Category Archives: DWOTD 1.0

Original DWOTD post 2006 – 2013

Stiekem

Posted on by

sneaky, underhand, surreptitious, secret Click to listen
[adjective/adverb]
[stie-kem]

Stiekem When you do something 'stiekem', you do it with the intention to not be caught, however it is not necessarily a secret as such. Both the person as the act can be called 'stiekem'. The related noun is 'stiekemerd': somebody who acts 'stiekem', but this mainly used jestingly for children.

Examples:
– "Hij heeft stiekem alle fooi voor zichzelf gehouden." 
("He secretly kept all the tips for himself.")

– "Nikki heeft stiekem een barbecue georganiseerd voor Debbie." 
("Nikki organized a BBQ for Debbie on the sly.")

– "Ik heb stiekem met je gedanst, ik hoop dat je het leuk vond…" 
("I danced with you without you noticing it, I hope that you liked it…" Famous line from one of the big Dutch pop classics: "Stiekem gedanst" by the Dutch eighties band 'Toontje lager'.)

– "Ik ben al dat stiekeme gedoe zat, je vertelt me nu de waarheid of ik ben weg!" 
("I'm sick of your sneaky behaviour, you will tell me the truth now or I'm leaving!")

– "Sander staat erom bekend dat hij recepties of feestjes altijd stiekem verlaat." 
("Sander is known for always sneaking out on receptions or parties.")

– "Wat is er toch aan de hand met die twee, ze doen altijd zo stiekem!" 
("What's up with those two, they are always so sneaky!")

– "Frank sms't stiekem naar een andere vrouw. Dat ga ik stiekem tegen zijn vrouw zeggen!" 
("Frank is secretly texting another woman. I will tell his wife without him knowing!")

Expressions:
– "In het geniep": on the sly/quiet.

Related words:
– Geniepig: sly, secretive, sneaky [adjective/adverb].
– Stiekemerd: sneak, sly dog [noun] [de stiekemerd, de stiekemerds].
– Heimelijk: stiekem [adjective/adverb]. 'Heimelijk' is more formal.

Stilte

Posted on by

silence, quiet, stillness Click to listen
Stilte
[noun]
[de stil-te, de stil-tes/stil-ten]

A "stilte" is a silence. Related adjective is "stil": silent, quiet, still. There's also the verb "stillen", which would literally translate to "to make quiet". "Stillen" is never used in this literal sense though. In Dutch, you can say for example "je dorst/honger stillen": to quench your thirst / satisfy your hunger.

Examples:
– "Stilte! Ik vermoord je!" 
("Silence! I kill you!")

– "Er viel een grote stilte in de rechtszaal toen de moordenaar werd binnengebracht." 
("A great silence fell in the courtroom when the murderer was brought in.")

– "Dit is wat je noemt een ongemakkelijke stilte." 
("This is what you call an awkward silence.")

Expressions:
– "Een oorverdovende stilte": (lit.: an ear-numbing silence) a roaring silence.

Related words:
– Fluisteren: to whisper [verb] [fluisteren, fluisterde, h. gefluisterd].
– Lawaai: noise, tumult, uproar, racket [noun] [het lawaai, <no plural>].

Example:
– "Te veel lawaai hier, ik ben weg,
toedeledoki!" 

("Too much noise in here, I'm
gone, cheerio!")

– Stil: silent, quiet, still [adjective].

Extra:
In Dutch trains, you may see so called "stiltecoupés". They are train compartments whereStiltecoupe it's not allowed to make noise… "Stiltecoupés" have windows with "SILENCE [S] STILTE" on them, and each  compartment has stickers like the picture on the right. The exact "stiltecoupé" rules and rules of conduct are one of the best kept secrets in the Netherlands 🙂 and topic of many a discussion. The general idea is not to disturb your fellow passengers, but of course everybody has a different definition of "disturb"…

Bestuderen

Posted on by

to examine, to study, to research Click to listen
[verb]
[be-stu-de-ren, be-stu-deer-de, be-stu-deerd]

Bestuderen "Bestuderen" is different from "studeren" (to study) or "onderzoeken" (to examine, to research). Uhm, so how is it different?? You use "bestuderen" when the act of studying or researching is more like 'closely reading, observing' or 'looking closer into a matter'. A bit like 'making a study of'. Well, perhaps the examples will help 🙂

Examples:
– "Weet je al hoe de nieuwe dvd-speler werkt?" – "Een beetje, ik heb de gebruiksaanwijzing nog niet bestudeerd." 
("Do you know yet how to operate the new dvd player?" – "A bit, I haven't yet studied the manual." Lit. "… how the new dvd player works".)

– "De man bestudeerde de kaart aandachtig." 
("The man studied the map closely.")

– "De gemeente Amsterdam beweert de mogelijke gevolgen van de aanleg van de metrotunnel voldoende bestudeerd te hebben." 
("The city council of Amsterdam claims to have sufficiently looked into the potential consequences of the construction of the metro tunnel." Note that 'aanleg' is only used for roads, tunnels and the like and not for buildings.)

– "De wiskundeprofessor bestudeert naast differentiaalvergelijkingen ook algebraïsche topologie." 
("The maths professor studies algebraic topology in addition to differential equations." Note that it is more common to say 'doet onderzoek naar'. Note that it is also more common not to discuss the topics of differential equations and algebraic topology but every once in a while Sander likes to think his college degree is useful 😉 )

– "Hoe leer jij het beste Nederlands?" – "Ik heb elke week les en bestudeer uiteraard de voorbeeldzinnen van de DWOTD!" 
("What is the best way for you to learn Dutch?" – "Every week I have class and of course I study the example sentences of the DWOTD!")

– "De manager bestudeerde het rapport vluchtig alvorens het in de prullenbak te mieteren." 
("The manager briefly looked at the report before chucking it in the bin." The use of the verb 'mieteren' is informal.)

Related words:
– Onderzoeken: to research [verb] [onderzocht, onderzocht].
– Onderzoek doen naar: to research [verb] [deed onderzoek naar, onderzoek gedaan naar]. This is commonly used in the context of universities.
– Examineren: to hold an examination [verb] [examineerd, geëxamineerd].
– Studeren: to study [verb] [studeerde, gestudeerd].

Daar ben je mooi klaar mee!

Posted on by


a fine state of affairs! Click to listen
[Dutch phrase of the week]

“Daar ben je mooi klaar mee” is Parkeeractieused when something happens to people that puts them in a bad or less optimal situation (with ‘je’ translating to third person ‘one’). Replace ‘je’ with any other personal pronoun to make it fit your situation. The translation depends a bit on the severity of the situation. Literally it translates to something like ‘that finishes it nicely for me’.

Examples:
– “Hoe bedoelt u ‘mijn reservering staat niet in de computer’? Alsof ik nu nog een ander hotel kan vinden; daar ben ik mooi klaar mee!”
(“What do you mean ‘my reservation is not in the computer’? As if I’m able to find another hotel now; nice going!”)

– “Pfff, daar zijn we mooi klaar mee zeg, de loodgieter is gewoon niet op komen dagen!” 
(“Pfff, we are somewhat screwed, the plumber just didn’t show up!” Note the verb ‘opdagen’: to show up.)

– “De laptop van een collegaatje is gestolen; al haar werk kwijt! Daar ben je mooi klaar mee zeg, als dat je gebeurt!” 
(“A colleague of mine had her laptop stolen; all her work lost! You are really miserable when that happens to you!”)

– “Ja zeg, daar zijn we mooi klaar mee, dat was toch niet de afspraak?” 
(“Yeah right, what good is this to us, this wasn’t the deal was it?”)

– “Ik hoor net dat het vliegtuig nog meer vertraagd is, daar zijn we mooi klaar mee!” 
(“I’ve just heard that the plane is even more delayed, poor us!”)

Expressions:
– “Ik ben er klaar mee!”: I have had it with it.
– “Ik ben (helemaal) klaar met …”: I have (completely) had it with ….

Example:
– “Ik ben helemaal klaar met dat urenboeken. Het management bekijkt het maar!”
(“I have completely had it with booking hours. Management can forget it!” Literally ‘bekijken’ is ‘to look at / to examine / to inspect’.)

Related words:
– Klaar: ready, done [adverb/adjective].

Opzeggen

Posted on by

1. to cancel/terminate, to resign, to give notice Click to listen
[verb]
[op-zeg-gen, zei/zeg-de op, op-ge-zegd]

“Opzeggen” in this translation has nothing to do with “zeExit_usbggen”: to say. It does however in the second translation below. The past tense of ‘opzeggen’ in its meaning of ‘to give notice’, ‘to cancel’ can also be ‘zegde’. This comes unnatural to most Dutch people hence you will mostly hear ‘zei’. “Opzeggen” is mostly used when cancelling subscriptions, tenancy or (job) contracts.

Examples:
– “Na de incorrecte berichtgeving hebben veel mensen hun abonnement op de krant opgezegd.”
 (“After the inaccurate news coverage many people cancelled their newspaper subscription.”)

– “Goedemiddag, u spreekt met Janssen. Ik wil graag mijn abonnement opzeggen.”  (“Good afternoon, this is Janssen speaking. I would like to cancel my subscription.”)

– “U wilt uw abonnement opzeggen, tja, dat kan alleen schriftelijk. De opzegtermijn is 2 maanden… en ik zie dat uw abonnement net met een jaar is verlengd. Jammer maar helaas! Tot ziens.”
 (“You would like to cancel your subscription, well, that is only possible in writing. There is a 2 months’ notice and I see we have just extended your subscription with a year. Too bad. Bye now.”)

– “Heb je het al gehoord, Paula heeft haar baan opgezegd! Een absolute aderlating voor het bedrijf!”
 (“Have you heard the news, Paula has resigned from her job! An absolute drain on the company resources.” Literally an “aderlating” is a ‘bloodletting’ and is not only a drain on resources but also implies the person was doing a very good job.)

– “Wat?! Ga je verhuizen? Wanneer?!” – “Volgende maand al jongen! Ik heb de huur vanochtend opgezegd.”
 (“What?! You are moving? When?!” – “Next month already mate/buddy! I terminated the tenancy this morning.”)

– “Ik ben van plan om mijn baan op te zeggen, maar ik weet het nog niet helemaal zeker.”
(“I plan to hand in my notice, but I am not entirely sure yet.”)

Related words:
– Ontslag nemen: to resign, to quit one’s job [verb] [nam ontslag, ontslag genomen].
– Ontslag indienen: to hand in one’s resignation [verb] [diende ontslag in, ontslag ingediend].
– Ontslaan: to lay off, to dismiss, to fire [verb] [ontsloeg, ontslagen].
– Beëindigen: to terminate, to end [verb] [beëindigde, beëindigd].
– Opzegging: termination, cancellation, resignation, notice [noun] [de opzegging, de opzeggingen].

Extra: A big annoyance in the Netherlands is the difficulty that it can take to cancel a subscription (to a magazine, cable, internet, phone). Often contracts are renewed automatically each year unless you cancel in time which usually involves a 2 to 3 months’ notice in writing. Then of course they may still pretend they never received your letter… I’ve just googled a bit and apparently there is at least one website that offers assistance in cancelling subscriptions: www.abonnementenopzeggen.nl .

2. to read out (loud), to recite Iconspeaker_3
[verb]
[op-zeg-gen, zei op, op-ge-zegd]

You will also hear ‘hardop opzeggen’ (to read out with a loud voice). Since ‘zeggen’ is used in its meaning of ‘to say’ the past tense that you will hear is ‘zei’. The verb ‘oplezen’ is used when you are just reading and not so much reciting.

Examples:
– “Als je de woorden opzegt blijven ze misschien beter hangen.”
 (“If you read the words out loud, you may remember them better.” ‘Hangen’ is informal, a bit like ‘to stick’.)

– “Elke avond zegt hij trouw zijn gebeden op.”
 (“Every night he says his prayers with dedication.”)

Related words:
– Oplezen: to read out [verb] [las op, opgelezen].