Category Archives: Vocabulary Intermediate

Kommer en kwel

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all sorrow and misery
Click to listen
[Dutch phrase
of the week]

Sloppenwijk Although 'kommer' and 'kwel' both exist as independent nouns, it is highly likely that you will never encounter them outside this expression. You can use "kommer en kwel" to describe a situation or state that is bad or miserable. How bad or miserable depends a bit on the context 🙂

Examples:
– "Het Engelse team ligt uit het toernooi, maar het was heus niet alleen kommer en kwel." 
("The English team is out of the tournament, but really it wasn't all that bad." Note the use of "eruit liggen"; to be out of a competition after losing.)

– "Hoe was je vakantie, Zuid-Frankrijk toch?" – "Het was verschrikkelijk met die regen, echt kommer en kwel!" 
("How was your holiday, the south of France wasn't it?" – "It was terrible with all that rain, truly sorrow and misery!")

– "Overal is het kommer en kwel, mensen worden ontslagen, ze kunnen de hypotheek niet meer opbrengen en hun spaargeld wordt minder waard!" 
("The situation is really really bad everywhere, people are being fired, they can't afford the mortgage any longer and their savings decrease in value!" Note that "opbrengen" is more like "to raise" than "to afford" which is mostly translated as "zich veroorloven".)   

– "Na de aardbeving in Haïti was het niets dan kommer en kwel." 
("After the earthquake in Haiti it was sorrow and misery all over the place.")

Related words:
– Kommer: sorrow, distress [noun] [de kommer, <no plural>]
– Kwel: seepage [noun] [de/het kwel, <no plural>]   
– Ellende: misery, miserable situation [noun] [de ellende, de ellenden]. The plural is never used though.
– Verdriet: sorrow [noun] [het verdriet, <no plural>].
– Uitzichtloos: hopeless, futureless [adjective].

Verwachting

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expectation, anticipation Click to listen
Verwachting
[noun]
[de ver-wach-ting, de ver-wach-ting-en]

"Verwachting" contains "-wacht-" from "wachten": to wait. Related verb is "verwachten": to expect. When a woman is "in verwachting", she's expecting (a baby), lit.: in expectation/anticipation…

Examples:
– "De verwachtingen ten aanzien van het Nederlandse elftal zijn erg gespannen: de oranjekoorts is weer toegeslagen…" 
("The expectations regarding the Dutch soccer team are very tense: the 'orange fever' has struck again…")

– "Ik had niet zo'n hoge verwachting van mijn nieuwe chef, maar hij valt erg mee." 
("I didn't think much of my new chef, but he's pretty all right." Lit.: "I didn't have such a high expectation of my new chef, …")

Expressions:
– "In (blijde) verwachting zijn": to be expecting. Lit.: to be in (happy) expectation.
– "Boven/buiten verwachting": beyond expectation(s). Lit.: above/outside expectation.

Example:
– "Franks presentatie is buiten verwachting interessant! Normaal is hij heel saai…"
("Frank's presentation is interesting, which is beyond my expectation! Normally he's really boring…")

– "Beneden de verwachtingen blijven": to fall short of one's expectations. Lit.: to stay below the expectations.
– "Tegen alle verwachtingen (in): against all odds.

Related words:
– Gespannen: tense [adjective].
– Hoop: hope [noun] [de hoop, <no plural>].

Example:
– "Geef mij nu je angst, ik geef je er hoop voor terug."
("Hand over your fear to me now, I'll give you back hope.")

– Wachten: to wait [verb] [wachten, wachtte, h. gewacht].
– Weersverwachting: weather forecast [noun] [de weersverwachting, de weersverwachtingen].
– Zenuwachtig: nervous [adjective].

Wedden

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to bet (on), to wager Click to listen
[verb]
[wed-den, wed-de, ge-wed]

Paardenrennen 'Wedden' has nothing to do with 'to wed' 🙂 which would be 'trouwen' or 'huwen'. When the bet is more a gamble (casino) we use the verb 'gokken'.

Examples:
– "Ik wed dat Frankrijk doorgaat naar de volgende ronde!" 
("I bet that France will go through to the next round!")

– "Volgens mij durft Sander niet!" – "O nee? Wedden van wel?!" 
("I think Sander doesn't dare / is too scared! – "Is he now? I bet he is not!" Note the use of the infinitive 'wedden'; you can also say 'Ik wed van wel!')

– "Ok jongen, wedden we om geld of om de eer?" – "Om de eer!" – "Om de eer? Lafaard!" 
("Ok man, are we betting for money or for the honour?" – "For the honour!" – "Honour? You coward!")


WeddenDat1986-JosBrink-SandraReemer – "Ik durf te wedden dat jij niet het antwoord weet op de volgende vraag: wie was de presentator van het populaire Nederlandse tv-programma 'Wedden, dat..?' in de jaren tachtig?" 
("I bet you do not know the answer to the following question: who was the presenter of the popular Dutch TV show 'Wedden, dat..?' in the eighties?")

– "Ik wed om 10 euro dat Frank vandaag wederom te laat zal zijn." 
("I'll bet you 10 euros that Frank will be late today once again.")

– "Nou, ik wed van niet!" – "Nou, ik wed van wel!" 
("Well, I bet he is not!" – "Well, I bet he is!" Note that it depends on context whether to use 'it/she/he'.)

Expressions:
– "Op twee paarden wedden": literally 'to bet on two horses' this is to say that you are hedging/covering your bets.

Related words:
– Weddenschap: bet [noun] [de weddenschap, de weddenschappen].
– Een weddenschap winnen/verliezen: to win/lose a bet [verb] [won/verloor, gewonnen/verloren].

Example:
– "Marc heeft de weddenschap verloren en dus moet hij op een etentje trakteren."
("Marc lost the bet and hence he has to treat to dinner." Note the informal use of 'etentje'; the formal word is 'diner'.)

– Een weddenschap aangaan: to place/make a bet [verb] [ging aan, aangegaan].
– Gokken: to gamble [verb] [gokte, gegokt].

Meevallen

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to exceed one’s expectations (in a positive way) Click to listen
[verb]
[mee-val-len, viel mee, i. mee-ge-val-len]

“Meevallen” is composed of “mee” and “vallen”, which respectively translate to “along/with” and “to fall. Hence literally, “meevallen” translates to “to fall along”, but this makes absolutely no sense at all of course 🙂

“Meevallen” is used when your expectations about something are exceeded in a positive way. The opposite of “meevallen” is “tegenvallen”. Related noun is “meevaller” (or its diminutive “meevallertje”): a situation or occurrence in which your expectations are positively exceeded, see also Related words.

Examples:
– “De bank wordt binnen twee weken bezorgd.” – “Dat valt mee, normaal is het ten minste acht weken.” 
(“The couch will be delivered within two weeks.” – “That’s all right, normally it’s at least eight weeks.”)

– “Frank heeft heel rustig gereden.” – “Dat valt mee, normaal houdt hij erg van bumperkleven.” 
(“Frank drove real quietly.” – “That’s not bad, normally he’s really into tailgating.”)

– “Het is niet makkelijk om Nederlands te leren…” – “Dat valt wel mee, Xavier.” 
(“It’s not easy to learn Dutch…” – “It’s not so bad as it seems, Xavier.”)

Expressions:
– “Een storm in een glas water”: a storm in a teacup, much ado about nothing.
– “Van een mug
een olifant maken”: to make a mountain (out) of a molehill, to
exaggerate. Lit.: “to make an elephant out of a mosquito”.

Example:
– “Frank heeft weer eens van een mug een olifant gemaakt…de schade aan zijn auto viel reuze mee…”
(“Frank has made a mountain out of a molehill again…the damage to his car wasn’t really all that much…” Note that “reuze” literally translates to “gigantically”: really much…)

Related words:
– Meevaller: piece of good luck, pleasant surprise, stroke of unexpected luck [noun] [de meevaller, de meevallers].

Example:
– “Ik heb gisteren vijftienhonderd euro gewonnen bij de loterij!!” – “Dat is te gek! Wat een financiële meevaller!”
(“I won fifteen hundred euros yesterday at the lottery!!” -“That’s great! What an unexpected financial surprise!”)

– Tegenvallen: to not meet one’s expectations, to exceed one’s expectations in a negative way [verb] [tegenvallen, viel tegen, i. tegengevallen].
– Vallen: to fall [verb] [vallen, viel, gevallen].

Stiekem

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sneaky, underhand, surreptitious, secret Click to listen
[adjective/adverb]
[stie-kem]

Stiekem When you do something 'stiekem', you do it with the intention to not be caught, however it is not necessarily a secret as such. Both the person as the act can be called 'stiekem'. The related noun is 'stiekemerd': somebody who acts 'stiekem', but this mainly used jestingly for children.

Examples:
– "Hij heeft stiekem alle fooi voor zichzelf gehouden." 
("He secretly kept all the tips for himself.")

– "Nikki heeft stiekem een barbecue georganiseerd voor Debbie." 
("Nikki organized a BBQ for Debbie on the sly.")

– "Ik heb stiekem met je gedanst, ik hoop dat je het leuk vond…" 
("I danced with you without you noticing it, I hope that you liked it…" Famous line from one of the big Dutch pop classics: "Stiekem gedanst" by the Dutch eighties band 'Toontje lager'.)

– "Ik ben al dat stiekeme gedoe zat, je vertelt me nu de waarheid of ik ben weg!" 
("I'm sick of your sneaky behaviour, you will tell me the truth now or I'm leaving!")

– "Sander staat erom bekend dat hij recepties of feestjes altijd stiekem verlaat." 
("Sander is known for always sneaking out on receptions or parties.")

– "Wat is er toch aan de hand met die twee, ze doen altijd zo stiekem!" 
("What's up with those two, they are always so sneaky!")

– "Frank sms't stiekem naar een andere vrouw. Dat ga ik stiekem tegen zijn vrouw zeggen!" 
("Frank is secretly texting another woman. I will tell his wife without him knowing!")

Expressions:
– "In het geniep": on the sly/quiet.

Related words:
– Geniepig: sly, secretive, sneaky [adjective/adverb].
– Stiekemerd: sneak, sly dog [noun] [de stiekemerd, de stiekemerds].
– Heimelijk: stiekem [adjective/adverb]. 'Heimelijk' is more formal.