Category Archives: Vocabulary Basic

Annuleren

Posted on by

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.")

Oppervlakkig

Posted on by

superficial, shallowOppervlakkig Iconspeaker_3
[adjective] 
[op-per-vlak-kig]

"Oppervlakkig" translates to superficial or shallow. Related nouns are "oppervlakte" (surface, area) and "oppervlakkigheid" (shallowness).

The opposite of "oppervlakkigheid" is "diepgang" (depth, profundity).

Examples:
– "Pas op, Frank is een beetje oppervlakkig." – "Daar heb ik me al op ingesteld…" 
("Be careful, Frank is a little shallow…" – "I'm mentally prepared for that…")

– "Ze is met een oppervlakkige kerel getrouwd…" – "Wat dan nog?" 
("She's married to a shallow guy…" – "So what?")

– "Ik ken haar slechts oppervlakkig, maar ze lijkt me een leuke dame." 
("I just know her superficially, bu she seems like a nice lady.")

Expressions:
– "Aan de oppervlakte komen": <also figuratively> to surface (lit.: to come to the surface).

Example:
– "Heb je gehoord van die enorme ramp?" – "De ware toedracht van de brand zal wel nooit aan de oppervlakte komen…"
("Did you hear about that huge disaster?" – "We will never know the truth about that fire…" Lit.: "The true state of affairs of the fire will probably never surface…")

Related words:
– Diepgang: depth, profundity [noun] [de diepgang, <no plural>].

Example:
– "Frank heeft de diepgang van een regenworm…hij is zoooo oppervlakkig."
("Frank has the profundity of a worm…he's soooo shallow.")

– Oppervlakte: surface, area [noun] [de oppervlakte, de oppervlaktes].

Dat belooft wat!

Posted on by

that sounds promising! / this will be exciting! Iconspeaker_3
[Dutch phrase of the week] Gelukkig2011

Best wishes to all of our readers!! May 2011 become a year of many Dutch Word of the Days that will help you understand Dutch and the Dutch even better than in 2010. And now…gaan met die banaan!

"Dat belooft wat" literally translates to "that promises something", in other words: "that sounds promising!"

The other way around: the literal translation of "that sounds promising" is "dat klinkt veelbelovend",  which can be used synonymously to "dat belooft wat". Sometimes you may hear "dat belooft heel wat": that sounds very promising.

Examples:
– "We hebben in 2010 veel bereikt met de Dutch Word of the Day, maar 2011 wordt nog beter!" – "Dat belooft wat!" 
("Way have achieved a lot with the Dutch Word of the Day in 2010, but 2011 will be even better!" – "That sounds promising!")

– "Frank was vanochtend erg chagrijnig." – "Dat belooft wat voor de vergadering vanmiddag…" 
("Frank was very grouchy this morning." – "That sounds promising for the meeting this afternoon…")

– "Hoe zal Ed reageren op de afwijzing van Tina? Dat belooft heel wat…blijf kijken, terug na de reclame!" 
("How will Ed react to Tina dismissing him? This will be very exciting….stay tuned, back after the commercial break!")

Related words:
– Beloven: to promise [verb] [beloven, beloofde, h. beloofd].

Example:
– "Iemand gouden bergen beloven."
("To promise someone the sun and the moon. Literally "to promise someone golden mountains".")

– Veelbelovend: promising [adjective].

Example:
– "Frank was ooit een veelbelovende advocaat, maar omdat hij in de rechtszaal meerdere keren gefaald heeft, is hij nu werkloos."
("Frank was once a promising lawyer, but because he messed up in court several times, he's currently unemployed.")

Het zit er weer op!

Posted on by

it's over/gone again, we're done Iconspeaker_3
[Dutch phrase of the week]
[Het zit er weer op]

HetZitErWeerOp You can use this phrase when you've completed an activity or when a period of time (such as: morning, hour, year) has ended. Either use "het" when it's clear from context or be more specific, see the examples. The use of 'weer' indicates that it's over 'again' (as in rather quickly or when it feels that way). You can leave it out if you want ("het zit er op!")

Examples:
– "Het jaar zit er al weer bijna op!" 
("The year is almost over again! / the year has almost ended!")

– "Jongens, het zit er op, we kunnen gaan lunchen!" 
("Guys, we're done, let's have lunch!" Lit. "we can have lunch / we are able to have lunch".)

– "En daarmee sluiten we af, de ochtendsessie zit er weer op, en dan nu het nieuws van 12 uur." 
("And with that we conclude, the morning session is over again, next the 12 o'clock news.")

– "De week zit er weer op, heerlijk, eindelijk weekend!" 
("The week has come to an end again, splendid/great, weekend finally!")

– "Het zit er weer op voor dit jaar, in 2011 zijn er weer nieuwe DWOTD's!" 
("And we're done for the year, in 2011 there will be new DWOTDs again!")

Related words:
– Voorbij: over, gone, past, finished[adjective].

Example:
– "De vakantie is weer voorbij; balen!"
("The holidays are over again; bummer / that sucks!")

– Over: past, finished [adjective].

Example:
– "Het is over, klaar, voorbij! Wat snap je daar niet aan?"
("It's over, finished, done! What part do you not understand?")

Ramp

Posted on by

disaster Iconspeaker_3
[noun]
[de ramp, de ram-pen]

Bosbrand Today I spent 7 hours in my car due to snowfall, and yes, that was a disaster!

Examples:
– “Het vertrek van de topspeler was een ramp voor de voetbalclub.” 
(“The departure of the top(-class) player was a disaster for the football/soccer club.”)

– “De uitbraak van cholera in Haïti is een humanitaire ramp.” 
(“The outbreak of cholera in Haiti is a humanitarian disaster/crisis.”)

– “Wat een ramp! Er gaan geen treinen meer naar huis!” 
(“What a disaster! All trains home have been cancelled!”)

– “Tegenwoordig heb je overal skateparken. Wij hadden vroeger niet eens een ramp. Dat was pas een ramp!” 
(“Nowadays there are skateparks everywhere. When I was young we didn’t even have a (skateboard) ramp. Now that was a disaster!” Literally: “Nowadays one has skateparks everywhere. We did not even use to have…” Note that there is also a skateboard trick called “disaster” 😉 )

Related words:
– Natuurramp: natural disaster [noun] [de natuurramp, de natuurrampen].
– Catastrofe: catastrophy [noun] [de catastrofe, de catastrofes].
– Verwoesting: devastation [noun] [de verwoesting, de verwoestingen].
– Rampzalig: disastrous [adjective/adverb].

Example:
– “Ik vind ‘onfortuinlijk’ een understatement; ik zou deze ontwikkeling als ‘rampzalig’ willen betitelen.”
(“I believe that ‘unfortunate’ is an understatement; I would like to describe this development as ‘disastrous’. “Betitelen” is like giving something a ‘label/title’.”)

– Desastreus: disastrous [adjective/adverb]. This is the slighly posher version of ‘rampzalig’.
– Nood: emergency [noun] [de nood, de noden].