Category Archives: Dutch word of the day

Rechtbank

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court of law/justice Iconspeaker_3
[noun]
[de recht-bank, de recht-ban-ken] Rechtbank

You'd better stay away from them – unless you're in the audience to see Wilders from up close ;-) A "rechtbank" is a court of law. "Recht" is Dutch for "law" or "justice" and you will see this word appear in all forms: the judge is a "rechter", to become a judge he studied law ("rechten" or "rechtsgeleerdheid"), and it's his duty to deliver judgement ("rechtspreken") for the sake of justice ("gerechtigheid"). Literally, "recht" is "straight". 

Examples:
– "De rechtszaak wordt morgen behandeld door de rechtbank." 
("The lawsuit will be addressed by the court tomorrow.")

– "Als een juridische zaak spoedeisend is, wordt een kort geding aangespannen bij de rechtbank." 
("If a legal matter is urgent, it is discussed in summary proceedings at the court.")

– "Ga je de zaak (in der minne) schikken of ga je hem voor de rechtbank brengen?" 
("Are you going to settle the matter (amicably) or will you take it to court?")

– "Omdat een van de getuigen onwel werd, werd de zitting verdaagd." 
("Because one of the witnesses became unwell, the court was adjourned.")

– "Het Internationaal Joegoslavië Tribunaal in Den Haag klaagde Milosevic in 1999 aan; in 2002 verscheen hij voor de rechtbank." 
("The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague charged Milosevic in 1999; he appeared before the court in 2002.")

– "<Plaatje:> Politicus Wilders werd verdedigd door een van de bekendste advocaten van Nederland, Moszkowicz, en vrijgesproken." 
("<Picture:> Politician Wilders was defended by one of Netherlands' best best-known lawyers, Moszkowicz, and was acquitted of all charges.")

Expressions:
– "Recht doen (aan iets)": to do justice (to something).
– "Voor het gerecht dagen": to summon.
– "Een zaak aanhangig maken": To bring a case before the court.

Related words:
– Recht: the justice, the law [noun] [het recht, <no plural>].
– Wet: the law [noun] [de wet, de wetten].
– Tribunaal: the tribunal [noun] [het tribunaal, de tribunalen].
– Rechter: the judge [noun] [de rechter, de rechters].
– Advocaat: the lawyer [noun] [de advocaat, de advocaten].
– Gedaagde: the defendant [noun] [de gedaagde, de gedaagden].
– Gerechtshof: the court of law/justice [noun] [het gerechtshof, de gerechtshoven].
– Wetboek van Strafrecht: the penal/criminal code [noun] [het Wetboek van Strafrecht, <no plural>].
– Openbaar Ministerie: the Public Prosecutor [noun] [het Openbaar Ministerie, <no plural>].

Extra:
The difference between "rechtbank" and "gerechtshof" is that the former is the District Court and the latter the Court of Appeal.

Presentator

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presenter Iconspeaker_3
[noun]
[de pre-sen-ta-tor, de pre-sen-ta-tors / de pre-sen-ta-to-ren]

Willemruis In general a "presentator" (or "presentatrice" when female) is somebody who presents something. However, we mostly use it for radio or tv shows. When you give a lecture/presentation or are a speaker at a conference, we say "spreker". Somebody who introduces all speakers could be a "presentator" but can also be referred to as "gastheer" or "gastvrouw" ('host/hostess').

The related verb is "presenteren" ('to present'). A presentation is a "presentatie".

Examples:
– "Ik vind het een leuk programma, maar die presentator trek ik voor geen meter." 
("I like the show, but the presenter annoys me enormously." Lit.:"I think the show is nice, but…" Note the expressions "het niet trekken" (not being able to stand it, to not last long) and "voor geen meter" (not at all). )

– "De presentator van de middagsessie was bijna niet te verstaan. Gelukkig waren de sprekers wel goed." 
("The host of the afternoon session could hardly be heard. Luckily the speakers (themselves) were good." Here we use "wel" to emphasize that they were good as opposed to the host who was not.)

– "Een bekende Nederlandse tv-presentator uit de jaren tachtig is Willem Ruis." 
("A well-known Dutch TV host from the eighties is Willem Ruis.")

Related words:
– Presenteren: to present [verb] [presenteerde, gepresenteerd].
– Presentatie: presentation [noun] [de presentatie, de presentaties].

Example:
– "Sorry maar ik kan vanavond niet uit; ik moet morgenvroeg een belangrijke presentatie geven." – "Nou en, lekker belangrijk!"
("I'm sorry but I can't go out tonight; tomorrow morning I have to give an important presentation." – "So what, who cares?!")

– Gastheer/vrouw: host/hostess [noun] [de gastheer/vrouw, de gastheren/vrouwen].
– Spreken:to speak/talk [verb] [sprak, gesproken].

Example:
– "Volgende week ga ik naar een conferentie." – "Leuk, moet je ook spreken of ga je alleen luisteren?"
("Next week I'm going to a conference." – "Nice, do you also have to present or are just attending?" Lit. "… or are you only going to listen?")

– Spreker: speaker [noun] [de spreker, de sprekers]. 

 

Tig

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(so) many, a lot of Iconspeaker_3 Tig
[indefinite numeral]
[tig]

A you may know, a lot of Dutch numerals end with "-tig", for example: "twintig" (twenty), "dertig" (thirty), "veertig" (forty), etc. Now, the suffix "tig" can also be used separately, as an indefinte numeral that translates to "(so) many" or "a lot of".

"Tig" can also be used in combination with "honderd" (hundred), "duizend" (thousand), "miljoen" (million), "miljard" (billion), etc. See the Examples.

The use of "tig" is informal.

Examples:
– "Ik heb tig keer gebeld om de reis te annuleren, maar ik krijg steeds een antwoordapparaat." 
("I've called many times to cancel the trip, but I keep getting an answering machine.")

– "Ik heb haar tig standjes gegeven, maar ze wil niet luisteren." 
("I've given her a lot of reprimands, but she won't listen.")

– "Ik heb de TV van mijn oma al tig keer ingesteld, maar ze slaagt er iedere keer weer in de afstandsbediening kwijt te raken…" 
("I've set up my grandmother's TV so many times already, but every time she manages to lose the remote control…")

– "Ik heb geen zin om tig honderd euro te betalen voor een bekeuring…" 
("I don't feel like paying hundreds of euros on a fine…")

Related words:
– Vaak: often, many times [adverb].

Example:
– "Ik heb Franks bouwvakkersdecolleté te vaak gezien. Er zijn grenzen."
("I've seen Frank's builders cleavage too often. There are limits.")

– Veel: many, much [adverb/indefinite numeral].

Example:
– "Dit wordt me te veel, ik peer 'm."
("This is getting too much for me, I'm out of here.")

Overleven

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to survive Iconspeaker_3
[verb]
[o-ver-le-ven, o-ver-leef-de, o-ver-leefd]

Overleven "Overleven" can be used both in the meaning of "to live through" and "to outlive". The related noun is "overlevende": survivor. Which is very different from an "overledene": deceased.

You may encounter the English noun "survival" in Dutch conversation; sometimes we use the English expression "survival of the fittest" instead of the Dutch alternative "recht van de sterkste(n)" or somebody may "op survival gaan" meaning he/she is going on a survival trip.

Examples:
– "Hoe gaan we dit in godsnaam overleven?" 
("How in God's name are we going to survive this?")

– "Hoe was je eerste werkdag?" – "Ach ja, ik heb het weer overleefd hè!" 
("How was your first day at work?" – "Oh well, I've survived it (you know)!")

– "De president heeft de aanslag overleefd, echter, drie van zijn lijfwachten zijn omgekomen." 
("The president survived the attack, however, three of his body-guards were killed." Note the verb "omkomen": to die, to be killed, to perish.)

– "En we kunnen weer rustig ademhalen mensen, het Nederlands elftal heeft de eerste ronde overleefd." 
("And we can breath comfortably again people, the Dutch team has survived the first round." Without context "Het Nederlands elftal" usually refers to the Dutch national team football/soccer, which consists of 11 players hence 'elftal'.)

– "Het stamhoofd heeft zijn kinderen reeds overleefd en lijkt vooralsnog niet van plan het loodje te leggen." 
("The tribal chief has already outlived his children and seemingly has no intention to die just yet." Note the informal expression "het loodje leggen": to kick the bucket, turn up one's toes, etc.)

– "Wanneer men in de jungle wil overleven, moet men niet te kritisch zijn wat eten betreft." 
("When one wants to survive in the jungle, one must not be too critical when it comes to food.")

Related words:
– Overlevende: survivor [noun] [de overlevende, de overlevenden].

Example:
– "Helaas zijn er geen overlevenden van de vliegramp."
("Unfortunately there are no survivors of the plane crash.")

– Overleving: survival [noun] [de overleving, <no plural>].

Annuleren

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to cancel Iconspeaker_3
[verb]
[an-nu-le-ren, an-nu-leer-de, ge-an-nu-leerd]

Vertrekhal3 "Annuleren" is the general verb for "to cancel". When cancelling appointments or meetings with friends it is common to use the verb "afzeggen", see the Related words.

Examples:
– "Zullen we gewoon dit hotel boeken? We kunnen altijd nog annuleren…" 
("Why don't we just book this hotel? We can always cancel…")

– "Ja, mama ziet nu een schermpje met de knoppen 'OK' en 'Annuleren'. Wat moet ik nu doen? Kun je wat harder praten, mama kan je niet horen." 
("Yes, now mama sees a small window with two buttons 'OK' and 'Cancel'. What should I do next? Can you speak a little louder, mama can't hear you.")

– "Goedemiddag, u spreekt met Hans de Groot. Ik zou graag mijn reservering annuleren." 
("Good afternoon, this is Hans de Groot speaking. I would like to cancel my reservation.")

– "Het concert van vanavond is geannuleerd. U kunt uw geld terugkrijgen bij de kassa." 
("Tonight's concert has been cancelled. You can get your money back at the box/booking office.")

– "Het spijt me, maar uw vlucht is geannuleerd. Ik kan u omboeken naar de vlucht van 15u45." 
("I'm sorry, but your flight has been cancelled. I can book you on the 15h45 flight." )

Expressions:
– "Ergens van afzien": to decide not to do something, to think better of something.

Example:
– "Ik heb er nog even over nagedacht en ik zie toch af van de verkoop. Mijn excuses."
("I gave it some more thought and I've decided not to sell after all. My apologies.")

Related words:
– Afzeggen: to cancel [verb] [zei/zegde af, afgezegd]. Typically used for meetings/appointments.

Example:
– "Je zou toch weggaan vanavond?" – "Klopt, maar het gaat niet door, Frank heeft op het laatste moment afgezegd."
("Weren't you supposed to go out/away tonight?" – "Correct, but it was called off, Frank cancelled at the last moment.")

– Bevestigen: to confirm [verb] [bevestigde, bevestigd].
– Reserveren: to reserve [verb] [reserveerde, gereserveerd].
– Annulering: cancellation [noun] [de annulering, de annuleringen].
– Verzekering: insurance [noun] [de verzekering, de verzekeringen].
– Annuleringsverzekering: cancellation insurance [noun] [de ~verzekering, de ~verzekeringen].

Example:
– "Ik kan niet op vakantie gaan want ik ben ziek geworden. Gelukkig heb ik een annuleringsverzekering…"
("I can't go on holiday because I fell ill. Luckily I have cancellation insurance.")