supermarket [noun] [de supermarkt, de supermarkten]

The concept of a “supermarket” became popular in the Netherlands in the 60s. The introduction of the supermarket was a bit of a revolution as it differed very much from the traditional “kruidenier” (follow the link for a picture); small local shops named after the (often) male owner (the word “kruid” translates to “herb”).

Some people still prefer the smaller specialty shops, that often have products of better quality. Of course you pay more 🙂

In the Netherlands quite a few chains of supermarkets exist ranging in price and presentation (some would argue that service is absent in all of them, but you can get free coffee at Albert Heijn 🙂 ). Well known are Albert Heijn, C1000 and Jumbo, but there are many more (the smaller ones sometimes changing names in different regions of the country). The sizes of Dutch supermarkets are still modest compared to other countries, but Albert Heijn is making an effort with their XL concept.

Although some expats still complain about the limited opening hours of Dutch supermarkets, there used to be a time when they all closed at 6 p.m. (only in the last decade this has changed bit by bit). We would definitely have starved if that would still be the case now 😉

Examples:
– “Tot hoe laat is de supermarkt open?”
(“Until what time is the supermarket open?”)

– “Mag ik u wat vragen? Weet u een supermarkt in de buurt?”
(“Can I ask you something? Do you know of a supermarkt nearby?” Literally: “… in this neighbourhood?”)

– “Sorry, maar ze hadden geen tandpasta meer in de supermarkt.”
(“I’m sorry, but they ran out of toothpaste in the supermarket.” Literally: “they had no more toothpaste”.)

– “Voor verse groenten ga ik liever naar de groenteboer dan naar de supermarkt.”
(“For fresh vegetables I’d rather go to the greengrocery than to the supermarket.”)

Related words:
– “Markt”: market. In Dutch towns the word “Markt” is often part of names of squares or streets, such as “Grote Markt” (“big market”) or “Vismarkt” (“fish market”).
– “Boodschappen doen”: to do/buy groceries. The word “boodschap” translates to “message”.

Extra:
This video was first linked in DWOTD 3. Zakje, but is of course also applicable here. Check out this British comedian joking about Albert Heijn and the way Dutch people buy their fruit and vegetables…

love [noun] [de liefde, de liefdes]

Today we conclude the love theme with the word itself: "liefde"… Its use in Dutch is similar to its use in English.

Examples:
– "Liefde maakt blind."
("Love is blind." Literally: "Love makes blind.")

– "Franks liefde voor zijn auto lijkt groter dan de liefde voor zijn vrouw."
("Frank’s love for his car seems greater than the love for his wife."

– "Niets is sterker dan de liefde van een moeder voor haar kind."
("Nothing is stronger than the love of a mother for her child.")

– "Liefde is een vreemde ziekte." See ‘Extra’.
("Love is a strange disease.")

Related words:
– "Verliefdheid": lovesickness, infatuation, crush.
– "Smoorverliefd (op)" / "smoor (op)": <informal> very much in love (with), crazy (about), infatuated (with).
– "Stapelverliefd (op)" / "stapel (op)": synonym of "smoorverliefd" / "smoor".
– "Houden van": to love.
– "Minnaar": lover. (Usually in the context of an extramarital affair, from the verb "beminnen": to love amorously).

Expression:
– "De liefde van een man gaat door de / zijn maag."
("The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach." Literally: "A man’s love goes through his stomach.")

to make love [verb] [vrijde, gevrijd]

Those of you who have studied Dutch for a while might not have come across this verb yet. The reason is that it is not used much in daily speech. "Vrijen" can just mean "to kiss" (or "to make out", "to neck") but it can also mean "to have sex", but based on love, not just the sex.
The verb is used as a decent equivalent when one does not want or is not able to be explicit. For example, you will encounter it a lot in young girl’s magazines where a psychologist gives them advice on relationships, or in serious talk shows about love and sex.
Other decent alternatives for "vrijen" exist which you can use safely, see ‘Related words’.

In daily speech the Dutch usually just talk about "zoenen", or "seks hebben" ("to have sex"). Of course there are many slang synonyms for "vrijen" or "seks hebben". See ‘Extra’ for a (short) list.

Examples:
– "Wij vrijen niet meer samen."
("We do not longer make love.")

– "In het park kom je af en toe een vrijend stelletje tegen."
("Once in a while you (will) encounter a kissing couple in the park.")

– "Als je het gevoel hebt dat je er nog niet klaar voor bent, kun je het vrijen met je vriendje het beste uitstellen."
("If you have the feeling that you are nog quite ready for it yet, it’s best to postpone having sex with your boyfriend." Literally: "…, you can the best…")

Related words:
– "Vrijpartij": necking session.

Example:
"Na hun heerlijke vrijpartij lag het verliefde stelletje bezweet in elkaars armen."
("After their very good necking session, the amorous couple lay in each other’s arms sweating.")

– "Zoenen": to kiss.
– "Vozen": [slang] to fondle.
– "Seks hebben": to have sex.
– "Seksen": [informal] to (have) sex.
– "Geslachtsgemeenschap hebben": [formal] to have sexual intercourse.
– "De liefde bedrijven": to make love.
– "Slapen met": to sleep with.
– "Het bed delen": literally "to share the bed".

Extra:
Many explicit alternatives exist for the verb "vrijen" in its meaning of "having sex", usually derived from some kind of similar motion 🙂 The main difference is that these verbs are used when you just talk about the sex and not about the love. Also, many of them are derogatory. Its usage can differ from region to region. It is best not to use these words and first study in which cases the Dutch consider the use acceptable. But we thought you should know them nonetheless.

Here are a few with the literal translations:

– "Neuken": this is probably the best known, however mind that it is very explicit language. Originally "neuken" is a synonym for "stoten" which means "to thrust/knock". Most Dutch people don’t know this however. In modern Dutch it now only has the sexual meaning.

– "Pompen": to pump.
– "Ketsen": to ricochet.
– "Bonken": to bang, to bump.
– "Het doen": to do it.
– "Naaien": to sew.
– "Kezen": to hump.
– "Palen": to ram.
– "Rampetampen": [untranslatable].
– "Rollebollen": [untranslatable, but something like "to roll/tumble"]
– "Wippen": to hop, to lever.
– "Een vluggertje": a quicky.

An innocent expression is:
– "De koffer in duiken met iemand": to dive/jump into the suitcase with somebody.