Category Archives: Dutch word of the day

Dankjewel

Posted on by

thank you, thanks [adverb]

"Dankjewel" translates to something like "thank you kindly" and actually consists of the three words "dank", "je" and "wel".

"Dankjewel" is an informal way to say "thank you" because here you use the informal second person "je".

Variations:
1. "Dankuwel": respectful form with the formal second person "u". This also works for the second person plural.

2. "Dankjulliewel": informal second person plural ("jullie").

Related words:
1. The verb "bedanken": to thank (someone).

Example:
"De voorzitter bedankte Léa voor haar toewijding."
("The chairman thanked Léa for her dedication.")

2. "Graag gedaan". This is the Dutch equivalent of "you are welcome" and a good practise of the ‘g-sound’. It means something like "done with pleasure".

3. "Alsjeblieft/alstublieft". Use either one if "graag gedaan" is too hard for you to pronounce.

Extra: ways to say thank you
Many ways to say "thank you" exist in the Dutch language.
Here are some more examples:

1. "Bedankt": thanks. A quick way to say thank you, for formal and informal use.

2. "Bedankt hè!": adding the very Dutch "hè" makes this a popular way to say thank you.

3. "Dank": like "bedankt" but less used on its own.

An example in which "dank" is more commonly used:

"Frank heeft het rapport gisteren verstuurd, waarvoor dank."
("Frank sent out the report yesterday, for which we thank him." Literally: "…, for which thanks.")

4. "Hartelijk dank": a bit formal and friendly (something like "hearty/cordial thanks").

5. "Dank u vriendelijk": other variation on "thank you kindly".

6. "Dank u/je": like "bedankt".

You will also hear:

7. "Vriendelijk bedankt": yet another variation on "thank you kindly".

8. "Ontzettend bedankt": something like "thanks awfully".

9. "Heel erg bedankt": thank you very much.

10. "Dank u zeer": thanks a lot (formal; the informal equivalent is not used).

Boom

Posted on by

tree [noun] [de boom, de bomen]

Examples:
1. "In de herfst verliezen de meeste bomen hun bladeren."
("During autumn, most trees lose their leaves.")

2. "De eikenboom was meer dan 200 jaar oud."
("The oak tree was more than 200 years old.")

3. "Heb je de kerstboom al opgezet?"
("Have you put up the Christmas tree yet?")

Expressions:
In Dutch lots of expressions exist with "boom". Here are a few:

1. "Een boom van een vent."
("A very big, tall guy", literally: "A tree of a guy".)

2. "Door de bomen het bos niet meer zien."
("Not able to see the wood for the trees.")

3. "Hoge bomen vangen veel wind."
("The bigger they are, the harder they fall", literally: "High trees catch a lot of wind".)

4. "De kat uit de boom kijken."
("Wait to see which way the wind blows / which way the cat jumps", literally: "To look the cat out of the tree".)

5. "De appel valt niet ver van de boom."
("The apple never falls far from the tree.")

6. "Je kunt de boom in!"
("(You can) get lost!", literally: "You can go up the tree!")

7. "Huisje, boompje, beestje."
("Suburban bliss" / "marital bliss in the suburbs" / (pejorative) "a boring suburban existence", literally: "Little house, little tree, little (pet)animal".)

Related Words:
1. "Blad": leaf, see also 28. Blad.
2. "Tak": branch.
3. "Twijg": twig.
4. "Wortel (van een boom)": root (of a tree).
5. "Bos": forest, bush.
6. "Woud": woods.
7. "Hout": wood (the material).
8. "Kerstboom": Christmas tree.

Spijkerbroek

Posted on by
Grammar: <spijker> <broek> [noun] [de spijkerbroek, de spijkerbroeken].

Translates to: (pair of) jeans (literally: (pair of) nail trousers).

"Spijkerbroek" consists of two words:
1. "Spijker": nail.
2. "Broek": pair of trousers, pants.
The name "jeans" is derived from the name of the Italian city where jeans were first created: Genova (source: wikipedia). Although popular English words are quite commonly used in the Dutch language, and the same holds for "jeans", the Dutch "spijkerbroek" is still in favour. In the 1850s Levi Strauss had a customer who suggested to reinforce the points of strain on the jeans with copper rivets. These look a bit like nails and that is why we talk about "nail pants/trousers"!
Examples:
1. "Morgen ga ik de stad in om een nieuwe spijkerbroek te kopen."
("Tomorrow I am going downtown to buy a new pair of jeans.")
2. "Mijn favoriete spijkerbroekenmerk is Diesel."
("Diesel is my favourite jeans brand.")
Related word:
"Hamer": hammer. See "DWOTD (46): Hamer".
Extra:
Read more on the history of jeans at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeans.
The word "spijkerbroek" appeared earlier in "DWOTD (47): Das " and "DWOTD (63): Rits".

Herhaling

Posted on by

Grammar: <herhaling> [noun] [de herhaling, de herhalingen].

Translates to: repetition, repeat.

The verb that goes with "herhaling" is "herhalen": to repeat, to revise.

In Dutch, verbs that represent an action that is repeated often start with "her" or "re".

Examples:
1. "De trein naar Brussel vertrekt van spoor 4. Herhaling: de trein naar … "
("The train to Brussels leaves from track 4. Repeat: the train to …")

2. "Mijn telefoonnummer is 070-1123581. Ik herhaal: mijn telefoonnummer …"
("My telephone number is … . I repeat: my …")

3. "Kunt u dat herhalen? Mijn Nederlands is nog niet zo goed."
("Can you repeat that? My Dutch is not yet that good.")

4. "De eerste twee lessen herhalen we de stof van het afgelopen jaar."
("The first two lessons we revise last year’s material.")

Related word:
"Repetitie": rehearsal (for a show), test (in high school, comprehensive school).

Examples:
1. "Vanavond hebben we generale repetitie."
("Tonight we have the final rehearsal.")

2. "Morgen heb ik repetitie Wiskunde."
("Tomorrow I have a math test.")

Rits

Posted on by
zipper, series, row, collection, bunch
[noun]
[de rits, de rit-sen]

You can turn "rits" into a verb by adding -en. The verb "ritsen" translates to "to zip (up)" or can be used for merging lanes, see Extra below.

Examples:
– "Spijkerbroeken hebben nu vaak knoopjes in plaats van een rits."
("Nowadays, jeans often have buttons instead of a zipper.")

– "Je rits staat open!"
("Your zipper is open!")

– "In de wachtkamer lag een hele rits tijdschriften op tafel."
("In the waiting room, a whole bunch of magazines was lying on the table.)

Extra:
In the Netherlands, the verb "ritsen" has also become known in the context of cars joining traffic on a motorway lane, especially when four lanes become three, or three lanes become two. The government even shows tv commercials on how the "ritsen" should be performed, that is: one a time!

Writer’s note:
The Dutch are known to be tolerant people. This is only superficially true. The Dutch are essentially arrogant and selfish on the motorway at the point where "ritsen" takes place. Maybe this is a way to blow off some steam after all the tolerance 🙂

A Dutch driver’s motto is "traffic is war" but of course this is still nothing compared to other countries 😉