beach/seaside [noun] [het strand, de stranden] [‘strant‘] 

As the temperature is rising, Holland’s sandy beaches will soon become filled with people baking in the sun in their swimming gear. Baking in the sun all day long is one of the favourite ways to spend the summer vacation for many Dutch, either on the French, Spanish or Dutch seashore.

Examples:
– "Den Haag ligt aan het strand."
("The Hague is located at the seaside.")

– "Kom, we gaan naar het strand! Vergeet je de zonnebrandcrème niet?"
("Come on, let’s go to the beach! Don’t forget to bring the suntan cream!")

– "Deze maand wordt het jaarlijkse zandsculpturen festival gehouden op het Scheveningse strand."
("The annual Sand Sculpture Festival takes place this month on the beach in Scheveningen.")

– "Afgelopen maart liep het schip Artemis vast op het strand van Les Sables d’Olonnes."
("Last March, the ship Artemis ran ashore on the beach of Les Sables d’Olonnes.")

– "Ga je dit jaar voor een zon-, zee- en strandvakantie of voel je meer voor een culturele vakantie?"
("Are you planning a vacation on the beach this year, or do you favour a cultural vacation?")

– "De Scheveningse boulevard is in de zomer een populaire plek."
("The promenade in Scheveningen is a populair place during the summer.")

– "In de winter maak ik graag lange strandwandelingen."
("In wintertime I enjoy long walks on the beach.")

Related words:
– "Strandjutter": beach comber.
– "Strandstoel": deck chair.
– "Strandboulevard": promenade, esplanade, (sea) front, marine parade.
– "Strandtent": beach tent.

ice cream, ice lolly, pop sicle [noun] [het ijsje, de ijsjes] [‘ijs-ju’]

For more info on the vowel "IJ" see "Why the IJ?" 

"IJsje" is the diminutive of "ijs", which translates to either "ice" (as in frozen water) or "ice cream" (as in the delicacy). An "IJsje" can be used for a hand held ice cream in a cone (like a vanilla ice cream) or a pop sicle (a frozen lolly of flavored water), which in Dutch is also called a "waterijsje".

Examples:
– "Mam, mag ik een ijsje?"
("Mom, can I have an ice cream?")

– "Omdat het vandaag zo warm is, trakteert Frank op een ijsje!"
("Because it’s so hot today, Frank is treating us to an ice cream!")

– "Hoeveel bollen neem jij in je hoorntje?" – "Nou, ik heb liever een waterijsje."
("How many scoops will you have in your cone?" – "Well, I’d rather have a pop sicle.")

 Related words:
– "Hoorntje": cone.
– "IJscoman": ice-cream man/vendor.

Extra:
We’ve already mentioned it in one of our early DWOTDs: Holland’s most popular ice lolly is the "Raket". Apparently, it has been around since 1962! It has (somewhat 🙂 ) the shape of a rocket, and consists of three flavors of water ice, which each have a different color. From top to bottom: red strawberry, orange orange, and yellow pineapple, as you can see in the picture.

pavement/sidewalk/outdoor café, terrace, patio [noun] [het terras, de terrassen] [‘te-ras‘]

Most
common usage of the word ‘terras’ is in combination with having a drink
in an outdoor café. The Dutch have the tendency
to, as soon as there is a hint of sunlight at the beginning of spring,
go downtown and populate the outdoor cafés, provided by the equally
enthusiastic bar owners.

Your home might have a ‘terras’ – the word is also used for the paved sitting-area of
a garden (especially in the case that it’s all the garden you have!)

Examples:
– "Ik kan niet wachten totdat de terrassen weer geopend zijn!"
("I can’t wait till the outdoor cafés are open again!")

– "Zullen we wat gaan drinken op een terras?"
("Shall we have a drink in an outdoor café?")

– "Ik heb de hele middag op een terras gezeten met een boek, heerlijk!"
("All afternoon I have sat in a pavement café with a book, wonderful!")

– "De bediening op dit terras is niet om over naar huis te schrijven!"
("The service in this outdoor café is lousy." Literally: "The service on this terrace is not to write home about!")

– "Bij mooi weer is het Plein in Den Haag voor de helft gevuld met terrasjes!"
("When the weather is nice, half of ‘het Plein’ in the Hague is filled with outdoor cafés!")

– "Op vakantie gaan is slechts verplaatsing van het terras!"
("Going on holiday is just relocation of the (garden) terrace!" (Sander’s father’s view on going on holiday).)

Expression:
– "Een terrasje pikken": to have a drink in an outdoor café.

Example:
– "Zullen we vanmiddag een terrasje pikken?" – "Ja, gezellig!"
("Shall we have a drink in an outdoor café this afternoon?" – "Sure, sounds like fun!")

Related words:
– "Dakterras": roof terrace, sun roof.
– "Balkon": balcony.
– "Binnenplaats": (inner) courtyard.

hippo(potamus) [noun] [het nijlpaard, de nijlpaarden] [‘nijl-paart’]

"Nijlpaard" literally translates to "nile horse". However, since there are no horses swimming in the river Nile, you may figure out that "nijlpaard" is actually a hippo or hippopotamus 🙂 We admit that there really isn’t much of a resemblance in appearance between the two….

Sometimes, "nijlpaard" is used in a derogatory way to refer to a fat woman.

Examples:
– "Een nijlpaard is een zoogdier."
("A hippopotamus is a mammal.")

– "Mam, mogen we de nijlpaarden voeren?" – "Nee liefie, dat mag niet."
("Mom, can we feed the hippos?" – "No sweetie, you can’t.")

– "Franks vriendin is een nijlpaard…" – "Sorry, maar dat kun je echt niet zeggen."
("Frank’s girlfriend is a hippo…" – "I’m sorry, but you really can’t say that.")

Related words:
– "Nijl": (the river) Nile.
– "Paard": horse.
– "Neushoorn": Rhino(ceros).

to arrange/organize/settle, to take care of something [verb] [regelde, geregeld] [‘ree-gu-lun’]

The noun “regel” translates to “rule” or “line (sentence)”. The verb
“regelen” however, takes on a different meaning. And don’t mistake it
for “regenen”, which means “to rain”.

Examples:

– “Mijn complimenten, je hebt het allemaal prima geregeld!”

(“My compliments, you have organized it (all) very well!”)

– “Morgen gaan we op vakantie en we moeten nog van alles doen en
ik raak helemaal gestresst!!” – “Maak je geen zorgen, ik regel het wel!”
(“Tomorrow
we’re going on holiday and we still have to do many things and I’m
getting completely stressed!!” – “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it!”)

– “En hoe laat worden we dan opgehaald?” – “Ik weet het niet precies; Madelon heeft alles geregeld.”

(“And at what time will we be picked up?” – “I don’t know exactly, Madelon has organized everything.”)

– “Ik stuur zo een uitnodiging rond. Kan jij dan even een vergaderruimte regelen?”

(“I’ll send around an invitation in a minute. Can you arrange a meeting
room?” Note that ‘even’ has no real meaning here; it is used to make
the request sound friendlier.)

Related words:

– “Regelneef”: popular word for the male person who mainly organizes
things as part of his job. A “neef” is actually a “cousin” or a
“nephew” (and that’s why Dutch people often say nephew when they mean
cousin).

– “Geregel”: organizing/coordinating.

Example:

-“Hoe is je nieuwe baan?” – “O, wel leuk, heel veel geregel, maar dat kan ik heel goed.”

(“How is your new job?” – “Oh, quite ok, lots of organizing, but I’m very good at that.”)

– “Regeling”: arrangement, settlement.
– “Dingen regelen”: to take care of things/stuff.

– “Geregeld!”: taken care of/done/completed!

– “Organiseren”: to organize.

– “Coördineren”: to co-ordinate.