During my time in Amsterdam I got to take a Dutch class and learn some everyday phrases. Since it took me a while to get used to the language and pick up some sayings, I figured I would share my knowledge with you!
Anyway, here’s my collection of important Dutch phrases, words, saying etc. I also added some other aspects of cultural life here, as I feel like language and culture always go hand in hand. So this is not only a quick language guide, but also a Dutch 101, where I tell you about the most important things about life here in the Netherlands.
- achtenachtig prachtige grachten: a Dutch tongue-twister to practice the ‘g’ and ‘ch’ sounds.
- Albert Heijn (AH): The most common chain of grocery stores across the Netherlands.
- Anne Frank Huis: probably the most commonly known point of interest in Amsterdam. No explanation needed.
- biertje: common way of saying ‘beer’.
- Bioscoop: Cinema? Movie theater? Never heard of it! The Dutch like to call this place a bioscoop.
- Bol.com: The Dutch version of Amazon, which offers super fast, next-day shipping throughout the Netherlands.
- Carnival: is celebrated in the bible-belt of the Netherlands, as it is a rather Catholic festivity.
- Den Haag: Amsterdam might be the capital, but Den Haag, or The Hague, is home to all major political and administrative insitutions of the Netherlands.
- Drop: literally the grossest piece of candy (if you can even call it that) the Ntherlands has to offer.
- Etos: a common chain of drugstores. They even sell contact lenses and supplements.
- festje: a party.
- fiets: this is the one word you have to know when coming to Holland. The term bike surely won’t get you far!
- gezellig: word used to describe a social activity.
- Haarlem: a really cute city close to Amsterdam.
- hagelslag: chocolate sprinkles you put on your toast bread.
- heel: very.
- hoor: literally ‘hear’ but kinda used as a filler in almost every sentence.
- hoi: colloquial greeting.
- iets: something
- je/jij: you.
- Kruidvat: a big chain of drugstores offering cheaper products.
- kut: common Dutch swearword.
- Kingsday: is celebrated all over the country on April 27th.
- lul: common Dutch swearword.
- Moco: a museum with a focus on modern art and an exhibit on Banksy.
- Museumkaart: This card grants you access to all major museums in the Netherlands for a whole year at the cost of 64€.
- Negen Straatjes: the shopping streets in Amsterdam.
- OV Chipkaart: the card you have to have in order to use Dutch public transport throughout all of the Netherlands.
- PLLEK: literally one of my favorite cafés in all of Amsterdam. See my brunch here.
- Rotterdam: the second largest city in the Netherlands, which is known for its modern architecture. Read more here.
- Rijksmuseum: the biggest museum of the Netherlands and home to many of Rembrandts masterpieces. Blog post about it here.
- The Student Hotel: my dorm in Amsterdam that I was not too impressed with. You can read about it here.
- tikkie.me: is a payment service that makes it easy to split the bill. It is only available for Dutch bank accounts though.
- tokkie: a trashy person.
- Utrecht: really cute city, about half an hour by train from Amsterdam.
- van Gogh: Dutch painter, famous for impressionistic paintings.
- Willem Alexander: Not only is his birthday the biggest public celebration in the country, but his hair really lives up to the name van Oranje-Nassau.
- Wibautstraat: The street I used to live on, which is surrounded by many nice restaurants.
- Zaandvoort aan Zee: a lovely beach town about 30 minutes by train from Amsterdam.
- Zaanse Schans: tiny, stereotypically Dutch village, which is full of tourists and good for a daytrip. More footage here.
That’s it for now, maybe if I come across more useful things, words or phrases I will add them to this list. If you have any suggestions please let me know!
Passed your blog. Nice collection of Dutch in shapes and forms and places.
May I explain a few things.
What we call biblebelt is a for instance a region in the province Overijssel. The religion is you could say very strickt Calvinistic, “Gereformeerd” or generally known as “zwarte kousen kerk” or in English “black stocking church”
Carnival is predominently found in Province Limburg eand Noord-Brabant.
These provinces are predominently Catholic. As Carnival origin lies to enjoy the good things in live just before lent starts.
Lent isn’t very present anymore.
As provonces above the “grote rivieren” or “above the big rivers” the rivers Rhine, Maas, Waal try to celebrate Carnival, they don’t really get the hang of it.
I live in Province Limburg and I had to explain the Biblebelt misconception.