The Dutch language originally developed from the Lower Franconian dialect of Low German. However modern Dutch has departed from its German origins in that it did not undergo the High German consonant shift and does not use the German umlaut as a grammatical marker. In addition, Dutch has more or less abandoned its original grammatical case system and has leveled a lot of its morphology. [2] X Research source On the other hand, Dutch vocabulary is primarily Germanic in origin (although it contains more Romance loan words) and uses the same word order in sentences (SVO in main clauses and SOV in subordinate clauses). [3] X Research source
In addition to The Netherlands and Belgium, Dutch is also used in parts of Northern France, Germany, Suriname and Indonesia and is an official language on the Caribbean islands of The Netherland Antilles. The dialects of Dutch spoken in Belgium are known collectively as Flemish. Flemish differs from standard Dutch in several ways, including pronunciation, vocabulary and intonation. The language of Afrikaans – which is spoken in South Africa and Namibia by approximately 10 million people – is a descendant of Dutch and the two languages are considered mutually intelligible. [5] X Research source
A (ah) B (bay) C (say) D (day) E (ay) F (eff) G (khay) H (hah) I (ee) J (yay) K (kah) L (ell) M (emm) N (enn) O (oh) P (pay) Q (kew) R (air) S (ess) T (tay) U (ew) V (vay) W (way) X (eeks) Y (ee-grek or ‘I’) Z (zed). However, in terms of actual pronunciation, Dutch contains many sounds which are not used in English and can therefore be difficult to learn. The only letters which have the same pronunciation in Dutch as in English are the consonants s, f, h, b, d, z, l, m, n, ng. The letters p, t, and k are formed in the same way, but they are not aspirated (there is no puff of air when they are spoken). The best way to learn the pronunciation of some of the more unusual consonant and vowel sounds is to listen to them and repeat. The following overview is not exhaustive, but it will help you to get started: Vowels: a (pronounced like “ah” in “calm”, but shorter), e (pronounced like “eh” in “bed”), i (pronounced like “ih” in “bit”), o (pronounced like “aw” in “paw”, but with rounded lips), oe (pronounced like the “oo” in “too” but shorter), u (pronounced like the “u” in “upset”, or “ir” in “dirt”) and y (pronounced like the “i” in “pin” or “ee” in “deep”, but shorter). Consonants: Some consonant sounds that are pronounced very differently in Dutch are ch, sch and g which all produce a guttural sound in the back of the throat (almost like the “ch” in the Scottish word “loch”). The Dutch r can be rolled or guttural, while the j is pronounced like the “y” in “yes”. [7] X Research source
It can be difficult to guess which gender a word is based on how it looks. Therefore, it’s better to just memorize the gender of specific words as you learn them. The common gender is actually a combined form of the masculine and feminine genders, which are no longer used. As a result, about 2/3 of all nouns belong to the common gender. Therefore, a good technique is just to learn all of the neuter nouns. Then you can be confident that any of the nouns you haven’t learned are most likely common. You can identify neuter nouns by learning a number of rules. For example, all diminutive nouns (which end in je) and all infinitives that are used as nouns are neuter. This is also true for words that end in -um, -aat, -sel and -isme, and for most words that start with ge-, be- and ver-. The words for colors, compass directions and metals are also always neuter.
Zijn: Present tense of “to be”, pronounced “zayn”. Ik ben: I am (pronounced “ik ben”) Jij/u bent: You are (pronounced “yay / ew bent”) Hij/zij / het is: He/she/it is (pronounced “hay/zay/ut is) Wij zijn: We are (pronounced “vay zayn”) Jullie zijn: You are (pronounced “yew-lee zayn”) Zij zijn: They are (pronounced “zay zayn”) Hebben: Present tense of “to have”, pronounced “heh-buhn”. Ik heb: I have (pronounced “ik hep”) Jij/u hebt: You have (pronounced “yay/ew hept”) Hij/zij/het heeft: He/she/it has (pronounced “hay/zay/ut hayft”) Wij hebben: We have (pronounced “vay heh-buhn) Jullie hebben: You have (pronounced “yew-lee heh-buhn”) Zij hebben: They have (pronounced “zay heh-buhn”)[7] X Research source
Ik ben: I am (pronounced “ik ben”) Jij/u bent: You are (pronounced “yay / ew bent”) Hij/zij / het is: He/she/it is (pronounced “hay/zay/ut is) Wij zijn: We are (pronounced “vay zayn”) Jullie zijn: You are (pronounced “yew-lee zayn”) Zij zijn: They are (pronounced “zay zayn”)
Ik heb: I have (pronounced "ik hep") Jij/u hebt: You have (pronounced "yay/ew hept") Hij/zij/het heeft: He/she/it has (pronounced "hay/zay/ut hayft") Wij hebben: We have (pronounced "vay heh-buhn) Jullie hebben: You have (pronounced "yew-lee heh-buhn") Zij hebben: They have (pronounced "zay heh-buhn")[7] X Research source
Een: One (pronounced “ain”) Twee: Two (pronounced “tway”) Drie: Three (pronounced “dree”) Vier: Four (pronounced “veer”) Vijf: Five (pronounced “vayf”) Zes: Six (pronounced “zehs”) Zeven: Seven (pronounced “zay-vuhn”) Acht: Eight (pronounced “ahgt”) Negen: Nine (pronounced “nay-guhn”) Tien: Ten (pronounced “teen”) Elf: Eleven ( pronounced “elf”) Twaalf: Twelve (pronounced “twahlf”) Dertien: Thirteen (pronounced “dehr-teen”) Veertien: Fourteen (pronounced “vayr-teen”) Vijftien: Fifteen (pronounced “vayf-teen”) Zestien: Sixteen (pronounced “zehs-teen”) Zeventien: Seventeen (pronounced “zay-vuhn-teen”) Achttien: Eighteen (pronounced “ahgt-teen”) Negentien: Nineteen (pronounced “nay-guhn-teen”) Twintig: Twenty (pronounced “twin-tuhg”)[9] X Research source
Days of the week: Monday = Maandag (pronounced “mahn-dahg”) Tuesday = Dinsdag (pronounced “dinss-dahg”) Wednesday = Woensdag (pronounced “woons-dahg”) Thursday = Donderdag (pronounced “don-duhr-dahg”) Friday = Vrijdag (pronounced “vray-dahg”) Saturday = Zaterdag (pronounced “zah-tuhr-dahg”) Sunday = Zondag (pronounced “zon-dahg”) Months of the year: January = Januari (pronounced “jahn-uu-ar-ree”), February = Februari (pronounced “fay-bruu-ah-ree”), March = Maart (pronounced “mahrt”), April = April (pronounced “ah-pril”), May = Mei (pronounced “may”), June = Juni (pronounced “yuu-nee”), July = Juli (pronounced “yuu-lee”), August = Augustus (pronounced “ow-ghus-tus”), September = September (pronounced “sep-tem-buhr”), October = Oktober (pronounced “ock-tow-buhr”), November = November (pronounced “no-vem-buhr”), December = December (pronounced “day-sem-buhr”).
Monday = Maandag (pronounced “mahn-dahg”) Tuesday = Dinsdag (pronounced “dinss-dahg”) Wednesday = Woensdag (pronounced “woons-dahg”) Thursday = Donderdag (pronounced “don-duhr-dahg”) Friday = Vrijdag (pronounced “vray-dahg”) Saturday = Zaterdag (pronounced “zah-tuhr-dahg”) Sunday = Zondag (pronounced “zon-dahg”)
January = Januari (pronounced “jahn-uu-ar-ree”), February = Februari (pronounced “fay-bruu-ah-ree”), March = Maart (pronounced “mahrt”), April = April (pronounced “ah-pril”), May = Mei (pronounced “may”), June = Juni (pronounced “yuu-nee”), July = Juli (pronounced “yuu-lee”), August = Augustus (pronounced “ow-ghus-tus”), September = September (pronounced “sep-tem-buhr”), October = Oktober (pronounced “ock-tow-buhr”), November = November (pronounced “no-vem-buhr”), December = December (pronounced “day-sem-buhr”).
Red = rood (pronounced “rowt”) Orange = oranje (pronounced “oh-rahn-yuh”) Yellow = geel (pronounced “ghayl”) Green = groen (pronounced “ghroon”) Blue = blauw (pronounced “blaw”) Purple = paars (pronounced “pahrs”) or purper (pronounced “puhr-puhr”) Pink = roze (pronounced “row-zah”) White = wit (pronounced “whit”) Black = zwart (pronounced “zwahrt”) Brown = bruin (pronounced “bruyn”) Grey = grijs (pronounced “greys”) Silver = zilver (pronounced “zil-fer”) Gold = goud (pronounced “howt”)
Hello = Hallo (pronounced “hah-low”) Goodbye = Tot ziens (pronounced “toht seens”) Please = Alstublieft (pronounced “ahl-stuu-bleeft”) Thank you = Dank u wel (formal, pronounced “dahnk-ew-vehl”) or dank je wel (informal, pronounced “dahnk-yuh-vehl”) Yes = Ja (pronounced “yah”) No = Nee (pronounced “nay”) Help = Help (pronounced “hehlp”) Now = Nu (pronounced “nuu”) Later = Later (pronounced “lah-tuhr”) Today = Vandaag (pronounced “vahn-dahg”) Tomorrow = Morgen (pronounced “more-ghun”) Left = Links (pronounced “links”) Right = Rechts (pronounced “reghts”) Straight ahead = Rechtdoor (pronounced “regh-dore”)
How are you? = Hoe maakt u het? (formal, pronounced “hoo mahkt uu hut”) or Hoe gaat het? (informal, pronounced “hoo gaht hut?”) Fine, thank you = Goed, dank u (formal, pronounced “goot dahnk uu”) or Goed, dank je (pronounced “goot dahnk yuh”) Nice to meet you = Aangenaam kennis te maken (pronounced “ahn-guh-nahm keh-nis tuh mah-kun”) I can’t speak Dutch well = Ik spreek niet goed Nederlands (pronounced “ick sprayk neet goot nay-dur-lahnts) Do you speak English? = Spreekt u Engels? (pronounced “spraykt uu eng-uls”) I don’t understand = Ik begrijp het niet (pronounced “ick buh-grayp hut neet”) You are welcome = Graag gedaan (pronounced “grahg guh-dahn”) How much does this cost? = Hoeveel kost dit? (pronounced “hoo-vale kost dit”)[9] X Research source
You will also want to find yourself a good bilingual dictionary—one of the best for Dutch is published by Van Dale and available in a range of language combinations: Dutch-English, Dutch-French, Dutch-Spanish, etc. As you advance, you will want to slowly cultivate a Dutch-language library filled with children’s books (to start), word puzzle books, non-fiction books, novels, poetry anthologies, and magazines etc. Reading is an invaluable tool to building your language skills as well as exposing yourself to very natural Dutch. When you reach this point, you should also obtain a monolingual Dutch-Dutch dictionary and thesaurus.
Proper lessons with native speakers can provide you with a better sense of the language as well as teach you elements of culture that books alone can’t.
If a Dutch speaker replies back to you in English, keep on speaking Dutch. Start with a handful of words and work your way up, bit by bit. To get yourself to function in Dutch, start by changing your computer and social media (Twitter, Facebook, etc. ) interface settings to Dutch/Nederlands. You have to surround yourself in the language in order to think in the language.
In order to speak Dutch, you have to think Dutch and be Dutch. At the same time, don’t let stereotypes you’ve learned about Dutch speakers rule over your expectations, impressions, and mindset when you travel to a Dutch-speaking country. Things are not just tulips, marijuana, wooden clogs, cheese, bicycles, Van Gogh, and liberalism.
