1. angry [adjective/adverb]

When declining "boos", the "s" changes into a "z": "boze". See the examples.

Examples:
– "Waarom kijk je zo boos?"
("Why are you looking so angry?")

– "Frank was vandaag in een boze bui, omdat iemand zijn auto bekrast had."
("Frank was in an angry mood today, because someone scratched his car.")

– "Ik ben een beetje boos, want hij is alweer niet op komen dagen!"
("I’m a bit angry, because once again he did not show up!")

Expression:
– "Ben je boos, pluk een roos! Zet ‘m op je hoed, dan ben je morgen weer zoet!": literally this means "Are you angry, pick a rose! Put it on your hat, then you will be sweet/good tomorrow". It is actually more of a children’s rhyme and parents say it to their sulky children. Adults often use it too, but usually only the first half, since everyone assumes you know the rest 🙂

2. evil [adjective/adverb]

Examples:
– "Boze tongen beweren dat de CEO geld witwaste."
("Evil tongues claim that the CEO laundered money."

– "De boze fee veranderde de kinderen in kleine padden met één slag van haar toverstok."
("The evil fairy changed the kids into toads with one stroke of her magic wand.")

– "De boze plannen van de schurk werden verijdeld door 007."
("The villain’s evil plans were frustrated by 007.")

Expressions:
– "Dat is uit den boze!": That’s absolutely not going to happen! Lit.: That is from the evil/godless.

Related words:
– "Kwaad": angry, evil. Synonymous to "boos".
– "Kwaadaardig": malicious.
– "Nijdig": cross, angry.

cheerful, happy, glad, merry [adjective/adverb]

When declining "blij", both "blije" and "blijde" is used. The latter is more formal. See the examples.

Examples:
– "Ik ben zo blij je weer te zien!"
("I’m so glad to see you again!")

– "Daar ben ik blij om/mee."
("I’m glad about that.")

– "Ik ben erg blij met dit cadeau."
("I’m very happy/pleased with this present.")

– "Blij om dat te horen."
("Glad to hear that.")

– "Tijdens Koninginnedag zijn er overal blijde gezichten."
("At Queen’s Day there are cheerful faces everywhere.")

– "De kinderen zongen blij "drie maal drie is negen" in de klas."
("The children sang "drie maal drie is negen" merrily in class."

– "De Apostelen verkondigden de Blijde Boodschap."
("The Apostels preached the Glad Tidings.")

– "De vrouw was in blijde verwachting."
("The woman was expecting (a baby)." Lit.: "The woman was in happy expectation.")

Expressions:
– "Zo blij als een kind": very happy. Lit.: as happy as a child.

– "Iemand blij maken met een dooie mus": to get somebody (all) excited about nothing. Lit.: to make somebody happy with a dead sparrow.

Related words:
– "Blijdschap": joy, happiness.
– "Vrolijk": cheerful.

three [number]

Examples:
– “Hoe schrijf je een Romeinse drie? – III.”
(“How do you write a Roman three? – III.”)

– “Als je een harten drie hebt, kun je met de schoppen drie een paar maken.”
(“If you have a three of hearts, you can make a pair with the three of spades.”)

– “Gisteren hebben we met z’n drieën lekker gejamd op de gitaar.”
(“Yesterday, the three of us jammed the guitar alright.” In speech ‘zijn’ turns into ‘z’n’ and the latter is pronounced ‘zun’.)

– “De drie musketiers waren altijd met z’n drieën :-)”
(“The three musketeers were always with the three of them 🙂 “)

– “Franks presentatie was om drie uur afgelopen.”
(“Frank’s presentation was finished at three o’clock.”)

– “Zondag is het drie juni.”
(“Sunday it will be the third of June.”)

– “Hoofdstuk drie van dit geschiedenisboek gaat over de Neanderthalers.”
(“Chapter three of this history book is about the Neanderthals.”)

– “<man tegen vrouw, zuchtend:> Zou je hem niet eens in z’n drie zetten, schat?”
(“<husband to wife, sighing:> How about shifting to third gear, dear?” Lit.: “Wouldn’t you put it in its three now, dear?”)

Related words:
– “Derde”: third.
– “Een”: one.
– “Twee”: two.
– “Driedubbel”: threefold, treble.
– “Drietand”: trident.
– “Trio”: trio, threesome (sexually).

Expressions:
– “Niet tot drie kunnen tellen”: to be too stupid for words. Lit.: “not being able to count to three”.

– “Alle goede dingen komen in drieën”: all good things go by / come in threes.

– “Drie is te veel”: two is company, three is a crowd. Lit.: “three is too many”.

– “Als twee honden vechten om een been, loopt de derde ermee heen”: two dogs fight for a bone, and a third runs away with it.

Extra:
“Drie maal drie is negen” is a well-known children’s song that is sung by children in a group. Everytime a different child is invited to sing a song. This invitation is preceeded by everyone singing:

“Drie maal drie is negen
en ieder zingt zijn eigen lied.
Drie maal drie is negen
en <naam van kind> zingt zijn lied.”

Literally translated:
Three times three is nine
and everyone sings his own song.
Three times three is nine
and <child’s name> sings his/her song.

Often the teacher fills in de child’s name, after which the child has to sing a song of his or her choice. The rest of the group sings along (if they know the song 🙂 )

two [number]

Examples:
– "Twee maal twee is vier."
("Two times two equals four."

– "Kinderen! Twee aan twee opstellen alsjullieblieft!"
("Children! Please line up in twos / two by two!")

– "De inleiding staat op bladzijde twee."
("The introduction is on page two.")

– "Overmorgen is het twee juni."
("The day after tomorrow will be the second of June.")

– "De twee vrienden gingen op avontuur in de jungle."
("The two friends went on an adventure in the jungle.")

– "Een biertje kost vaak meer dan twee euro…belachelijk!"
("A beer often costs more than two euros…ridiculous!")

– "De moeder brak de reep chocolade in tweeën en gaf de stukken aan haar kinderen."
("The mother broke the chocolate bar in two and gave the pieces to her children.")

– "Ik ga twee keer per week hardlopen."
("I go jogging twice a week.")

– "Het is kwart voor twee."
("It’s a quarter to two.")

– "Gezellig, met z’n tweetjes op de bank!"
("Nice/cosy, (just) the two of us on the couch!")

– "Een tafel voor twee alstublieft."
("A table for two please.")

Expressions:
– "Twee ogen zien meer dan één": four eyes see more than two / two heads are better than one.

– "Als twee honden vechten om een been, loopt de derde ermee heen": two dogs fight for a bone, and a third runs away with it.

– "Een gewaarschuwd man / mens telt voor twee": forewarned, forearmed. Lit.: a warned man/human counts for two.

Related words:
– "Tweede": second.
– "Een": one.
– "Drie": three.
– "Paar": pair.
– "Dubbel": double.

In Dutch the words for the article ‘a’ and the number ‘one’ are
often spelled the same: ‘een’. However, they differ in pronunciation.
When
it is not clear from context, we write ‘één’ for ‘one’. In any case,
when you mean to say ‘one’, you have to pronounce it as ‘één’ (‘een’,
in Dutch phonetic script).

1. a [article; ‘un’]

Not much to write here 🙂 However, there is one typical Dutch use
of ‘een’. In recent years it has become popular to use ‘een’ in
combination with a person or an entity, in order to make a comparison
with the category that that person or entity belongs to. Ok, I guess an
example will clarify, see below.

Examples:
– “Er zwemt een eendje in de vijver.”
(“A (small) duck/duckling is swimming in the pond.”)

– “Grote atleten hebben in dit stadion records gebroken; ik noem een Carl Lewis, een Nelly Cooman, een Haile Gebreselassie…”
(“Great athletes have broken records in this stadium; I mention the likes of Carl Lewis, Nelly Cooman, Haile Gebreselassie…”)

– “Frank raadde zijn manager af de concurrentie aan te gaan met een KPN of een Telfort.”
(“Frank advised his manager not to compete with the likes of KPN or Telfort.)

2. one [number; ‘een’]

Examples:
– “Er zwemt één eendje in de vijver.”
(“One duck is swimming in the pond.”)

– “Niet één, maar twee eendjes zwemmen in de vijver.”
(“Not one, but two ducks are swimming in the pond.”)

– “Eén, twee, drie, vier, hoedje van, hoedje van…”
(First phrase of a classic Dutch song. The point here is that the capital E has no diacritic.)

3. equal [adverb; ‘een’]

Example:
“Alle mensen zijn een.”
(“All humans are equal.” Note that it is more common in Dutch to use the word ‘gelijk’ instead of ‘een’ in this context.)