Category Archives: Vocabulary Basic

Meteen

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right/straight away, immediately, at once
[adverb]
[met-een] 

‘Meteen’ is typically translated as ‘right/straight away’ and it reflects more an option of when to do something than an urgent ‘now!’ which could be the case with the adverb ‘onmiddellijk‘. When urgent however, you can say ‘nu meteen’. The opposite would be ‘zo meteen’: in a minute/moment.

A common synonym of ‘meteen’ is ‘direct’: at once, directly.

Examples:
– “Ja, ik ruim zo meteen mijn kamer op!” – “Nee, niks daarvan, je doet het nu meteen!” 
(“Ok, I’ll clean up my room in a minute!” – “No, no way, you are doing it right now!” Lit. “No, nothing of that, …”)

– “Wilt u de stoel meteen meenemen, of wilt u hem laten bezorgen?” 
(“Would you like to take the chair with you straight away, or would you like to have it delivered?”)

– “Het examen is multiple-choice en je krijgt de uitslag meteen na afloop te horen.” 
(“The exam is multiple choice and you will receive the result right after the exam has finished.” Lit. “… you will get to hear the outcome right after the end.”)

– “Zullen we het maar meteen doen, dan zijn we ervanaf.” 
(“Why don’t we do it right away, then we’re done with it.” Note the use of ‘ervanaf zijn’: it is no longer your problem or concern.)

– “Is het nog laat geworden gisteravond?” – “Nee, we zijn meteen na de film naar huis gegaan.” 
(“So did it get late last night?” – “No, we went home straight after the movie.”)

Related words:
– Onmiddellijk: immediately [adverb].
– Zo meteen: in a minute/moment [adverb].
– Direct: at once, directly [adverb].

Verlengen

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to extend, to prolong, to lengthen
[verb]
[ver-len-gen, ver-leng-de, ver-lengd] 

‘Verlengen’ means ‘to make longer’ in the broadest sense of the word. It’s also commonly used when renewing a contract. In some cases it can also mean ‘to enlarge’ if enlarging is realized by lengthening. Use it as you see fit 🙂

Examples:
– “Vanwege de bezuinigingen is de kans groot dat je contract niet verlengd wordt…” 
(“Due to the budget cuts the probability is high that your contract will not be renewed.”)

– “Als er na 90 minuten nog niet gescoord is, wordt de wedstrijd verlengd.” 
(“When after 90 minutes no one has scored a goal, the game will go in extra time.” The verb ‘scoren’ is used in general for ‘to score a goal’.)

– “Binnenkort kan ik mijn contract bij T-mobile verlengen en een nieuwe telefoon uitzoeken.” 
(“Soon it will be possible for me to extend my contract with T-mobile and choose/select a new phone.”)

– “Er is daar geen stopcontact dus we moeten het snoer verlengen.” 
(“There is no power socket over there so we have to extend the (power) cord.”)

Related words:
– Verlenging: extension, lengthening, overtime/extra time (of sports games) [noun] [de verlenging, de verlengingen].
– Verlengsnoer: extension cord [noun] [het verlengsnoer, de verlengsnoeren].
– Inkorten: to shorten [verb] [inkortte, ingekort].
– Beëindigen: to end [verb] [beëindigde, beëindigd].

Example:
– “We hebben het vaak opnieuw geprobeerd maar uiteindelijk was het het beste om de relatie te beëindigen.”
(“We have tried many times but eventually it was best to end the relationship.”)

– Vernieuwen: to renew [verb] [vernieuwde, vernieuwd].

Duren

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to last, to take
[verb]
[du-ren, duur-de, ge-duurd] 

The verb ‘duren’ is used to indicate that an activity lasts a specific period of time, or that it is ongoing. It’s used in the same way as the English ‘to take’ or ‘to last’ (although ‘to last’ may indicate a more passive experience which is not explicitly clear when using ‘duren’).

Examples:
– “Hoe lang duurt de film?” 
(“How long does the film last?”)

– “Dit duurt mij te lang, ik kom wel een andere keer terug!” 
(” (I think) this is taking too long, I’ll come back some other time!” Note that ‘mij’ in this case means ‘in my opinion’.”)

– “Hoe gaat het tussen jullie?” – “Goed! We hebben op het moment geen ruzie. Voor zolang als het duurt…” 
(“How are things between the two of you?” – “Good! We are not fighting at the moment. We’ll see how long that lasts…” Note that ‘(voor) zolang als het duurt’ is typically used ironically.)

– “Kun je heel even wachten, het duurt niet lang!” 
(“Would you mind waiting, this won’t take long!”)

– “Waarom duurt het altijd zo lang voordat je klaar bent om te vertrekken?” 
(“Why does it always take so long before you are ready to leave?”)

– “Zolang de sollicitatieprocedure duurt, is er geen communicatie mogelijk over de voortgang.” 
(“During the hiring process it is not possible to communicate on the progress.”)

– “Ik had vanochtend een vergadering en het duurde en duurde maar, ik dacht dat er geen einde aan kwam!” 
(“This morning I had a meeting that dragged on forever, I thought it would never end!” The phrase to remember here is ‘Het duurde en duurde maar’.)

Expressions:
– “Dat/het zal mijn tijd wel duren”: that/it will last my time.

Example:
– “Ik ben benieuwd hoe de reorganisatie zal verlopen…” – “Ach, het zal mijn tijd wel duren, ik ga bijna met pensioen…”
(“I’ll be curious to see how the reorganization will go…” – “Oh well, it will last my time, I’ll retire soon…”).

Related words:
– Tijd: time [noun] [de tijd, de tijden].
– Duur: length (of time) [noun] [de duur, <no plural>].
– Periode: phase, period [noun] [de periode, de periodes].
– Wachten: to wait [verb] [wachtte, gewacht].
– Voortduren: to drag on, to endure, to persist [verb] [duurde voort, voortgeduurd].

Poort

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gate, gateway, port
[noun]
[de poort, de poor-ten] 

Poort A ‘poort’ is an ‘arched gate / way through’ and provides access to a different space or area. An arched passageway of significant length will be called a ‘tunnel’ or a ‘(overdekte) passage/doorgang’.

‘Poort’ is typically translated as ‘gate’, although it must be somewhat arched; otherwise ‘hek’ is a common translation of ‘gate’. An ‘arch’ could be translated as ‘poort’ in Dutch, however when it is an independent object, e.g. the Washington Arch or the Arc de Triomphe, a better translation would be ‘boog’.

‘Poort’ is also used in computer terminology, e.g. port 80 (which as you all know is the default port for HTTP traffic) is translated as ‘poort 80’.

Examples:
– “Petrus heeft de sleutels van de hemelpoort.” 
(“Saint Peter holds the keys to heaven.” Lit. “of the heavenly gate.”)

– “Het lukt me niet om een SSL-tunnel op te zetten met mijn webbrowser.” – “Eens kijken…, heb je toevallig poort 443 geblokkeerd in je firewall?” 
(“I don’t succeed in am not succeeding in setting up an SSL tunnel using my web browser.” – “Let me see…, is port 443 blocked in your firewall by any chance?”)

– “Frodo bibberde van angst bij het aanzien van de Zwarte Poort van Mordor.” 
(“Frodo was shaking with fear when he saw the Black Gate of Mordor.” Note that ‘het aanzien’ typically translates as ‘the looking at’, ‘the witnessing’.)

– “Als je die poort doorgaat, kom je in de kloostertuin. Die is zeker een bezoek waard!” 
(“If you walk on through that gate you will get to the convent garden. It’s definitely worth a visit!”)

Related words:
– Hemelpoort: heavenly gate [de hemelpoort, <no plural>].
– Poorten: to nutmeg [verb] [poortte, gepoort].
– Hek: gate, fence [noun] [het hek, de hekken].
– Ingang: entrance, entry [noun] [de ingang, de ingangen].

Boot

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boat
[noun]
[de boot, de bo-ten] 

sea-932371_640‘Boot’ is the general word for ‘boat’. When you are looking for boots to wear, we call them ‘laarzen’. Bigger ships are called ‘schepen’ in Dutch, with singular form ‘schip’. It’s sometimes a bit unclear when a vessel is a ‘boot’ or a ‘schip’, in general smaller vessels are a ‘boot’. I’ve insulted sailors in the past by referring to their ‘schip’ as a ‘boot’.

The general verb for ‘to sail’ and ‘to (go) boat(ing)’ in Dutch is ‘varen’. When you are really sailing (i.e. using the wind), we say ‘zeilen’.

Examples:
– “Als je in Amsterdam bent, moet je zeker een keer een tocht maken met een rondvaartboot.”
(“When in Amsterdam, you should really do a canal cruise.” Lit. “make a trip with a round-trip boat.”)

– “Ik zou wel een boot willen hebben, maar een boot moet je onderhouden en daar heb ik geen zin in!” 
(“I would like to have a boat, but a boat has to be maintained and I don’t feel like doing that!”)

– “Zo dat is een grote boot!” – “Het is meer een schip dan een boot hoor!” – “O, sorry hoor!”  
(“My, that is a big boat!” – “Hey, it’s more of a ship than a boat!” – “Oh, I beg your pardon!”)

– “We gaan op vakantie naar Zuid-Frankrijk en we nemen onze boot mee!” – “Zo, chique chic hoor, maar kunnen jullie dan niet beter gaan varen? (I.p.v. rijden?)” 
(“We’re going on holiday to the southern parts of France and we are bringing our boat!” – “My, fan-cy, but hadn’t you better sail? (Instead of driving?)”)

Expressions:
– “De boot afhouden”: to refuse to commit oneself, to keep one’s distance.
– “De boot missen“: to miss the boat.

Example:
– “Een paar jaar geleden leek het erop dat er iets was tussen ons, maar we hebben nu definitief de boot gemist…”
(“A few years ago it seemed there was something going on between us, but by now we have missed the boat for sure.”)

Related words:
– Varen: to sail, to (go) boat(ing) [verb] [voer, gevaren].
– Vaartuig: vessel [noun] [het vaartuig, de vaartuigen].
– Boottocht(je): boat trip/excursion [de (het) boottocht(je), de boottocht(jes)].
– Zeeman: sailor, seaman [noun] [de zeeman, de zeemannen].
– Schip: ship [noun] [het schip, de schepen].
– Stoomboot: steamboat, steamship [noun] [de stoomboot, de stoomboten].

Example:
– “Zie ginds komt de stoomboot uit Spanje weer aan.”
(“Look over there, the steamboat from Spain is arriving.” From a children’s song that welcomes Sinterklaas who traditionally arrives from Spain by steamboat.)

– Veerboot: ferry [noun] [de veerboot, de veerboten]. We also say ‘(het) veer’ or ‘(veer)pont’, the latter for smaller ferries sometimes also referred to as ‘pontje’.
– Bootje: small boat to take for short trips, e.g. on the Amsterdam canals [noun] [het bootje, de bootjes].
– Onderzeeër: submarine [noun] [de onderzeeër, de onderzeeërs]. “Onder zee” means “below sea”.