string
[noun]
[de snaar, de sna-ren]

A "snaar" is a string. "Snaar" is commonly used in the context of a stringed instrument. The snares in a snare drum are also called "snaren" in Dutch.

Be careful, don’t mix up "snaar" with the Dutch "string", which is a thong…

Examples:
– "Een viool heeft vier snaren, een gitaar heeft er zes." 
("A violin has four strings, a guitar has six." See also Extra)

– "Ken jij de Snaartheorie?" – "Zeker, ik heb natuurkunde gestudeerd." 
("Do you know the String theory?" – "Sure, I studied physics.")

– "Je gitaar is vals, misschien moet je er nieuwe snaren opzetten." 
("Your guitar is out of tune, maybe you should put new strings on it.")

Expressions:
– "Een gevoelige snaar raken": to touch (upon) a tender string, to strike a sensitive chord.

Example:
– "Heb je hem al gevraagd of hij wil trouwen?" – "Nee, dat raakt een gevoelige snaar…"
("Have you already asked him if he wants to get married?" – "No, that touches upon a tender string…")

Related words:
– Touw: rope [noun] [het touw, de touwen].
– Stemmen: to tune [verb] [stemmen, stemde, h. gestemd].

Example:
– "Gebruik jij voor het stemmen van je gitaar een stemapparaat of een ouderwetse stemvork?"
("Do you use a tuning device or an old-fashioned tuning fork for tuning your guitar?")

– Snaarinstrument: stringed instrument (lit.: string instrument, e.g. a harp) [noun] [het snaarinstrument, de snaarinstrumenten].
– Strijkinstrument: stringed instrument (lit.: stroke instrument, e.g. a cello) [noun] [het strijkinstrument, de strijkinstrumenten].
– De sectie strijkinstrumenten (in een orkest) / de strijkers: the string section in an orchestra / the strings.
– Spanning: tension [noun] [de spanning, de spanningen].
– Fijnbesnaard: tender, susceptible, sensitive, delicate, subtle [adjective].

Extra:
To memorize the standard tuning of a guitar, there’s a simple mnemonic in Dutch: Een Aap Die Geen Bananen eet: E – A – D – G – B – e. Literally: a monkey that doesn’t eat bananas 🙂

1. to perform, to act (as/against), to appear
[verb]
[op-tre-den, trad op, op-ge-tre-den]

"Optreden" is both a verb and a noun (see 2. below). You will use it in two main contexts: an artistic performance or to take action (against).

Examples:
– "De ME trad hard op tegen de protestanten." 
("The riot police acted forcefully against the protesters." The "ME" in Dutch is the "mobiele eenheid": riot police or "anti-riot squad", literally "mobile/agile unit". Note that a "protestant" in Dutch can also mean a "Protestant".)

– "Tegen dit soort gedrag moet direct worden opgetreden!" 
("We have to take measures against this kind of behaviour immediately!" Lit.: "Against this kind of behaviour measures must be taken immediately.")

– "Wat was ook alweer de eerste film waarin Tom Cruise optrad?" 
("What was that movie again in which Tom Cruise made his first appearance?" Lit.: "…the first movie in which Tom Cruise appeared?")

– "Als je je als artiest wil ontwikkelen, moet je regelmatig optreden." 
("If you want to develop yourself as an artist, you have to perform regularly.")

Related words:
– Handelen: to take action [verb] [handelde, gehandeld].
– Actie ondernemen: to take action [verb] [ondernam actie, actie ondernomen].

Example:
– "Na de zoveelste klacht ondernam de gemeente eindelijk actie."
("After the umpteenth complaint, the city council finally took action.")

2. action, way of acting, performance, show

[noun]
[het op-tre-den, de op-tre-dens]

Examples:
– "Het gewapend optreden tegen de protestanten was disproportioneel." 
("The armed action against the protesters was disproportional.")

– "Het optreden van de danseres werd door de recensenten omschreven als dodelijk saai." 
("The critics described the dancer’s performance as dead boring." Note that "danseres" is a female dancer.)

– "Ik kan mij mijn eerste optreden nog erg goed herinneren." 
("I remember my first performance very clearly.")

cauliflower
[noun]
[de bloem-kool, de bloem-ko-len]

“Bloemkool” is composed of “bloem” and “kool”, which respectively translate to “flower” and “cabbage”. In the Netherlands, “bloemkool” is considered a “wintergroente”: a winter vegetable, i.e. a vegetable that is mostly eaten during the winterseason. Of course, it’s perfectly legal to eat “bloemkool” in the spring, summer and autumn too 🙂

“Bloemkool” is traditionally served with a “papje”: a sauce (lit.: little porridge, see also Extra). It is usually a white sauce, also called “melksaus” (milk sauce), which is made from milk, butter, flour, pepper, salt and nutmeg…

Examples:
– “Hou jij ook van bloemkool?” – “Ja, heerlijk!” 
(“Do you also like cauliflower” – “Yes, delicious!”)

– “Vanavond eten we bloemkool!” – “Mij best.” 
(“We’re having cauliflower tonight!” – “Fine with me.”)

– “Echte hollandse kost! Bloemkool met een papje…” – “Smakelijk eten!” 
(“A real Dutch meal! Cauliflower with sauce…” – “Bon appetit!”)

– “De bloemkolen waren uitverkocht in de supermarkt.” 
(“The cauliflowers were sold out in the supermarket.”)

Expressions:
– “Grote bloemkolen”: <sexist> big boobs.

Related words:
– Kool: cabbage [noun] [de kool, de kolen].
– Groente: vegetable [noun] [de groente, de groentes].

Example:
– “Iedere dag twee ons groente en twee stuks fruit.”
(“Every day, two ‘ons’ of vegetables en two pieces of fruit.” ; health campaign slogan by the Dutch government. Note that an ‘ons’ in Dutch is equal to 100 grams.)

– Broccoli: broccoli [noun] [de broccoli, <no plural>].
– Bloem: flower [noun] [de bloem, de bloemen].

Extra:
André van Duin is one of Holland’s most famous comedians. He’s been around for a long time, and in 1979 he had a small hit with the song “Bloemkolen“.

In the eighties, there was a very popular children’s show on Dutch television, called De Film van Ome Willem (the film of Uncle Willem), starring (former) Dutch TV celebrity and “BN’er“, Edwin Rutte, also known as Ome Willem. Watch him sing the intro song of the show, and check out the lyrics from 1m17s: “bloemkool met een papje”…:-)

1. pier

[noun]
[de pier, de pie-ren]

Holland’s most famous pier is in Scheveningen.
Since non-Dutch speakers often break their tongue on its pronunciation, we’ve
added an extra audio file here
🙂

Examples:
– "Ben je wel eens op de pier in Scheveningen geweest?" 

("Have you ever been on the pier in
Scheveningen?")

– "Ik heb vanavond een afspraakje
met mijn aanbidder
op de pier." 
("I have a date with my
lover on the pier tonight.")

– "Het is koud hier op de pier, ik krijg kippenvel." 

("It’s cold here on the pier, I’m getting
goose bumps.")

Related words:
–
Zee:
sea [noun] [de zee, de zeeën].
– Strand:
beach [noun] [het strand, de stranden].

Example:
–
"Jongens, ik ga even
uitbuiken
op het strand."
("Guys, I’m gonna sit back and relax (after dinner) at the
beach.")

– Dijk: dike [noun] [de dijk,de
dijken].
– Golfbreker: breakwater (lit.: wavebreaker) [noun] [de golfbreker,
de golfbrekers].

2. worm

[noun]
[de pier, de pie-ren]

"Pier" is synonymous to "worm", which both translate to worm.
Sometimes you may also see "regenworm": earthworm or just
worm.

Examples:
– "Mama, ik heb een pier gevangen!" – "Gooi hem maar in
de emmer
schat." 
("Mom, I’ve caught a worm!" –
"Just put it in the bucket dear.")

– "Mijn vriendin
vindt pieren eng." 

("My girlfriend thinks worms are
scary.")

– "Als je niet inbindt, ben je zo meteen voer
voor de pieren!" 
("If you don’t back
down, we’ll feed you to the worms!" Lit.: "…you will be food for the worms
shortly!")

Expressions:
– "Zo
dood als een pier": as dead as a doornail.
– "De kwaaie pier": the person who
has done it/done wrong.

Example:
–
"Frank is altijd de kwaaie pier op het werk."
("Frank has always done it at work.")

Related words:
–
Worm: worm [noun] [de worm, de wormen].
– Aas: bait [noun] [het aas, <no
plural>].

Example:
–
"Als aas gebruik ik twee pieren."
("As
bait, I use two worms.")

– Regenworm: worm, earthworm (lit.:
rainworm) [noun] [de regenworm, de regenwormen].

closer, nearer
[adverb]
[dich-ter-bij]

"Dichterbij" is the comparative of "dichtbij" which means "close by". It is composed of "dichter" and "bij". One of the meaning of "bij" is "close" or "near" and when preceded by "dichter", it means "closer" or "nearer". Separately, "dichter" has a totally distinct meaning: "poet".

Examples:
– "Kom eens wat dichterbij, ik kan je niet verstaan." 
("Come a little bit closer, I can’t hear you.")

– "Waarom ga je altijd naar de Aldi supermarkt voor je boodschappen; de Albert Heijn is veel dichterbij!" 
("Why do you always go to the Aldi supermarket for your groceries; the Albert Heijn is much closer!")

– "<Advertentie over Dierentuin Blijdorp:> Dichterbij kun je niet komen."
("<Ad on the Blijdorp Zoo:> You can’t get any closer.")

– "Ben je al wat dichterbij het bereiken van je doel gekomen?" 
("Have you already come a bit closer to achieving your goal?")

– "Treinstation Amsterdam Sloterdijk is dichtbij mijn huis maar Centraal Station is nog dichterbij." 
("Train station Amsterdam Sloterdijk is close to my place but Central Station is even closer.")

– "Kom gerust dichterbij, de hond bijt niet." 
("Don’t be scared to come closer, the dog doesn’t bite.")

– "Vind je het fijn om zo dichtbij je werk te wonen? Ik woon liever wat verder weg." 
("Do you like living so close to your work? I prefer to live a little bit further away.")

– "Hoe ver is het naar de dichtstbijzijnde pinautomaat?" – "Oh, dat is heel dichtbij, hier net om de hoek is er één." 
("How far is it to the nearest ATM?" – "Oh, that’s very close, there’s one just around the corner from here.")

Related words:
– Dichtstbijzijnd: nearest [adjective/adverb].
– Ver: far [adjective/adverb].
– Verder: 1. further, the rest of 2. further, farther (comparative of "ver").
– Dichtbij: close by, near by [adverb].