beautiful, gorgeous, splendid, exquisite [adjective, adverb] 

"Prachtig" means "beautiful" and can apply to almost everything:
people, an event or experience, feelings, and things (but not, for
instance, to food which is " lekker" or "heerlijk").
Please note that "mooi" also means beautiful. "Prachtig" however is
even better than mooi and has no comparative or superlative.

Examples:
-"Wat een prachtige zonsondergang!" 
("What a beautiful sunset!")

-"Ik heb prachtige schoenen gekocht bij Massimo Dutti!" 
("I bought beautiful shoes at Massimo Dutti.")

– "Heb je ooit zo’n prachtige vrouw gezien? Ik ben tot over mijn oren verliefd op haar!" 
("Have you ever seen such a beautiful woman? I’m head over heels in love with her!")

– "Uitverkoop? Nederlanders vinden het prachtig! Kijk maar naar de ‘Drie Dwaze Dagen’ in de Bijenkorf…die zijn vandaag weer begonnen…" 
("Bargain
sale? The Dutch just love it! Just take a look at the ‘Drie Dwaze
Dagen’ at Bijenkorf…they’ve started again today…")

– "Ik vind Rio de Janeiro een prachtige stad."  – "Vind je? Ik vind Buenos Aires mooier." 
("I find Rio de Janeiro a beautiful city." – "Do you think so? I think Buenos Aires is more beautiful.")

– "Ik zag ‘Adam’ van Barnett Newman laatst in het Tate museum; wat een prachtig schilderij!" 
("I saw ‘Adam’ by Barnett Newman in the Tate museum the other day; what an exquisite painting!")

– "Zie ik er mooi uit?" – "Je ziet er prachtig uit!" 
("Do I look beautiful?" – "You look gorgeous")

– "Wat vond u van de dansvoorstelling?" – "Prachtig, prachtig! Ik heb nog nooit zo’n prachtige choreografie gezien!"
("What did you think of the ballet performance?" – "Marvellous, marvellous!! I’ve never seen such a magnificent choreography")

Related words:
– Mooi: beautiful [adjective, adverb] [comparative: mooier, superlative: mooist].

in a while/moment, soon, later [adverb]

You will often hear "straks" in the expression "tot straks": see you soon/later/in a while. There are subtle differences between "tot ziens", "tot straks", "tot zo" etc. and these can be difficult to grasp at first. See the Extra for an explanation. Don’t mistake "straks" for "strak" which means "tight".

An informal variation of straks is "strakjes" or (even more informal): "strakkies".

Examples:
– "En nu je troep opruimen!" – "Jahaa, straks…" – "Nee, niet straks, nu!!" 
("And now you are going to clean up your mess!" – "Yeah yeah, in a while…" – "No, not in a while, now!!")

– "We gaan straks in de stad koffie drinken. Heb je zin om mee te gaan?" 
("We are going downtown to drink coffee in a while. Do you feel like coming along?")

– "Ik denk dat het straks gaat regenen, dus ik neem alvast mijn paraplu mee."
("I think it will rain later, so I will bring my umbrella just now.")

Related words:
– Dadelijk: like "straks" but usually a little ‘sooner than’ "straks" [adverb]. You will also hear "dalijk".
– Zo: in a bit, in a short while [adverb].

Example:
– "Ik ga zo naar huis, kan ik je nog ergens mee helpen?"
("I’m going home in a bit, is there something I can help you with before I go?" Here the "nog" is translated with "before I go".)

Extra:
If you plan on meeting somebody the same day and it will not be too long from the moment of departing, you can say "tot straks". If you know it will be a different part of the day (as in afternoon, evening etc.) you can be more specific by saying "tot vanavond/vanmiddag" etc. If you know you are going to see eachother again really soon (as in within a few minutes) you can say "tot zo". If you want to express the (polite) wish to meet again, you can say "tot ziens", this is also the normal polite way to say goodbye.

You might also hear "tot dadelijk" (somewhere inbetween "zo" and "straks"), "tot zometeen" (same as "tot zo"), "tot binnenkort" ("see you soon" when you know you will meet again soon), "tot snel" (same as "binnenkort" but can also be used to express the wish of meeting soon again), and finally "tot gauw" (like "tot snel"). But probably this list is not complete! 🙂

to put, to place, to set [verb] [zette, gezet]

"Zetten" is a versatile word. We’ve given three possible translations. There are more translations that you can use though, depending on context. A variety is covered in the Examples. The related noun is "zet", which translates to "move", see the Related words.

Don’t confuse "zetten" with "zitten", which translates to "to sit".

Examples:
-"Liefie, kun je de bloemen op tafel zetten?" 
("Sweetie, can you put the flowers on the table?")

– "Waar heb je mijn fiets gezet?" – "Daar…tegen die boom."
("Where did you put my bike?" – "There…against that tree.")

– "U kunt hier uw handtekening zetten.")
("You can place your signature here.")

– "Zet de wekker maar op half acht, dan kunnen we relaxed ontbijten."
("Just set the alarm clock for seven thirty, then we’ll be able to have a relaxed breakfast.")

– "Zal ik koffie zetten? Of heb je liever thee?"
("Shall I make coffee? Or would you rather have tea?")

– "Zoveel honger in de wereld… dat zet je aan het denken, toch?"
("So much starvation in the world…it makes you think, right?" Lit.: "…it puts you to think…")

– "Heb je het al gehoord? Franks vriendin heeft een aarsgewei laten zetten!!" 
("Have you heard already?? Frank’s girlfriend has gotten an ass cap!!" Lit.: …has let (the tattooguy [impl.]) put an ass cap (on her [impl.])…")

Expressions:
– "Iemand een hak zetten": to put a spoke in someone’s wheel. Lit.: to place someone a cut.

Example:
– "Kabelbedrijven zetten KPN een hak met snel internet."
("Cable companies put a spoke in KPN’s wheel with fast internet." Note: KPN is the former national incumbent Dutch telecommunication company. It used to be owned by the state, privatized since 1989.)

– "De/Je hakken in het zand zetten": to put up (a) resistance. Lit.: to put the/your heels in the sand. See also Schoen.
– "De bloemetjes buiten zetten": to party, to go wild. Lit.: to put the flowers outside.
– "Te kakken zetten": (informal) to ridicule, to mock. Lit.: to set to poop.

Related words:
– Zitten: to sit [verb] [zat, gezeten].
– Zet: move [noun] [de zet, de zetten].

Example:
– "Dat was een meesterlijke zet van zwart…wit staat schaakmat."
("That was a masterly move by black…white stands checkmate.")

– Gezet: corpulent, stout [adjective].
– "Ontzet": aghast, dismayed at/by [adjective]. Lit. displaced.

shoe [noun] [de schoen, de schoenen]

Alright, let’s brush up on your shoe vocabulary here! It turns out that there is a lot to say about shoes in Dutch!

Look at your shoe (if you are wearing one) and repeat after me: schoen ("shoe"), zool ("sole"), veters ("(shoe)laces") and hak ("heel"). Now do you need some "schoenpoets" ("shoe polish"), or are you wearing "sportschoenen" ("running shoes", "trainers" etc.)? Possibly even "sneakers" ("sneakers")? What about "sandalen" ("sandals"), or "laarzen" ("boots"). Or do you prefer to go about "blootsvoets" ("bare foot(ed)")? (Which I don’t recommend if you have "zweetkakkies" 🙂 )

Now let’s look at some Examples, and don’t forget the Expressions (of which only a few are listed. Check out the dictionary to find more!).

Examples:
– "Ik kan mijn schoenen nergens vinden!"
("I can’t find my shoes anywhere!")

– "Morgenochtend heb ik een belangrijke presentatie dus ik moet mijn schoenen maar eens gaan poetsen."
("Tomorrow morning I have an important presentation so I guess I have to (go and) polish my shoes.")

– "Sinterklaas kapoentje, gooi wat in mijn schoentje…"
("Sinterklaas kapoentje, throw something in my shoe…" Line from children’s "Sinterklaas" song.)

– "Over het algemeen draag ik geen nette schoenen, alleen als het echt moet!"
("In general I do not wear dress shoes, only if absolutely necessary!")

– "Mevrouw, heeft u deze schoen in maat 42?"
("Miss/Madam, do you have this shoe in size 42?")

– "Laarzen, schoenen of sandalen, maakt niet uit, een ding is zeker: mijn vriendin heeft er te veel!"
("Boots, shoes or sandales, it doesn’t matter, one thing is for sure: my girlfriend has too many of them!" Note that here you have to write "te veel" and not "teveel", the latter being a noun: "surplus" ("het teveel"). By the way, this is done wrong by almost the entire Dutch population including journalists.)

Expressions:
– "Naast je schoenen lopen": literally "to walk next to your shoes", this says you’re to big for your boots (or full of conceit).
– "Stevig in je schoenen staan": to stand firm, to be sure of oneself.
– "Ik zou niet graag in zijn/haar schoenen willen staan": I wouldn’t like to be in his/her shoes.
– "Wie de schoen past, trekke hem aan": if the cap/shoe fits, wear it. Note that this is an example of the rare usage of the subjunctive in Dutch.
– "De stoute schoenen aantrekken": to do something that requires you to gather courage first, to pluck up one’s courage.

Example:
– "Weet je wat, ik trek de stoute schoenen aan, ik ga haar nu mee uit vragen."
("You know what, I’ll pluck up my courage, I’m going to ask her out right now.")

– "De schoen zetten": ‘to place/put your shoe’ this is the act of leaving your shoe somewhere hoping that Sinterklaas will leave you some candy (in your shoe).

Related words:
– (Schoen)veter: (shoe)lace [noun] [de veter, de veters].
– Laars: boot [noun] [de laarzen, de laarzen].
– Hak: heel [noun] [de hak, de hakken]. Note that in case of the heel of a foot, we say "hiel".
– Sandaal: sandal [noun] [de sandalen, de sandalen].
– Schoenen poetsen: to polish (shoes) [verb] [poetste, gepoetst].
– Schoenpoets: shoe polish [noun] [de schoenpoets, no plural].
– Schoenmaat: shoe size [noun] [de maat, de maten].
– Schoenlepel: shoehorn [noun] [de lepel, de lepels]. Note that a "lepel" is a spoon.
– Schoenenzaak: shoe shop/store [noun] [de zaak, de zaken].
– Handschoen: glove.

Extra:
When you need your shoes to be mended/repaired, you will have to find a "schoenmaker" ("shoemaker") or a "schoenmakerij" (the -ij indicates that it is a place ‘where shoes are made’). Nowadays, they don’t make shoes anymore so the common translation is that of a shoe repairman.
A "schoenmaker" is also typically the place where you’d go to have a copy made of a key.

Unfortunately there are not many traditional "schoenmakers" left and it can be difficult to find value for money. A bad example in this aspect is the "Hakkenbar" chain you will find in most bigger cities in the Netherlands. I only mention it here because the word itself is interesting: with a "hak" being the heel of the shoe, and "bar" the "bar" where you would hand over the shoes, this is an obvious choice of assonance.