1. small, little, minor, short [adjective]

Examples:
– "Een Mini is een kleine auto."
("A Mini is a small car.")

– "Hij is vrij klein voor zijn leeftijd."
("He is quite little for his age.")

– "Hebt u deze schoenen ook in een kleinere maat?"
("Are these shoes available in a smaller size?" Lit.: "Do you have these shoes also in …")

– "Op wat kleine details na, ziet het document er goed uit!"
("Apart from a few minor details, the document looks good!")

– "Het is een klein stukje rijden."
("It is a short distance to drive." Lit.: "… a short part …")

2. minor (musical scale) [adjective]

Example:
– "Dat stuk is geschreven in D klein."
("That piece is written in D minor.")

Expressions:
– "Kleine boodschap.": the opposite of ‘grote boodschap’, this is when you only have to pee 😉 Literally: ‘small message/delivery’.

– "Klein van geest.": lit. "small of mind" this translates to ‘narrow-minded’.

– "Klein maar fijn.": lit. "small but good" this is used when you want to say that something does not need to be big to ‘do the job’ (no sexual innuendos implied here…)

– "Kleine meisjes worden groot.": young girls grow up.

– "(In het) klein beginnen:": to start out small.

– "Een kleine eter.": a small/poor eater.

– "De wereld is klein!": it is a small world!

– "Die het kleine niet eert, is het grote niet weert.": lit. ‘if you do not honour the small, you are not worth the big’, this is used to say that you should be happy with having little if you are to deserve having a lot.

– "Een ongeluk zit in een klein hoekje.": accidents will happen (lit. ‘an accident sits in a small corner.’)

1. big, large, tall, great, major [adjective]

[Note on pronunciation: in this case the phonetic script would be identical to ‘groot’ so we have not included it.]

Examples:
– "Dat is een grote kerel."
("That’s a big/tall guy.")

– "Wat ben jij groot geworden!"
("How you’ve grown!" Literally: "What have you become tall!")

– "Helemaal alleen in de grote stad."
("All alone in the big city.")

– "Deze winkel heeft alleen grote maten."
("This shop only has large sizes.")

– "Wilt u uw cola klein, medium, groot of extra-groot?"
("Would you like your coke to be small, medium, large or extra-large?")

– "Dat is een grote militaire operatie."
("That is a major military operation.")

2. in size [adjective]

Examples:
– "Deze kamer is 20 vierkante meter groot."
("This room is 20 square meters in size.")

– "Deze kamer is twee keer zo groot als die andere."
("This room is twice as big as / twice the size of the other one.")

3. major (musical scale) [adjective]

Example:
– "Dat stuk is geschreven in D groot."
("That piece is written in D major.")

Expressions:
– "Grote mensen.": tall/big people. This is how small kids refer to adults.

– "Hoe een klein land groot kan zijn.": lit. ‘how a small country
can be big’, this is often said when the Dutch can celebrate notable
achievements, for example in international sport events.

Related words:
– "Groots": grand.

Example:
– "De organisatie belooft een groots evenement voor groot en klein."
("The organization promises a grand happening for adults and children." Lit.: "… for big and small.")

– "Groot": grand, great. See also ‘Dutch grammar: declining of adjectives‘.

Example:
– "André Hazes was een groot artiest."
("André Hazes was a great artist.")

 1. back [adverb; ‘tu-rug’]

The word ‘terug’ is also frequently used to create ‘composed verbs’, see ‘Examples’.

Examples:
– "Geef terug!"
("Give it back!" Here the composed verb is ‘teruggeven’: to give back (or to return).)

– "Sander is (weer) terug van vakantie."
("Sander is back (again) from holiday/vacation.")

– "Ik heb te weinig geld teruggekregen!"
("I was short-changed!" with composed verb ‘terugkrijgen’: to receive, to get back. Literally: "I was given back too little money.")

– "Niet goed, geld terug."
(Popular warranty slogan, literally: "Not good, money back". You will also see: "Niet goed, geld terug – garantie" as a warranty ("garantie") policy.)

– "Ik ben over 5 minuten terug."
("I’ll be back in 5 minutes.")

– "In ‘Back to the future‘ reist de hoofdpersoon terug in de tijd."
("In ‘Back to the future’ the main character travels back in time.")

– "Alle laptopbatterijen met oneven serienummers moeten terug naar de fabriek."
("All laptop batteries with odd serial numbers have to be returned to the factory.")

– "Door het slechte weer zijn veel vakantiegangers teruggekeerd."
("Due to the bad weather, many holidaymakers/vacationers have gone back." Composed verb: ‘terugkeren’.)

– "Kunt u mij later vanmiddag terugbellen?"
("Can you call me back later this afternoon?")

Expressions:
– "Niet terug hebben van": used when one can’t compete, or is silenced (by an argument).

Examples:
– "De Nederlandse atleet had niet terug van de snelle start van de Rus."
("The Dutch athlete could not compete with the Russian’s fast start.")

– "Ik heb hem de waarheid gezegd en hij had er niet van terug!"
("I told him the truth and he was silenced!")

– "Erop terugkomen": to discuss later/to revisit (an issue) or to change an opinion or decision.

Examples:
– "Ik kom er later in deze presentatie op terug."
("I will discuss this later in the presentation.")

– "Ik had gezegd dat ik mee zou gaan vanavond, maar ik moet erop terugkomen."
("I said I’d join tonight, but I have to cancel (take it back).")

2. back (ago) [adverb]

This translation is not very common and the word ‘geleden’ is more often used.

Example:
– "Enige jaren terug was er een tekort aan water door het extreem warme weer."
("A few years ago there was a shortage of water due to the extremely warm weather.")

Instead of "rit", its diminutive is often used in an informal context: "ritje".

ride, drive [noun] [de rit, de ritten]

Examples:
– "Wat een rit!"
("What a ride!")

– "Van Groningen naar Maastricht is een flinke rit."
("It’s quite a drive from Groningen to Maastricht." At least by Dutch standards 🙂 )

– "Hee schatje, heb je zin in een ritje?"
("Hey baby, wanna go for a ride?")

– "Waar is Frank? – Hij is een ritje aan het maken in zijn nieuwe auto."
("Where’s Frank?" He’s gone for a drive in his new car.")

– "De laatste busrit is om twaalf uur."
("The last bus leaves at twelve o’clock.")

Related words:
– "Rijden": to ride, to drive.
– "Reis": trip, journey.

Expression:
– "De rit uitzitten": to ride it out (literally: to sit out the ride).