1. pile
[noun]
[de sta-pel, de sta-pels]

A "stapel" is a pile of books, rocks, papers, problems, etcetera. The related verb is "stapelen" or "opstapelen" ("to pile up"). A little pile is a "stapeltje".

Examples:
– "Ondanks de ‘clean-desk policy’ ligt het bureau van mijn collega altijd vol met stapels papier." 
("Despite the clean-desk policy, my colleague’s desk is always filled with piles of papers.")

– "Toen hij terugkwam van vakantie lag er een stapel post op hem te wachten." 
("When he returned from vacation, a pile of mail was waiting for him.")

– "In haar kast liggen alle broeken, rokjes, truien en bloezen netjes opgevouwen op stapeltjes." 
("In her closet all pants, skirts, sweaters and blouses are nicely folded and piled up.")

– "Omdat zij al haar geld verloor aan gokken, stapelden haar schulden zich op." 
("Since she lost all her money to gambling, her debts piled up.")

Expressions:
– "Op stapel staan": to be planned.

Related words:
– (Op)stapelen: to pile up [regular weak verb] [stapelde op, opgestapeld].
– Hoop: 1. hope [noun] [de hoop, <no plural>]; 2. heap [noun] [de hoop, de hopen].
– Ophopen: to pile up [regular weak verb] [hoopte op, opgehoopt].
– Berg: 1. mountain [noun]; 2. heap [noun] [de berg, de bergen].

2. madly in love
[adverb/adjective]

The second meaning of "stapel" is "madly in love". It is derived from "stapelverliefd" which means "madly in love". Another adjective that is often precede by "stapel" is "stapelgek" which either means "totally crazy" or "crazy in love" or both 😉 Listen to the hitsingle "Stapel op jou" by one of the best-known Dutch singers Marco Borsato.

to honour
[verb]
[e-ren, eer-de, ge-ëerd]

Examples:
– "De militair werd geëerd voor zijn heldhaftig optreden." 
("The soldier was honoured for his heroic actions.")

– "Laten we de doden eren door het leven te vieren ." 
("Let’s honour the dead by celebrating life.")

– "De koning van Hispanje heb ik altijd geëerd." 
("The king of Spain I have always honoured." This line is taken from the Dutch anthem and yes, it is weird that we have always honoured the king of Spain 😉 Note that the modern translation of Spain is "Spanje".)

Expressions:
– "Ere wie ere toekomt": give credit where credit is
due.
– "Die/Wie het kleine niet eert, is het grote niet weert": this saying says something like "if you are not happy with something small, you do not deserve something big".

Related words:
– Eer: honour [noun] [de eer, <no plural>].
– Vereren: to worship [verb] [vereerde, vereerd].
– Eerbetoon: tribute, homage [noun] [het eerbetoon, <no plural>].
– Eerbied: esteem, respect [noun] [de eerbied, <no plural>].
– Eerwraak: honour killing, blood revenge [noun] [de wraak, <no plural>].
– Herdenken: to commemorate [verb] [herdacht, herdacht].
– Onderscheiding: distinction, award [noun] [de onderscheiding, de onderscheidingen].

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.”)