chapter
[noun]
[het hoofd-stuk, de hoofd-stuk-ken]

If you’ve ever opened a Dutch book, you will have come across this word. "Hoofdstuk" consists of "hoofd" ("head") and "stuk" ("piece"). It can be used both in a literal and a figurative sense.

Examples:
– "Welke hoofdstukken moeten we voor de training morgen lezen?"
("Which chapters do we have to read for the training tomorrow?")

– " ‘De avonden’ van Gerard Reve is het saaiste boek dat ik ooit heb gelezen; ik heb echt mijn best gedaan, maar ben maar tot hoofdstuk twee gekomen."
(" ‘The evenings’ by Gerard Reve is the most boring book I’ve ever read; I really tried my best but I only made it to chapter two.")

– "Nu Michael Jackson is overleden, is er een hoofdstuk in de geschiedenis van de popmuziek gesloten."
("Now that Michael Jackson has passed away, a chapter in the history of pop music is closed.")

– "De hernieuwde onderhandelingen tussen de twee vijanden waren het begin van een nieuw hoofdstuk."
("The renewed negotiations between the two enemies were the beginning of a new chapter.")

Related words:
– Inhoudsopgave: table of contents [noun] [de inhoudsopgave, de inhoudsopgaven].
– Hoofd: head [noun] [het hoofd, de hoofden].
– Stuk: 1. piece [noun] [het stuk, de stukken] 2. broken [adjective/adverb] 3. document [noun] [het stuk, de stukken].
– Paragraaf: paragraph [noun] [de paragraaf, de paragrafen].

to reserve
[verb]
[re-ser-ve-ren, re-ser-veer-de, ge-re-ser-veerd]

You will hear both “reserveren” and “een reservering maken”, but “reserveren” is more common. The past participle “gereserveerd” is also used as an adjective or adverb, see the Related words.
(Photo: Frederico Duarte (flickr.com) – some rights reserved.)

Examples:
– “Deze parkeerplaats is gereserveerd voor de ambassadeur van Turkije.” 
(“This parking space is reserved for the ambassador of Turkey.”)

– “Goedemiddag, met Sander, ik zou graag twee kaartjes reserveren voor de show ‘Yankee Come Back‘ van vanavond.”
(“Good afternoon, this is Sander (speaking), I would like to reserve two tickets for tonight’s show ‘Yankee Come Back’.”)

– “Goedenavond, wij zouden hier graag eten.” – “Ehm, hebt u gereserveerd?”
(“Good evening, we would like to have dinner here.” – “Hm, have you made reservations?”)

– “Wist je dat je op de site www.belbios.nl voor alle films in Nederland kaartjes kan reserveren?”
(“Did you know that at www.belbios.nl you can reserve tickets for all movies in the Netherlands?”)

– “Reserveren? Voor vanavond? Nee joh, die film draait al weken, dat is echt niet meer nodig.”
(“Reserve tickets? For tonight? No way, that movie has been playing for weeks, it is really not necessary anymore.”)

Related words:
– Reservering: reservation [noun] [de reservering, de reserveringen].
– Gereserveerd: reserved [adverb/adjective].

Example:
– “Onze nieuwe buurman is een aardige man, maar hij komt toch nog wat gereserveerd over.”
(“Our new neighbour is a friendly guy, but he still comes across a bit reserved.”)

sea
[noun]
[de zee, de zee-ën]

Half of the surface of the Netherlands – literally: the "low lands" – is below sea level: "zeeniveau". The sea is everywhere in Dutch history. In 1953, a large part of the province of Zeeland was flooded, killing over 1800 people. After this tragedy, the Deltawerken were constructed.

Note the plural of "zee": "zeeën". If a syllable ending on an -e or -ie is stressed, the plural gets an extra "e". Since "zee" has only one syllable, the plural gets an extra " e".

Examples:
– "De woeste zee sloeg tegen de rotsen." 
("The savage sea beat against the rocks.")

– "Heb je zin om naar zee te gaan? Het is zo’n lekker weer!" 
("Do you feel like going to the sea? The weather is so nice!")

– "De zee bij Capri is prachtig groenblauw." 
("The sea near Capri is beautifully green-blue.")

– "Dit huis heeft echt een zee van ruimte binnen." 
("This house is really spacious inside.")

Expressions:
– "Water naar de zee dragen": to carry coals to Newcastle, to perform a useless activity.
– "Zo rijk als de zee diep is": filthy rich. Lit.: as rich as the sea is deep.
– "Een echte schipper bevaart ook de Rode Zee": <informal> a real man always makes love to his woman, even when she’s having her period. Lit.: a real skipper also sails the Red Sea.
– "Met iemand in zee gaan": to do business with someone, to cooperate with someone. Lit.: to go into sea with someone.
– "Recht door zee": honest, straight forward. Lit.: straight through sea.

Related words:
– Water: water [noun] [water, de wateren].
– Watersnood: flood, inundation [noun] [de watersnood, de watersnoden].
– Overstroming: flooding [noun] [de overstroming, de overstromingen].
– Zeewater: sea water [noun] [het zeewater, <no plural>].
– Oceaan: ocean [noun] [de oceaan, de oceanen].
– Golf: wave [noun] [de golf, de golven].

Extra:
The Normaal Amsterdam Peil (lit.: Normal Amsterdam Level, usually abbreviated to NAP) is the reference to which altitude measurements in the Netherlands are related. For ease of use, the NAP is alligned with the average sea level, but in fact it’s higher.