Category Archives: Vocabulary Basic

Misschien

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maybe, perhaps [adverb]

Examples:
– "Zijn we er al bijna?" – "Ik weet het niet, misschien weet Isabelle het!"
("Are we almost there?" – "I don’t know, maybe Isabelle knows!")

– "Ga jij naar het feest vanavond?" – "Ja, maar ik kom misschien wat later…"
("Are you going to the party tonight?" – "Yes, but I may/might be a bit later…")

– "Is Frank er nog niet?" – "Nee, misschien heeft hij een lekke band."
("Has Frank not arrived yet?" – "No, perhaps he has a flat tire.")

– "Heb jij voor mij misschien een velletje papier?"
("Do you have a sheet of paper for me, by any chance?")

– "Wil jij misschien mijn kijkdoos even zien?"
("Perhaps you would like to take a look at my show-box?" This is a line taken from the Dutch song "Mijn kijkdoos" by "Hanny & De Rekels" (see ‘Extra’). In this song the word "kijkdoos" (literally "see-box") has a bit of a sexual connotation as the word "doos" is sometimes derogatorily used for the female genital organ, see also "DWOTD 82. Kijken" and "DWOTD 1. Doos".)

Related words:
– "Wellicht": perhaps, possibly.
– "Mogelijk": possibly, possible.

Extra:
The music by "Hanny & De Rekels" is part of the so-called genre "levenslied". A "levenslied" (literally: life’s song) is a Dutch song, often a bit sentimental, with topics close to the daily life of the ordinary (wo)man. Another often used term is "smartlap" (literally: sorrow rag) . In the city of Utrecht, the "smartlappenfestival" is held annually.
Famous Dutch "levenslied" performers were "Andre Hazes", "Johnny Jordaan" and "Zangeres Zonder Naam" . Today, "Frans Bauer" is very popular. Read the full lyrics of "Mijn kijkdoos" at http://www.lyricsvault.net/songs/14130.html .

Trakteren

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to treat [verb] [trakteerde, getrakteerd]

In elementary schools in the Netherlands it is common for children to treat their teacher and class mates to some kind of candy when it is their birthday (“healthy” candy is encouraged by the way). Usually also a tour around the school is made where all other teachers are treated as well.

The verb “trakteren” is used for any kind of buying drinks or food for others and does not necessarily require a reason.

Examples:
– “Ik trakteer!”
(“It’s my treat! / This one’s on me!” Literally: “I treat!”)

– “Ik ben vorige week jarig geweest en daarom trakteer ik jullie allemaal op taart!”
(“I had my birthday last week and therefore I treat you all to cake!”)

– “Sander en Marc hebben gisteren zichzelf getrakteerd op een tapas etentje.”
(“Yesterday, Sander and Marc treated themselves to a tapas dinner.”)

– “Omdat Frank voor de derde keer te laat was, heeft hij ons op vlaai getrakteerd.”
(“Because Frank was late for the third time, he treated us to flan/pie.” A typical Dutch pie is “vlaai” which comes in many different kinds. Read more at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vlaai. A popular store in the Netherlands is “Multivlaai” but you can also buy them at “Hema”. Go here for an overview of “Multivlaai” stores in the Netherlands.)

– “Na de les werd de nerd door de footballspeler op een pak slaag getrakteerd.”
(“After class, the nerd was beaten up by the (American-)football player.” Literally: “…the nerd was treated to a package of beating by…”)

Related words:
– “Traktatie”: treat.
– “Verjaardag”: birthday.

Extra:
“Dutch treat” – or “going Dutch” – is used in the English language to describe the situation that each person eating at a restaurant or drinking in a bar pays for himself or herself, rather than one person paying for everyone. Apparently, the Dutch have a history of being scrooges 🙂 See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Going_Dutch .
We do would like to emphasize that it is definitely not common in the Netherlands that the bill is shared when dating. The one who invited the other should pay. The invited one might offer to pay (all or his or her share), but this should then be refused. However, when you are passed the dating stage and things are more serious, it should no longer be expected that the one inviting the other pays for the bill and you will have to find the equilibrium (as with more things in a relationship 😉 ).

Related Dutch custom is the use of a so-called “pot”, especially among students going out, where every person contributes an equal share of cash money into “de pot”, i.e. the person who manages the collected money (this person is not carrying a “pot” of some sort 😉 ). Subsequent rounds (of beer) are paid from/by the “pot”. This should guarantee that nobody “forgets” to pay for a round. Then again it might lead to “problems” when somebody leaves early before the “pot” is empty 🙂

Hoera

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hurray, hooray, hurrah [noun] [het hoera, de hoera’s]

Just like in English, “hoera” is used as an expression to cheer at somebody or something. It is a bit old-fashioned though and you will find it mostly in written language. Two common occasions where you will hear “hoera” are ceremonies in which the queen plays a central role and she is formally cheered at, and a common Dutch birthday song (see ‘Extra’).

Examples:
– “Hoera! Vandaag is de 100e Dutch Word Of The Day!!”
(“Hurray! Today is the 100th Dutch Word of The Day!!”

– “Driewerf hoera voor de koningin!”
(“Three cheers for the queen!”)

– “Lange leve de koningin!” – “Hoera! Hoera! Hoera!”
(“Long live the queen!” – “Hurray! Hurray! Hurray!”)

– “Hiep, hiep, hiep… Hoera!”
(“Hip, hip, hurray!”)

Related words:
– “Hieperdepiep”: informal corruption of “hiep, hiep, hiep”.
– “Vieren”: to celebrate.
– “Juichen”: to cheer.

Extra:
One of the formal ceremonies in which the queen plays a central role and you will hear the three “hoera’s” is “Prinsjesdag”, the opening of the Dutch parliamentary year and the day on which the government proposes its financial plans for the coming year. The queen will also read out her “troonrede” (“speech from the throne”), outlining the government’s plans for the coming year. Read more at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prinsjesdag.

When a Dutch child has his or her birthday, it is common to sing the following song, pay attention to the “hoera’s”!

Lang zal ze leven,
Lang zal ze leven,
Lang zal ze leven in de gloria,
In de glo-ri-a, in de glo-ri-a!
Hiep hiep, hoera!! <all raise their arms up high on “hiep hiep”>
Hiep hiep, hoera!!
Hieperdepiep, hoera!!

This song is also still in use for adults, and you will hear it in restaurants now and then, usually the “birthday woman/man” being highly embarrassed.
In the first three sentences you have to replace ‘ze’ by ‘hij’ if it is a boy instead of a girl, and ‘zal’ by ‘zullen’ in case you sing for more kids at the same time.

Bijna

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almost, nearly, close to [adverb]

We have almost reached the 100th Dutch word of the day! When Sander first started to explain some of the intricacies of the Dutch language to some of his co-workers, he did not expect the rudimentary explanations of the first DWOTDs to grow into where we are now. After some time Marc joined in writing the DWOTD, since it does take some time! (even for the experienced Dutch like us 🙂 ).

Although we are sometimes pressed for time, we try our best to write an informative DWOTD with sentences that you can either use in daily life, or study to improve your Dutch.

Readers who wish to discuss the DWOTD can do so on the website, this is also the central repository for all DWOTDs. Don’t forget that you can always request a word by using the mailform (‘Mailformulier’) on the website (or just reply to the mailing).

We hope you still enjoy the DWOTD and if you do, please tell others about our website or the mailing list!!

Sander and Marc

Examples:
– “Hoe laat is het?” – “Het is bijna zes uur.”
(“What time is it?” – “It is close to six o’clock.”)

– “Het toiletpapier is bijna op!”
(“The toilet paper is almost used up!”)

– “Kom op! Niet opgeven, we zijn er bijna!”
(“Come on! Don’t give up, we’re almost there!”)

–  “Waar is Frank?” – “Ik weet het niet, hij zei dat hij bijna klaar was.”
(“Where’s Frank?” – “I don’t know, he said he was almost ready.”)

– “Vanwege file was ik vanochtend bijna te laat.”
(“Due to traffic jams, I was nearly too late this morning.”)

– “Mijn vriendin moest bijna huilen bij het zien van die film.”
(“My girlfriend was close to tears when seeing that movie.” Literally: “… almost had to cry…”)

– “Wat een slecht feest! Om elf uur was er al bijna geen bier meer…”
(“What a lousy party! At eleven o’clock already, there was hardly any beer left…” Literally: “… there was almost no more beer…”)

Laat

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late [adjective, adverb]

Examples:

– "Hoe laat is het?"
("What time is it?" Literally: "how late is it?")

– "Hoe laat begint de voorstelling?"
("At what time does the show begin?")

– "Beter laat dan nooit!"
("Better late than never!")

– "Vroeg of laat zal dit een keer misgaan!"
("Sooner or later this will go wrong (one time)!" Literally: "Early or soon…")

– "Is het nog laat geworden gisteravond?"
("Did you/people stay late last night?" Literally: "Has it become late last night?")

– "Sorry, maar daar is het nu te laat voor!"
("(I’m) sorry, but it is too late for that now!")

– "Op dit late uur kunnen wij u niet van dienst zijn!"
("At this late hour we cannot be of service to you!")

– "Weer was Frank te laat op de vergadering vanochtend."
("Again, Frank was late for the meeting this morning.")

– "Regelmatig moeten er leerlingen nablijven omdat ze ‘s ochtends te laat op school zijn."
("Frequently pupils have to be kept in detention because they were late for school in the morning.")

Expression:
– "Goede raad komt nooit te laat."
("Good advice never comes too late .")

Related words:
– "Laatkomer": latecomer, late arrival.
– "Laatbloeier": late-bloomer (typically said of a person who starts engaging the opposite sex at an older age).
– "Verlaat": late, in the meaning of being late for an appointment.

Example:
"Mijn excuses, maar ik ben iets verlaat deze ochtend."
(<calling the dentist:> "My apologies but I am somewhat late this morning.")