love [noun] [de liefde, de liefdes]

Today we conclude the love theme with the word itself: "liefde"… Its use in Dutch is similar to its use in English.

Examples:
– "Liefde maakt blind."
("Love is blind." Literally: "Love makes blind.")

– "Franks liefde voor zijn auto lijkt groter dan de liefde voor zijn vrouw."
("Frank’s love for his car seems greater than the love for his wife."

– "Niets is sterker dan de liefde van een moeder voor haar kind."
("Nothing is stronger than the love of a mother for her child.")

– "Liefde is een vreemde ziekte." See ‘Extra’.
("Love is a strange disease.")

Related words:
– "Verliefdheid": lovesickness, infatuation, crush.
– "Smoorverliefd (op)" / "smoor (op)": <informal> very much in love (with), crazy (about), infatuated (with).
– "Stapelverliefd (op)" / "stapel (op)": synonym of "smoorverliefd" / "smoor".
– "Houden van": to love.
– "Minnaar": lover. (Usually in the context of an extramarital affair, from the verb "beminnen": to love amorously).

Expression:
– "De liefde van een man gaat door de / zijn maag."
("The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach." Literally: "A man’s love goes through his stomach.")

to make love [verb] [vrijde, gevrijd]

Those of you who have studied Dutch for a while might not have come across this verb yet. The reason is that it is not used much in daily speech. "Vrijen" can just mean "to kiss" (or "to make out", "to neck") but it can also mean "to have sex", but based on love, not just the sex.
The verb is used as a decent equivalent when one does not want or is not able to be explicit. For example, you will encounter it a lot in young girl’s magazines where a psychologist gives them advice on relationships, or in serious talk shows about love and sex.
Other decent alternatives for "vrijen" exist which you can use safely, see ‘Related words’.

In daily speech the Dutch usually just talk about "zoenen", or "seks hebben" ("to have sex"). Of course there are many slang synonyms for "vrijen" or "seks hebben". See ‘Extra’ for a (short) list.

Examples:
– "Wij vrijen niet meer samen."
("We do not longer make love.")

– "In het park kom je af en toe een vrijend stelletje tegen."
("Once in a while you (will) encounter a kissing couple in the park.")

– "Als je het gevoel hebt dat je er nog niet klaar voor bent, kun je het vrijen met je vriendje het beste uitstellen."
("If you have the feeling that you are nog quite ready for it yet, it’s best to postpone having sex with your boyfriend." Literally: "…, you can the best…")

Related words:
– "Vrijpartij": necking session.

Example:
"Na hun heerlijke vrijpartij lag het verliefde stelletje bezweet in elkaars armen."
("After their very good necking session, the amorous couple lay in each other’s arms sweating.")

– "Zoenen": to kiss.
– "Vozen": [slang] to fondle.
– "Seks hebben": to have sex.
– "Seksen": [informal] to (have) sex.
– "Geslachtsgemeenschap hebben": [formal] to have sexual intercourse.
– "De liefde bedrijven": to make love.
– "Slapen met": to sleep with.
– "Het bed delen": literally "to share the bed".

Extra:
Many explicit alternatives exist for the verb "vrijen" in its meaning of "having sex", usually derived from some kind of similar motion 🙂 The main difference is that these verbs are used when you just talk about the sex and not about the love. Also, many of them are derogatory. Its usage can differ from region to region. It is best not to use these words and first study in which cases the Dutch consider the use acceptable. But we thought you should know them nonetheless.

Here are a few with the literal translations:

– "Neuken": this is probably the best known, however mind that it is very explicit language. Originally "neuken" is a synonym for "stoten" which means "to thrust/knock". Most Dutch people don’t know this however. In modern Dutch it now only has the sexual meaning.

– "Pompen": to pump.
– "Ketsen": to ricochet.
– "Bonken": to bang, to bump.
– "Het doen": to do it.
– "Naaien": to sew.
– "Kezen": to hump.
– "Palen": to ram.
– "Rampetampen": [untranslatable].
– "Rollebollen": [untranslatable, but something like "to roll/tumble"]
– "Wippen": to hop, to lever.
– "Een vluggertje": a quicky.

An innocent expression is:
– "De koffer in duiken met iemand": to dive/jump into the suitcase with somebody.

to love, to like [verb] [hield, gehouden]

Today's word is the elementary "houden van", which can also be applied in a non-romantic context, for example when talking about food.

Examples:
– "Ik hou van jou!"
("I love you!" For those of you who study Dutch grammar, in the case of the verb "houden", the "d" can be omitted in the first person and is in fact more common than "ik houd". Don't ask us why this is the case 😉 )

– "Maar… Hou je dan niet meer van me?"
("But… Don't you love me anymore (then)?" You can substitute "je" by "jou" "jij" and "me" by "mij" in case you want to emphasize.)

– "Hier, neem maar een hapje!" – "Nee bedankt, ik hou niet van witlof."
("Here, take a bite!" – "No thanks, I do not like chicory.")

– "Zij houdt heel erg van sla!"
("She loves lettuce!" If you leave out the "heel erg" ("very much"), it will translate to just "she likes lettuce". An alternative is to use the expression "gek zijn op" (see below).)

– "Ga je nog skieën dit jaar?" – "Misschien, maar ik hou sowieso meer van snowboarden."
("Do you have plans to go skiing this year? – "Maybe, but I am more into snowboarding anyway." Literally: "Are you (still) going to ski this year?" The word "sowieso" is adopted from German.)

Related expressions:
– "Lekker vinden": to find something tasty (in this context).

Example:
– "Als kind vond Sander witlof niet lekker."
("When he was a child, Sander did not like chicory." Literally: "As child …")

– "Gek zijn op": to be crazy about something/somebody, to (really) love something/somebody.

Example:
– "Ik ben gek op chocola!"
("I love chocolate!" You will sometimes also hear "ik ben dol op…")

Extra:
The Dutch are not generous with "I-love-you's". In general "houden van" is used amorously (but not until a relationship has evolved seriously). It can be used among friends, or between children and parents, but this is not done on a frequent basis, contrary to what seems to be the case in the U.S. (at least that is the impression we get from watching U.S. movies 😉 )

to cuddle, to hug [verb] [knuffelde, geknuffeld]

The noun that goes with "knuffelen" is "knuffel", which translates to "hug" or "cuddle" (see ‘Related words’).
Mind that in the Dutch language the "k" is always pronounced!

Examples:
– "Ik heb zin om jou te knuffelen!"
("I feel like cuddling you!")

-"Waarom knuffelen wij nooit meer?"
("Why do we never cuddle anymore?")

– "Sommige mannen houden niet van knuffelen."
("Some men do not like to cuddle.")

– "Het verliefde stelletje zat te knuffelen op een bankje in het park."
("The amorous couple was cuddling on a (little) bench in the park.")

– "Baby’s die veel geknuffeld worden, worden later heel sociaal."
("Babies that are cuddled a lot, become very social later on.")

Related words:
– "Knuffelbeer": teddy bear.
– "Knuffel": hug, cuddle.

Example:
– <at the end of an e-mail:> "Dikke Knuffel!"
("Big hug!")

– "Knuffel": soft/cuddly toy (if clear from context).

Examples:
– "Mijn dochtertje is verdrietig, want zij heeft haar knuffel verloren."
("My daughter is sad, because she lost her cuddly toy." Notice here that the diminutive form of "dochter" is functional. )

– <one lover to the other lover:> "Hoi knuffeltje, ik ben wat later thuis vanavond!"
("Hi honey, I’m home a bit later tonight!" Literally it says: "Hi little cuddly toy, …" 🙂 )

– "Omhelzen": to embrace.

to kiss [verb] [zoende, gezoend]

Examples:
– “Zullen we zoenen?”
(“Shall we kiss?”)

– “Heb je zin om te zoenen?”
(“Do you feel like kissing?” or “Do you want to kiss?”)

– “Sorry, maar ik zoen niet in het openbaar!”)
(“I’m sorry, but I don’t kiss in public!”)

– “Het verliefde paartje stond aan de bar te zoenen.”
(“The amorous couple was kissing at the bar.”)

– “Bij het afscheid gaf Frank zijn schoonmoeder drie zoenen op de wang.”
(“When he left, Frank gave his mother in law three kisses on the cheek.” Literally: “At the departure, …”)