijn agenda!"
("What a feeble excuse, surely he has known for a long time that he was supposed to block that weekend off in his calendar!" Note that Dutch people use the word "agenda" for a diary, organizer or (pocket) calendar. So don’t be sruprised when they go and "check their agenda". The Dutch like to use the English word "weekend" but we have a perfectly acceptable Dutch word for that which is "weekeinde".)

Related words:
– Matig: moderate, mediocre [adjective/adverb].
– Kwaliteit: quality [noun] [de kwaliteit, de kwaliteiten].

3. lean, meagre [adjective/adverb]

You might prefer "skimmed" milk over "semi-skimmed" milk. In the Netherlands you would then buy "magere melk" instead of "halfvolle melk". Note that "halfvol" literally means "half full". If a Dutch person ever asks you about "full milk", then probably he or she means "whole milk".

Regarding food you might hear "magere kost" ("lean fare") or "mager vlees" ("lean meat").

friend [noun] [de vriend, de vrienden]

The translation is obvious and the usage is obvious, however… This noun is a typical example of a noun of which the diminutive has a specific meaning. "Vriendje" is used for a friend of a small boy (if also small of course), but also for a "boyfriend"… The same is true when "vriend" is used with a possessive pronoun, e.g. "mijn".
If you want to avoid strange looks don’t say "dit is mijn vriend",  when you mean to say "this is a friend of mine", but say "dit is een vriend van mij" instead. Note that in fact "dit is mijn vriend" translates to "this is my friend" so grammatically there is no issue 🙂

This subtlety also exists with the female version: "vriendin".

"Vriend" can also be used in the meaning of "mate" or "dude". See also DWOTD Makker.

Examples:
– "Mag ik je aan mijn vriend voorstellen?"
("May I introduce you to my boyfriend?")

– "Ik durf het bijna niet te vragen, maar ben jij nu mijn vriendje?"
("I’m a bit shy to ask, but are you now my boyfriend?")

– "Dit is een vriend van mij. Ik ken hem nog van vroeger."
("This is a friend of mine. We’ve been friends since we were young / We’ve been friends for a long time." Literally: I know him from the old days.)

– "Dit is mijn vriend. Eh, ik bedoel, dit is een vriend van mij."
("This is my (boy)friend. Err, I mean, this is a friend of mine.")

– "Als je wint, heb je vrienden."
("When you win, you have friends." Line from the song "Als je wint" by "Doe Maar", a famous Dutch eighties ska/reggae/pop band.)

– "Op deze manier maak je geen vrienden gast, ik zou maar even dimmen als ik jou was!"
("You don’t make yourself popular this way mate, I would take it a little easier if I were you!" Literally: "This way you don’t make friends…")

Related words:
– Vriendelijk: friendly [adverb/adjective].
– Vriendschappelijk: friendly, amicable [adverb/adjective] (as in "a friendly match").
– Maat/maatje/makker: popular slang synonyms for "vriend" [noun] [de maat/het maatje/de makker, de maatjes/de makkers].
– Vriendschap: friendship [noun] [de vriendschap, no plural].

Example:
– "Een keer trek je de conclusie, vriendschap is een illusie."
("One time you will draw the conclusion, friendschip is an illusion." Famous line from the song "Vriendschap" by the Dutch eighties band "Het goede doel".)

Extra:
Toon Hermans was a Dutch comedian who was very popular in the fifties and sixties. He wrote the well-known poem "Vriend". You might see it on a "wc-tegeltje" if you visit elderly Dutch people. It goes:

"Je hebt iemand nodig, stil en oprecht,
Die als het erop aankomt, voor je bidt of voor je vecht.
Pas als je iemand hebt, die met je lacht en met je grient,
Dan pas kun je zeggen, ik heb een vriend."

Some help on the translation: "oprecht" translates to "sincere". The verb "grienen" is a synonym for "huilen", but is not used much anymore.