Category Archives: Dutch phrase of the week

Al doende leert men

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you learn as you go along, one lives and learns, experience is the best teacher 
[Dutch phrase of the week]
[al doen-de leert men]

AlDoendeLeertMen Literally ‘al doende leert men’ translates as ‘while (busy) doing one learns’. In general you can use a similar construction when describing an activity that takes place during another, e.g. ‘al lopende telefoneerde hij’, however it is not very common and more often you will see ‘hij telefoneerde lopend’ (‘he phoned (/ was using his phone) while walking’).

Examples:
– “Mijn laptop is gecrasht en nu ben ik al mijn bestanden kwijt!” – “Je moet ook altijd een backup maken!” – “Ik weet het 🙁 Ach, al doende leert men!” 
(“My laptop crashed and now I have lost all my files!” – “Well, you must always make a backup!” – “I know 🙁 Oh well, you learn as you go along…” Note that ‘gecrasht’ is the Dutch equivalent of the English past participle ‘crashed’. Often you will see ‘gecrashed’, but that’s incorrect; even when a verb is of foreign origin, its conjugation is done as if the verb was Dutch.)

– “Ik heb het helemaal verkeerd aangepakt met Antoinette, ik had naar haar moeten luisteren in plaats van haar te veroordelen. Nu wil ze me niet meer zien…” – “Tja, al doende leert men jongen, volgende keer moet je het anders doen.” 
(“I went about it completely the wrong way with Antoinette, I should have listened to her instead of condemning her. Now she doesn’t want to see me again…” – “You learn as you go along man, next time you have to do it differently.”)

– “Ik was te laat voor mijn sollicitatiegesprek doordat de trein vertraging had. Ik had gewoon een trein eerder moeten nemen. Al doende leert men, zal ik maar zeggen, maar het is mooi balen.” 
(“I was late for my job interview because the train was delayed. I should have taken one train earlier. I guess it’s a matter of learning from your mistakes, but this really sucks.”)

– “Al doende leert men, dus ik ga niet nog een keer de weg op in een sneeuwstorm.” 
(“Experience is the best teacher, so next time there is a snow storm, no way I’m going on the road.”)

Related words:
– Ervaring: experience [noun] [de ervaring, de ervaringen].
– Leren: to learn [verb] [leerde, geleerd].

Example:
– “Ik heb veel geleerd van deze moeilijke periode in mijn leven.”
(“I have learned a lot from this tough period in my life.”)

– Doen: to do [verb] [deed, gedaan].

Zo zoetjesaan

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gradually, little by little 
[Dutch phrase of the week]
[zo zoet-jes aan]

Horloge geeft aan dat het tijd is I don’t particularly encourage you to use this phrase, however you may encounter it. It seems to be a favourite phrase among Dutch translators of Haruki Murakami‘s work. Which makes it a nice ‘Guru’ phrase of the week. “Zo zoetjesaan” is often used in the construction “Het wordt zo zoetjesaan tijd …” – “It’s (getting to be) about time …”

Note that ‘zoetjesaan’ is often misspelled as ‘zoetjes aan’. I actually had to correct this post because I did it myself!

Examples:
– “Het wordt zo zoetjesaan tijd om naar huis te gaan.” – “Nu al? Het feest begint net!”  – “Ja sorry, we moeten morgen vroeg op.” 
(“It’s starting to get late, we should really go home.” – “Already? The party is just starting!” – “Yeah, we’re sorry, we have to get up early tomorrow!” Note “vroeg op moeten” requires no additonal verb, ‘op’ implies ‘getting up / rising’.)

– “Ik begin jouw gezeur zo zoetjesaan zat te worden. Kun je nu nooit eens iets positiefs zeggen?!” 
(“I’m starting to get tired of your whining. Why can’t you ever say something positive?!”)

– “We gaan zo zoetjesaan eens beginnen, heeft iedereen zijn koffie op?”
(“It’s about time to get started, has everybody finished their coffee?”)

– “Ik begin zo zoetjesaan honger te krijgen, waar blijft die bezorger?!” 
(“I’m starting to feel hungry/peckish, what is taking that delivery guy so long?!”)

Related words:
– Zoet: sweet [adjective].
– Zoet: sweet (things) [noun] [het zoet, <no plural>].

Example:
– “Ik hou niet van zoet op brood.”
(“I don’t care for sandwiches with sweet fillings.” Note that this sentence only makes sense in Dutch, with our chocolate sprinkles variations and all…)

Het is erop of eronder!

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make or break, sink or swim, the moment of truth 
[Dutch phrase of the week]
[het is er-op of er-on-der]

Cowboy op stier vertrekt uit startblokkenLiterally “erop of eronder” translates as “on it (/on top) or under it (/underneath)”. It can be used in that translation, for example to determine where an object needs to be placed. Without context, when you say something is “erop of eronder”, you are saying that this is the moment of truth, you will fail or succeed, make or break.

Examples:
– “Dit is de laatste kans om een medaille te winnen, het is erop of eronder voor Sven Kramer.” 
(“This is the last chance to win a medal, it’s make or break for Sven Kramer.”)

– “Het is erop of eronder jongens, ik verwacht van iedereen een maximale inzet!” 
(“It’s sink or swim time boys, I expect everbody to give everything they have! Lit. “… I expect a maximum effort from everybody.”)

– “Moet je zo dadelijk je eindpresentatie geven?” – “Ja, het is erop of eronder…” 
(“Is it time for your final presentation” – “Yeah, the moment of truth…” Lit. “Do you have to give your final presentation in a moment?”)

– “Het was erop of eronder voor Ajax afgelopen zondag, want FC Twente had aan één punt genoeg…” 
(“It was make or break time for Ajax last Sunday, as F.C. Twente only needed one point…”)

Expressions:
– “Nu of nooit”: now or never.
– “Het moment van de waarheid”: the moment of truth.

Related words:
– Erop: on it, on top, on them [adverb].
– Eronder: under it, underneath, under them [adverb].

De hele reutemeteut

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the whole lot, everything, the whole shebang 
[Dutch phrase of the week]
[de he-le reu-te-me-teut]

De_hele_reutemeteut You can use this informal phrase to indicate that you mean 'the whole lot'. It can cover things and people. In case of things, it's usually 'rubbish' or 'junk'. "Reutemeteut" is derived from "reut" ('jumble', 'bunch') which in its turn is related to the old Dutch noun 'rot', meaning 'row of soldiers'. German readers may recognize the word 'Rotte'. The original phrase was 'de hele reut', but both this phrase and 'reut' are not used anymore.

Examples:
– "Met wie was jij op Koninginnedag?" – "O, met Marieke, Roel, Bart-Jan, je weet wel, de hele reutemeteut." 
("Who were you with on Queen's day?" – "Oh, with Marieke, Roel, Bart-Jan, you know, the whole lot.")

– "We gaan het restaurant verbouwen." – "Wat ga je doen dan?" – "We gaan alles vernieuwen; de keuken, de tafels, nieuw behang, de hele reutemeteut." 
("We are going to renovate the restaurant." – "Well, what are you going to do?" – "We are going to renew everything; the kitchen, the tables, new wallpaper, the whole shebang.")

– "We moesten ons allemaal melden bij de directeur. Het ondersteunend personeel, de hogere managementlagen, het kantinepersoneel, de hele reutemeteut!" 
("We all had to report to the director. The supporting personnel, the higher management layers, the cantine staff, everybody!")

– "Schiet het op met het leegruimen van het huis?" – "Niet echt, we moeten van alles uitzoeken, maar het liefst zou ik de hele reutemeteut het raam uitgooien!" 
("Are you making progress cleaning out the house?" – "Not really, we have a lot to go through, but I would really like to just throw everything out of the window!")

Expressions:
– "De hele mikmak": like 'de hele reutemeteut' but then for things.
– "Alles en iedereen": one and all, all and sundry. Lit. "everything and everybody".

Related words:
– Troep: mess, junk, rubbish [noun] [de troep, <no plural>].
– Rommel: junk, rubbish [noun] [de rommel, <no plural>].

Daar heb je het al!

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there you/we go, I told you so, don’t say I didn’t warn you 
[Dutch phrase of the week]
[daar heb je het al]

DaarHebJeHetAl Literally 'daar heb je het al' translates as 'there have you it already'. Basically it confirms something that was to be expected, but not necessarily it emphasizes that the other one should have known it was going to happen.

Examples:
– "Daar heb je het al! We staan weer stil! De trein nemen naar Brussel is altijd gedoe!" 
("There we go! And… we have come to a complete stop again! Taking the train to Brussels is always a fuss!")

– "Tja, het is nu even afwachten wat er gaat gebeuren. O, daar heb je het al, de politie komt er al aan…" 
("Well, now we just have to wait and see what is going to happen… Oh, indeed as expected, the police are arriving…")

– "Ja, daar heb je het al, ik ben nog niet uitgesproken of jullie beginnen al weer te klieren!" 
("Why I am not surprised?! I have not yet finished speaking and you are starting to act up again!" Note that 'klieren' is like 'deliberately being very annoying', 'being a pest' etc. It's typically used for young children or teen-agers 🙂 )

– "Daar heb je het al! Wat heeft mama nou gezegd? Eerst je veters strikken en dan pas gaan lopen, nu moeten we weer naar de dokter!" 
("Don't say I didn't warn you! What did mommy tell you? Tie your (shoe)laces/strings before you start walking, now we have to go see a doctor again!")

– "Daar heb je het al, ik gebruik één keer het woord pruim, en jij moet er weer iets seksueels van maken!" 
("There we go again, I use the word prune once, and you have to turn it into something sexual again!")

Expressions:
– "Ik zei het toch!": I told you so!
– "Zie je nu wel!": I told you so, that's exactly as I said it would be, etc.

Example:
– "Zie je nu wel! Hij komt weer niet opdagen, net als vorige keer, ik had het toch gezegd?"
("I told you so! Once again he does not show up, just like last time, I said this was going to happen, didn't I?")

Related words:
– Verwachting: expectation [noun] [de verwachting, de verwachtingen].