Category Archives: Vocabulary Intermediate

Langzaam maar gestaag

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slowly but steadily 
[Dutch phrase of the week]
[lang-zaam maar ge-staag]

LangzaamMaarGestaag The Dutch word for ‘slow’ is ‘langzaam’. A word less common is ‘gestaag’: steady/steadily. When you want to say (or admit 😉 ) that things are going slow, however at a steady pace and thus moving forward, you can say that things are going ‘langzaam maar gestaag’.

A related phrase is ‘langzaam maar zeker’: slowly but surely. Which is not necessarily ‘gestaag’. 🙂

Examples:
– “De renovatie van het centraal station in Rotterdam vordert langzaam maar gestaag.” 
(“The renovation of the central station in Rotterdam is progressing slowly but steadily.”)

– “Langzaam maar gestaag ontwikkelde het derdewereldland zich tot een economische grootmacht.” 
(“Slowly but steadily the third world country developed into an economic superpower.”)

– “Schiet het al op met de verbouwing?” – “Nou, het is veel meer werk dan verwacht; het gaat langzaam, maar gelukkig gestaag!”
(“Are you making progress with the renovation?” – “My, it’s a lot more work than expected; the progress is slow but luckily steady!”)

– “Langzaam maar gestaag groeide de mee-eter uit tot een ware puist.” 
(“Slowly but steadily the blackhead turned into a pimple.” The verb ‘uitgroeien tot’ translates as ‘to grow/develop into’.)

Related words:
– Langzaam: slow(ly) [adjective/adverb].
– Vorderen: to (make) progress, to move forward [verb] [vorderde, gevorderd].
– Zeker: sure(ly, definite(ly) [adjective/adverb].
– Voortgang: progress [noun] [de voortgang, de voortgangen]. Compare with Vooruitgang.
– Uitgroeien tot: to grow/develop into [verb] [groeide uit, uitgegroeid].

Al doende leert men

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you learn as you go along, one lives and learns, experience is the best teacher 
[Dutch phrase of the week]
[al doen-de leert men]

AlDoendeLeertMen Literally ‘al doende leert men’ translates as ‘while (busy) doing one learns’. In general you can use a similar construction when describing an activity that takes place during another, e.g. ‘al lopende telefoneerde hij’, however it is not very common and more often you will see ‘hij telefoneerde lopend’ (‘he phoned (/ was using his phone) while walking’).

Examples:
– “Mijn laptop is gecrasht en nu ben ik al mijn bestanden kwijt!” – “Je moet ook altijd een backup maken!” – “Ik weet het 🙁 Ach, al doende leert men!” 
(“My laptop crashed and now I have lost all my files!” – “Well, you must always make a backup!” – “I know 🙁 Oh well, you learn as you go along…” Note that ‘gecrasht’ is the Dutch equivalent of the English past participle ‘crashed’. Often you will see ‘gecrashed’, but that’s incorrect; even when a verb is of foreign origin, its conjugation is done as if the verb was Dutch.)

– “Ik heb het helemaal verkeerd aangepakt met Antoinette, ik had naar haar moeten luisteren in plaats van haar te veroordelen. Nu wil ze me niet meer zien…” – “Tja, al doende leert men jongen, volgende keer moet je het anders doen.” 
(“I went about it completely the wrong way with Antoinette, I should have listened to her instead of condemning her. Now she doesn’t want to see me again…” – “You learn as you go along man, next time you have to do it differently.”)

– “Ik was te laat voor mijn sollicitatiegesprek doordat de trein vertraging had. Ik had gewoon een trein eerder moeten nemen. Al doende leert men, zal ik maar zeggen, maar het is mooi balen.” 
(“I was late for my job interview because the train was delayed. I should have taken one train earlier. I guess it’s a matter of learning from your mistakes, but this really sucks.”)

– “Al doende leert men, dus ik ga niet nog een keer de weg op in een sneeuwstorm.” 
(“Experience is the best teacher, so next time there is a snow storm, no way I’m going on the road.”)

Related words:
– Ervaring: experience [noun] [de ervaring, de ervaringen].
– Leren: to learn [verb] [leerde, geleerd].

Example:
– “Ik heb veel geleerd van deze moeilijke periode in mijn leven.”
(“I have learned a lot from this tough period in my life.”)

– Doen: to do [verb] [deed, gedaan].

Overeenkomst

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1. similarity, resemblance 
[noun]
[de over-een-komst, de over-een-komst-en]

Overeenkomst"Overeenkomst" is a homonym, however both translations given are somewhat related; when you mutually agree on something, at least you should have a similar view on the matter. Well, that would be the case ideally 🙂

In both translations "overeenkomst" can be combined with quite a few verbs, check out the examples to learn how.

Examples:
– "Toen we in het hotel kwamen, bleek er geen enkele overeenkomst te zijn met de folder. We zijn voor de gek gehouden!" 
("When we arrived in the hotel, it appeared that there was no resemblance whatsoever with the brochure! We have been fooled!")

– "Zijn gedrag vertoont overeenkomsten met dat van de gezochte dader. Laten we hem in de gaten houden!" 
("His behaviour resembles that of the wanted perpetrator. Let's keep an eye on him!")

– "Deze wijk is gebouwd in oud-Hollandse stijl. Er zijn veel overeenkomsten met grachtenpanden zoals je die in Amsterdam aantreft." 
("This part of town is built in old-Dutch fashion. There are many similarities with the houses on the canals as found in Amsterdam.")

Related words:
– Gelijkenis: resemblance [noun] [de gelijkenis, de gelijkenissen].
– Overeenkomen: to correspond to, to be similar to [verb] [kwam overeen, overeengekomen].

Example:
– "Dit rapport komt totaal niet overeen met wat is afgesproken."
("In no way this report resembles what we agreed on.")

– Overeenkomst vertonen met: to resemble, to bear a likeness to [verb] [vertoonde, vertoond].

2. agreement, deal 
[noun]
[de over-een-komst, de over-een-komst-en]

Overeenkomst-2

Examples:
– "Deze overeenkomst kan te allen tijde door de bank beëindigd worden." 
("This agreement can be terminated by the bank at any moment." Note the spelling of 'te allen tijde'. Any other variation [te(r/n) alle(r/n) tijde(n)] is incorrect!)

– "De partijen zijn een overeenkomst aangegaan voor onbepaalde tijd." 
("The parties have entered into an agreement for an indefinite period of time.")

– "Er is sprake van een stilzwijgende overeenkomst. Met andere woorden: als niemand bezwaar maakt, wordt de overeenkomst vanzelf definitief." 
("This regards a tacit agreement. In other words: if nobody objects the agreement becomes final automatically.")

– "Maar we hadden een mondelinge overeenkomst!" – "Tja, dat is jammer, want alleen schriftelijke overeenkomsten zijn bij ons rechtsgeldig. Tot ziens!" 
("But we had an oral agreement!" – "Well, that's too bad, because we only consider written agreements to be legally valid. Goodbye!")

– "De nalatenschap wordt verdeeld in overeenkomst met de wensen van de overledene(n)." 
("The inheritance will be divided in accordance with the wishes of the deceased.")

Related words:
– Afspraak: agreement, deal [noun] [de afspraak, de afspraken].
– Contract: contract [noun] [het contract, de contracten].
– Overeenkomst sluiten: to enter into an agreement, to make a deal [verb] [sloot, gesloten]. Other verbs you can use: aangaan/treffen.
– Handelen in overeenkomst met: to act in accordance with [verb] [handelde, gehandeld].

Het is erop of eronder!

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make or break, sink or swim, the moment of truth 
[Dutch phrase of the week]
[het is er-op of er-on-der]

Cowboy op stier vertrekt uit startblokkenLiterally “erop of eronder” translates as “on it (/on top) or under it (/underneath)”. It can be used in that translation, for example to determine where an object needs to be placed. Without context, when you say something is “erop of eronder”, you are saying that this is the moment of truth, you will fail or succeed, make or break.

Examples:
– “Dit is de laatste kans om een medaille te winnen, het is erop of eronder voor Sven Kramer.” 
(“This is the last chance to win a medal, it’s make or break for Sven Kramer.”)

– “Het is erop of eronder jongens, ik verwacht van iedereen een maximale inzet!” 
(“It’s sink or swim time boys, I expect everbody to give everything they have! Lit. “… I expect a maximum effort from everybody.”)

– “Moet je zo dadelijk je eindpresentatie geven?” – “Ja, het is erop of eronder…” 
(“Is it time for your final presentation” – “Yeah, the moment of truth…” Lit. “Do you have to give your final presentation in a moment?”)

– “Het was erop of eronder voor Ajax afgelopen zondag, want FC Twente had aan één punt genoeg…” 
(“It was make or break time for Ajax last Sunday, as F.C. Twente only needed one point…”)

Expressions:
– “Nu of nooit”: now or never.
– “Het moment van de waarheid”: the moment of truth.

Related words:
– Erop: on it, on top, on them [adverb].
– Eronder: under it, underneath, under them [adverb].

Versterken

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to strengthen, reinforce, fortify, amplify/boost 
[verb]
[ver-ster-ken, ver-sterk-te, ver-sterkt]

amplifier-768536_640“Versterken” is the general verb for “to strengthen”. It is often used in the translation of ‘to reinforce’ and ‘to amplify’. However when you are in a “Lord of the Rings” role-playing game, you may want to “versterken” your fortress. The noun is “versterking”. A related noun you may encounter is “versterker” (‘amplifier’ or ‘(signal) repeater’).

Examples:
– “Als ik naar dit soort zielige films kijk, versterkt dat mijn gevoel van neerslachtigheid alleen maar…” 
(“When I watch sad movies like these, it only reinfoces my feelings of dejection/depression.”)

– “Mijn tv-ontvangst is heel matig.” – “Heb je al geprobeerd het signaal te versterken?” 
(“My TV reception is very poor.” – “Have you tried to amplify the signal?”)

– “Het beroepsleger werd versterkt met huurlingen, maar de commandant slaagde er niet in een eenheid van soldaten te creëren.” 
(“The regular/professional army was reinforced with mercenaries, but the commander failed to create a tight group of soldiers.”)

– “Zijn getuigenis heeft bij mij de indruk versterkt dat het hele verhaal uit de duim is gezogen!” 
(“His testimony reinforced my impression that the whole story was made up!” Lit. “reinforces the impression with me that the whole story was sucked out of the thumb!”)

– “Ik heb mijn bagagedrager versterkt, maar ik denk niet dat ik iemand achterop kan nemen.” 
(“I’ve reinforced my bicycle’s (luggage) carrier, but I don’t think that I can transport somebody.” This is a typical Dutch bicycle sentence. Without context, a ‘bagagedrager’ is always the ‘luggage carrier’ of a bicycle. “Iemand achterop nemen” literally translates as ‘to take somebody on the back’ which sounds weird, I admit 🙂 . Riding a (city) bicycle with a second person sitting on the (luggage) carrier is customary in Dutch cities, however it is officially not allowed 🙂 Also, typically Dutch bicycle warranty does not cover defects that result from transporting another person.)

Related words:
– Versterking: reinforcement, fortification [noun] [de versterking, de versterkingen].
– Versterker: amplifier, repeater, intensifier [noun] [de versterker, de versterkers].

Example:
– “Sander heeft thuis een antenneversterker aangesloten, maar ‘interactieve TV’ van UPC werkt nog niet helaas!”
(“Sander has installed a signal repeater at home, but unfortunately ‘interactive TV’ by UPC still doesn’t work!”)

– Sterk: strong [adjective].
– Erger maken: to make worse, to exacerbate [verb] [maakte erger, erger gemaakt].