Category Archives: Vocabulary Intermediate

Puf

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energy, drive, push, oomph Iconspeaker_3
[noun]
[de fut, <no plural>]

Trap_oplopen When you don't have any "puf" for something, it means you have no energy to do something or that you do not feel up to something. There can also be 'no "puf" in you', meaning there is no push/drive left in you.

You wouldn't talk about a machine consuming too much "puf", in that case we'd say "energie" (energy).

Examples:
– "Had je nog puf om na het werk te gaan sporten?" 
("Did you have any energy left to exercise after work?" Literally "to go and exercise / play sports?")

– "Ik heb bijna alles kunnen kopen vandaag, maar ik had geen puf meer om nog naar de drogist te gaan, dat komt dan morgen wel." 
("I was able to buy almost everything today, but didn't have the energy left to go to the chemist's / drugstore, I'll have to do that tomomorrow." Lit.: "…, that will come tomorrow." Note that you will also hear "drogisterij" (the ending -ij indicates the place/shop). The 'drogist' can also be the person "chemist/druggist".)

– "Wat is er met Frank aan de hand? Hij heeft nergens meer puf voor en klaagt steen en been!" 
("What's wrong with Frank? He doesn't feel up to anything and complains all the time!" The expression 'steen en been klagen' literally translates as 'to complain stone and leg'.)

– "Wandelvakantie? Daar heb ik geen puf meer voor hoor op mijn leeftijd…" 
("Hiking trip/holidays/vacation? At my age I don't have the energy left for such a thing." The verb 'wandelen' can both mean 'to hike' or 'to stroll, to go for a walk'.)

– "Wat zit je te puffen?! Heb je nu al geen puf meer?" 
("What are you panting for?! Are you already out of energy?")

Related words:
– Energie: energy [noun] [de energie, <no plural>].
– Fut: energy, strength, drive [noun] [de fut, <no plural>]. Used very much the same way as 'puf'.

Example:
– "Natuurlijk kunt u nog op wandelvakantie, er zit nog genoeg fut in u!"
("Of course you can still go on a hiking trip, there is still enough energy left in you!")

– Fit: fit, healthy [adjective].
– Puffen: to pant, puff [verb] [pufte, gepuft].

Wat dan nog?

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so what, what if it is? Iconspeaker_3
[Dutch phrase of the week]
[Wat dan nog?]
person-802090_640“Wat dan nog?” is an alternative to “nou en?” You can use it when you are annoyed, or when you want to say that you think something will not have that much of an influence.

Examples:
– “Hé, ik zat hier, dit is mijn plek!” – “Ja wat dan nog, ga daar maar zitten!”
(“Hey, I was sitting here, this is my spot!” – “Yeah, so what, go sit over there!”)

– “En wat dan nog? Jij hebt geen (enkel) recht van spreken, jij bent zelf blijven zitten!” 
(“So what? You have no right to speak (at all), you were kept down a class/grade held back / you had to repeat the year yourself!” Note that ‘jij bent blijven zitten’ literally means ‘you remained sitting’. Which could also be a cause for arguing, you never know 🙂 )

– “En wat dan nog joh, zelfs als ze je een onvoldoende geven, ga je nog over!” 
(“And what if it is, even if you fail the test/exam you will still move up to the next grade!” An ‘onvoldoende’ literally translates as an ‘insufficient one’.)

– “Ga je met die jas naar buiten? Het gaat straks enorm regenen!” – “Wat dan nog, ik ben toch niet van suiker!” 
(“Are you going outside with that coat? It will rain heavily in a while!” – “So what, I’m not made of sugar am I?” Note that ‘zijn van’ can mean ‘to be made of’ and hence you can leave out the ‘gemaakt’ if you want.)

Expressions:
– “Nou en?!”: so what!
– “Wat kan mij het schelen?“: what do I care?

Example:
– “Wat kan mij het schelen, ik neem nog een biertje!”
(“What do I care, I’ll have another beer!”)

Related words:
– De schouders ophalen: to shrug [verb] [haalde de schouders op, de schouders opgehaald]. Literally: “to lift up the shoulders”.
– Wat: what [indefinite pronoun].
– Dan: then [adverb].

Example:
– “Ja en wat dan?”- “Nou, en dan niks!”
(“Yes and then what?” – “Well, and then nothing!”)

Strategie

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strategy, strategics Iconspeaker_3
[noun]
[de stra-te-gie, de stra-te-gie-ën]

300px-Stratego_Board "Strategie" is pretty much used the same way as in English; when it regards the military you can emphasize that by saying 'militaire strategie'. Note the diaeresis ("trema") in the plural form of 'strategie'. As the stress is on the last syllable you have to add an 'e', as opposed to sticking the diaeresis on the already present 'e'.

When coming up with this word I had to think of the board game 'Stratego', read more in the Extra below.

Examples:
– "Ok jongen, wat is de strategie, laden we eerst de grote dingen in of eerst de kleine?" 
("Ok man, what is the strategy, do we load the big things first, or the small things?" Note that in the example the noun is not repeated after 'kleine'; you can do this in case you have already mentioned the noun before.)

– "Eerst de grote! Het is wiskundig bewezen dat dat de beste strategie is." 
("First the big things! It is mathematically proven that that is the best strategy.")

– "Wat is het doel wat je wil bereiken? Je moet eerst een doel hebben voordat je de strategie kunt gaan bepalen!" 
("What is the goal that you want to achieve? You need to have a goal first before you can start determining the strategy!")

– "Het is allemaal leuk en aardig zo'n 'managementstrategie', maar volgens mij heeft de directie niet eens een visie!" 
("It's all well and good, a 'management strategy', but I think the board (of directors) does not even have a vision!")

– "Ik geef toe dat onze strategie niet tot de gewenste resultaten heeft geleid. Derhalve dien ik mijn ontslag in." 
("I admit that our strategy has not led to the desired results. Therefore I resign." Another way to say 'derhalve' is 'om die reden' ('for that reason').)

– "Waarom moet jij voor alles altijd een strategie hebben?" 
("Why do you always want to have a strategy for everything?")

Expressions:
– "Een plan uitstippelen": to outline a plan.

Related words:
– Tactiek: tactics [noun] [de taktiek, de taktieken].
– Strategisch: strategic [adjective].
– Plan: plan [noun] [het plan, de plannen].

Example:
– "Ik vind het geweldig als een plan klopt!"
("I love it when a plan comes together!" I admit this is a bit of a 'forced' example but you don't always get the chance to quote Hannibal 😉 )

– Slagen: to succeed [verb] [slaagde, geslaagd].
– Falen: to fail [verb] [faalde, gefaald].

Extra:
'Stratego' is an, originally Dutch, old-school 'capture-the-flag' board game. I don't remember much of the game other than being jealous of school friends who had it 🙂 Looking at the wikipedia page it is still going strong with annual international tournaments!

Averechts

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counterproductive, (all) wrong Iconspeaker_3
[adjective/adverb]  Averechts
[a-ve-rechts]

"Averechts" is a bit of an old-fashioned word, however you will still encounter it in the expression "dat werkt averechts" or when something has an "averechts effect". The sentences below illustrate the use of "averechts".

If for some reason you like to knit, and you like to knit in Dutch [ 😉 ] you may come across the term "averecht(s) breien" (to purl, as in 'knit one, purl one'). If not, ask your Dutch (great-)grandmother.

(Picture taken from dreamstime.com)

Examples:
– "Nu ga ik je leren hoe je averecht(s) moet breien!" – "Nee oma, ik ben pas net begonnen en te veel informatie werkt alleen maar averechts!" 
("Now I will teach you how to purl!" – "No grandma, I've just started and too much information will only be counterproductive!" My grandmother actually taught me how to purl. My grandfather thought that was "wrong" (the whole knitting thing) so she stopped 🙂 .)

– "Je moet Sander gewoon eens vertellen wat hij moet doen!" – "Nee joh, dat heeft op hem alleen maar een averechts effect!" 
("You just have to tell Sander what he has to do!" – "No not at all, that will only have the wrong effect on him!")

– "Mijn dochter is gaan roken, moet ik het haar verbieden?" – "Ik zou met haar het gesprek aangaan, zomaar iets verbieden werkt averechts bij pubers!" 
("My daughter started smoking, should I forbid her to?" – "I would talk to her about it, simply forbidding something will only be counterproductive when it regards teen-agers!" Note that 'pubers' emphasizes being adolescent more than just a teen-ager ('tiener' in Dutch). "Het gesprek aangaan" literally translates as "starting the conversation with somebody".)

– "Zie je die fiets? Het lichtje brandt nog, wacht ik doe het even uit." – "Niet doen! Dat werkt averechts, want zo leert die persoon het nooit!" 
("Do you see that bicycle? Its light is still on, wait, I'll turn it off." – "Don't do that! That will only be counterproductive, that way the owner will never learn!" Note that 'persoon' translates as 'person', the ownership of the bicycle is implied. Dutch bicycles typically come with battery powered lights these days, or you will see people using 'click-on' lights. This seems much more resilient against the hardships of use in Dutch cities. Note that one is allowed to attach lights to the body instead of the bicycle (it used to be forbidden but Dutch police now figure that 'a light' is better than 'no light'. Although one light instead of two does not reduce the fine [as I found out myself 🙂 ] ) ).

Related words:
– Contraproductief: counterproductive [adjective/adverb].
– Verkeerd: wrong [adjective/adverb].
– Fout: wrong, incorrect [adjective/adverb].
– Onjuist: incorrect [adjective/adverb].

Example:
– "De verdachte heeft onjuist gehandeld, maar geen misdrijf gepleegd."
("The suspect has done wrong, but did not commit a crime.")

Niet te harden

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unbearable Iconspeaker_3
[Dutch phrase of the week]
[Niet te har-den]

233574885_8aa7c0a4c1_zThe verb “harden” translates as “to harden”, “to toughen up” or “to bear/stand”. In case of the latter, one often uses the phrase “niet te harden” to say that something is unbearable. This can basically be anything, see the examples.

A common construction is “niet te harden zo [adjective]”, meaning that the situation was unbearable with respect to the adjective used.
(Photo: Tjflex2 (flickr.com) – some rights reserved.)

Examples:
– “Je kunt op zaterdag beter niet naar de Kalverstraat in Amsterdam gaan, het is er dan heel druk; niet te harden!”
(“One had better not go to the Kalverstraat in Amsterdam on a Saturday, it is very crowded; unbearable!”)

– “Het vuilnis is nu drie weken niet opgehaald, de stank is niet te harden!” 
(“The garbage has not been collected for three weeks now, the stench is unbearable!”)

– “Bas is in Sint-Petersburg naar de sauna geweest, hij zei dat het er niet te harden was zo heet!”  
(“Bas went to the sauna in Saint Petersburg, he said that the heat was unbearable!”)

– “Ik ben eerder weggegaan van het concert, het volume was niet te harden zo hoog!” 
(“I left the concert early, the loudness of the volume was unbearable!”)

– “Het etentje met mijn schoonouders was rampzalig, de spanning was niet te harden!” 
(“The dinner with my in-laws was desastrous, the tension was unbearable!”)

Expressions:
– “Niet te doen!”: impossible, tough, unpleasant.

Related words:
– Harden: 1. to harden 2. to toughen up 3. to bear/stand [verb] [hardde, gehard].
– Ondraaglijk: unbearable [adjective].

Example:
– “De ondraaglijke lichtheid van het bestaan.”
(“The unbearable lightness of being.”)

– Verdragen: to bear, stand [verb] [verdroeg, verdragen].