I think ‘the Universe’ will fit. So in my opinion it’s not that unique Dutch word which doesn’t have a counter word in the English language. But I agree, I like the word a lot.
@@sehabel it is a German word. 100%. We just use it as is in Dutch. But it is not Dutch. You do even see it as zowiezo. That is Dutchified. Same with ueberhaupt.
Anti-kraak is geen kraak. Kraak is kraak (squatters taking your building to live in). Anti-kraak is renting out that same building to people: to PREVENT a kraak. Which is often cheaper then 'real renting', but its not kraken.
Kraken used to be big, starting in the 60s, or perhaps just after the war: we lacked the housing to house all people in the Netherlands, 'woningnood'. Some people pointed out that some buildings where empty, for instance a large abandoned factory that was empty for decades: some people would sneak in, break the door ('kraak'), and replace the door with their own door/lock. The police would not know what to do: was it stealing? Yes, perhaps it was, but since there was woningnood, and the krakers mostly did good for the neighborhood and property, they where not beaten out by the police: they got a legal status if they followed some basic rules, like the building must be empty for an amount of time, they would have to inform the police when they had done a kraak, etc. A lot of hippies and free thinkers where krakers: it was a politcal movement 'de krakersbeweging', that tried to live 'outside the system'. With a lot of drug use and vandalism and graffiti. And the owners of the buildings also started to complain: some people where just renovating their house, or working abroad half a year, to find their house 'stolen' by krakers: and unable to remove them (legally, some just beat them out, but then the krakers could call the police, and the police would be on their side). People have the right to a house. If those houses not exist: they can occupy empty buildings. That was the main idea. Over time: counties produced lots of houses, the woningnood got a bit less problematic. It became harder and harder to legally kraak a house. One of the things they do now is 'anti-kraak': renting the place to people for below market prices; on the condition that they move out the moment the place is sold (normally you cannot evict a person that wants to remain in his house without a LOT of hassle). Since one of the conditions of a legal kraak is that the house should be empty: they dont get 'kraakt'. Note that if a kraker legally kraakt your house: you CANNOT evict him. AND he does not have to pay rent. AND he can destroy your house while you can do nothing about it. So its very much hated / loved, depending on who you ask. Nowadays: the krakersbeweging is, well, more dead then alive. Most people that kraak nowadays are non-Dutch, like for example polish illegals. They dont even bother to do a legal kraak, they just occupy, make a mess, drug use everywhere. The hippies tried to make music and a nice atmosphere: these people wont anymore. This created a hate towards krakers. They are now just seen as 'thieves who steal the house of hardworking people', mostly. There is still some 'real krakerbeweging' that is all ideological, but its become very rare. nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kraakbeweging since 2010 its become MUCH harder to legally kraak. When 'krakersbolwerken' got evicted, sometimes the krakers resisted, which created the (in)famouse 'krakersrellen'. nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krakersrellen
@@loeshalberstadt9998 Dat klopt. Je kunt bijvoorbeeld een kamer gezellig inrichten. Dat zegt dan niets over (de gevoelens van) de personen die zich in die kamer bevinden.
This is so weird. These days English words and sayings are being used by native Dutch more and more, because they think English is more efficient. But to hear from a native English speaker that Dutch words can be more efficient than English is.... Making me proud to be Dutch 🤔
English is actually more efficient. There are more lexical gaps (taalleemtes) in Dutch than in English. In fact, English is probably the richest language in the world, due to having incorporated a huge amount of Romance (Latin derived) words during the Norman occupation of England, and by having been allowed to bastardize more than other large European languages. In France and Germany, there has historically been more top-down control of (d)evolution of their languages, which kept them more ´pure´ in terms of grammar and spelling, but also prevented new words and expressions of taking hold. You can see this in the fact that English lost the quality of compounding words that Dutch and German still have (which does make it poorer), almost no verb conjugations, the loss of gendered nouns and the cases (Dutch lost those too), the fact there´s just one definite article, and the very high amount of irregular verbs. It also left them a massive lexicon.
@@robertdegroot8302 Dutch has a lot of words that aren't used often anymore these days but that doesn't mean they don't exist. For example, how often do you hear the word jegens these days? Almost no one uses it anymore. It's from a different era. I sometimes find the English colloquial vocabulary (especially the American version) a bit too rich. You might even say over the top. The fact that Dutch colloquial language use seems simpler attests mostly to a cultural difference and if we would translate (American) English to Dutch as accurately as possible it sounds very wollig (wooly as in aged or from a different time). Wollig taalgebruik is something Dutch speakers tend to be allergic to as they/we don't cling to old words that much. Dutch is a very progressive language. Spelling especially is very good evidence of that since it's highly modernized whereas English spelling is basically stuck in the 1500s. Apparently the Dutch can convey all they want to say with using fewer words. That is basically efficiency by definition. The language matches the tijdgeest and fulfills its purpose to the best possible way.
@@moladiver6817 And don't forget we have the largest dictionary in the world. The complete "Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal" (something like that, I am not totally sure of the exact formulation) is the one with the largest vocabulary. Especially our amount of sayings, idioms, proverbs is very extensive
I like the words overmorgen and eergisteren. I don't think the English language really has any words other than 'the day after tomorrow' and 'the day before yesterday'.
I myself am half Dutch / half English , and am born and raised in the small coastal town called Egmond aan Zee , which we locals call Derp. The language we speak (spoke) is called "Derps" and it a sub-dialect of the "West-Frisian" dialect. Our town is more than a 1000 years old and for a long time the "Derper" dialect was what we spoke and most Dutch people couldn't understand us. Such a small country with so many distinct dialects. Nowadays , the Derper dialect is at it's last breath and soon it will be lost. There is very little written "Derps" and even the little snippets that do exist cannot phonetically express it. It is a dialect you must HEAR , there are no letters to describe the sound. I wish I knew how to record say me speaking in that dialect , preferably telling the Derper version of "Roodkapje en de 7 dwergen." and add it to this video.
Hello. There is one word that i miss and i never heard in a list is the dutch word "stoer". You can translate it like tough but it is more than that. And if you are working today, werk ze😉
Same with 'flink.' And with 'potig,' In English it just seems like you are calling them fat if you want to try and translate these words. 'Sturdy' might come closest for all three, whcih is weird because they all mean slightly different things.
fine example of dutch often being way more nuanced and variable then english yes ... bold would be the closest in English ... dapper... which coincidentally is also a dutch word...well not coicidentally , as coincidental as two sisters being family
"Ik ben aan het genieten" is so great about our language because we don't have to explain the specific thing which we enjoy because it's not about the thing. It really puts the focus on the enjoyment instead of the cause of your enjoyment as the English language does
@@caspardejonge5902 well it does by explaining you're enjoying "yourself". In English you usually cant say "I'm enjoying." When translating that would definitely be the closest translation in English but still not totally direct translation because it doesn't exist in English.
2:01 for those who do still are confused about "gezin". It basically means the family currently living in your house. A classical "gezin" would consist of a husband, wife and their children (assuming they all live in your house). Once someone left the house and normally no longer sleeps in the house, they are no longer part of the "gezin". An aunt who doesn't life in your same house, is also not part of the "gezin", but she is part of the "familie". That being said, a pet dog or cat who you are close with and normally also sleeps in your house, in the Netherlands that is, is often also included in the "gezin". However, say a horse, can never be part of the "gezin".
One of the words I find hard to translate properly is ‘lief’. You could say like ‘you’re sweet’ but you can also use it like ‘you’re very, very nice’ as in ‘ ik heb je lief’ as in "I love you", but just not yet daring to say that. We actually had a campaign "doe ‘s lief" = "be nice to each other" One other typical one is ‘ooo, op die fiets!’ Which is like ‘now I understand’
Ohhhhhhhhh good one!!! I love reading the comments and finding good additions to these list. I also like op is op which again is just a shorter better way to say it then the many ways and words you'd have to use in english to say the same thing.
‘Gezin’ while technically meaning your immediate family actually refers to the family you live with. Which in Belgium or the Netherlands traditionally would be your parents and siblings as a child. And then later as an adult would refer to your partner and children. For instance as an adult I would never refer to my parents anymore as my ‘gezin’ even though they are my immediate family.
Anti Kraak is like House Sitting for a homeowner to prevent squatting by some gang. We do it with our own house when we decide to live in the Philippines for some months.
The best and most useful word in Dutch is lekker. It's so versatile and it's really used all the time by all people and all its translations are positive. Love it!
Wat een prima Nederlandse uitspraak. Chapeau ! Leuk om te ontdekken wat rare woorden zijn in de Nederlandse taal. Ook leuk om te ontdekken dat Engels soms tekort schiet.
Thanks for these videos Casey! I'm an English expat living in Amsterdam and I love surprising groups of Dutch friends when I throw one of these in casually ;)
Hey Casey, the way you (and other people from English talking countrys) explain Dutch to your fellow English users, does not only learn them something, but as dutchman I learn al lot of it too. I can' t explain all our Dutch words in English, but you give us Dutchies the right words too. So get used to many Dutchies to your video's too. We are here to help or to comfirm ( or deny, if you are wrong)... but as an minority nation concerning our language... we love these English, Americans, Australians etc that love the Dutch way of live...or at least love a big part of it. Well I'am one of them. You make us find out about our selves.
4:24 That's amazing for me to learn as an American learning Dutch - we have the slang verb "to vibe" over here which operates similarly grammatically. If you say "I'm vibing" it basically means you're enjoying yourself, but if you want to say that something - like a song - is making you vibe, you say "I'm vibing with..." the song, the person, the vibe (if you want to be meta), etc. I've always wanted a more perfect way to translate this because it has a youthful, energetic sense to it which "ik ben goed" simply doesn't encapsulate. I'm vibing when I'm having a truly good night, listening to some great music and without a care in the world. This seems like the closest translation I can use - so that's incredibly useful! "Antikraak" was also fascinating - I've never left North America, so I am not privy to many of the policies which many of us worship as a body without understanding the specifics of. There are an estimated 6,500 homeless people in my city (of about 684,000) which, though the lowest it's been in years, is surely going to go up because of the economic crisis caused by the pandemic. I wonder how our mayor and city council would feel about using antikraak-type methods to temporarily house them while we work on building more affordable housing, since we're wedged between other cities and have literally no room to expand. Wonderful video!
Hangt van de context af. Als in een aanbesteding vertaal je het naar “to grant” (“The city granted the contract to the Spanish manufacturer yesterday”) Als in een positieve toewensing is er inderdaad geen goed engels woord voor; je zal de zin moeten verbouwen: “Ik gun het je van harte!” => “You really deserve that!” => “I really wish that will work out for you!”
i like your video's about my country and language very much, i send them to my friend in Florida so she can learn about the dutch and their country. thank you for your great video's.
you are correct about gezellig...it's enjoying each other's company and what you're doing together like having a party or just sharing some yummy Dutch coffee and a sandwich or cookie....
Gezellig can also be used to describe places. For example I have a few friends who got an appartement in the city and I'd say: "zo een gezellig appartementje", so it's not only a word to describe the vibes but also for cozy places
Wow , finally a good way how i could translate gezellig to a non dutch person. so far the best option to explain it I'll stick to "the vibe of niceness"
Just wanted to say say.....I loooove vids like these :-))). When I think I should do some Dutch study but had full on day and don't want to sit a read verbs ect or anything to heavy i love to listen to them. I find them soooo helpful and they really help me Learn when cooking or cleaning ect....these vids are perfect. Thanks ☺ 👍🏽
'Gezellig' has more to do with enjoying being together, while 'ik ben aan t genieten' is saying you're enjoying something circumstancial like good food or the weather and you're taking in that nice moment. You know by know how the Dutch have to cherish every sunny day! I really like your video's, they make me appreciate the Netherlands and our language (:
I never thought about "ik ben aan het genieten" that way! How nice to see the language through your eyes. One that might be nice for your next list might be "gelukkig". In English you might say "happy", but "gelukkig" has so much more weight. I would never ask someone if they were "gelukkig" unless I wanted to have a really deep conversation. "Happy" always seems so much more flitty, easy to just brush off with something superficial. "Yeah, sure I'm happy, the weather is nice, my shoes fit, I'm grand". :) If you ask me if I'm gelukkig you'd better be a close friend and have a big pot of tea or a stiff drink ready. :)
There is one more. “Sterkte.” After an American friend of mine died, her daughter looked over some of the condolences I got on my Facebook. She was at first confused by all the people saying “strength.” But after a while she started to understand that it means much more than that
I'm really liking all these video's, I've been speaking and writing English for what feels like ages, and you're pointing out many similarities and differences in use of language I never thought about. So.. Well done, keep going!
@@caseykilmore Honestly I'm just curious what kind of accent you have. I saw a video once where someone tried to pronounce "aarbeien" and they sounded like they were form Limburg.
@@caseykilmore Would be fun to hear some longer texts. Maybe you could look at some dutch song lyrics and translate them on the spot and discuss them. 15 miljoen mensen by Fluitsma & Van Tijn seems a good starting point. Then you can go into all kind of topics Doe Maar - Nederwiet Drs P - Knolraap en Lof Schorseneren en Prei Herman van Veen Opzij Opzij Opzij Klein Orkest Over de Muur De Dijk Iedereen is van de wereld Raggende Mannen - Poep in je hoofd or Lullen bij de bus of Fiets which are both shorter and less controversial. Katinka Polderman Erge dingen vind ik ook heel erg Actually there is a ton of interesting songs in dutch cabaret. Brigitte Kaandorp - Protestlied is hilarious too....
The genieten is really scenery important. If you’re ‘aan het natafelen’ (like after having dinner with friends/family your still at the table, just enjoying the evening) and than you’re aan het genieten, you’re enjoying the evening, just like a sunset...
Als leraar Nederlands en NT-2 docent (Nederlands als tweede taal) wil ik even vermeld hebben dat taalverwerving (spreken en luisteren en het herkennen en toepassen van de daarbijhorende nuances van de moedertaal) gebeurt door de opvoeders en niet door je docent Nederlands op de middelbare school. Die docent biedt verdieping in taal aan, geen taalverwerving.
I must say that the expression "hoe dan?" is very recent... like a trend. This is not something that was said 5 years ago or something. Five years ago people would've said "Huh? Hoe kan dat nou?" "Hoe dan?" seems like a way to express a sort of annoyed surprise. It has a sarcastic flavour if you ask me. The depth of your understanding of the Dutch language is pretty amazing I must say. Ga zo door!
"Hoe dan?" can be used in many ways like: "What you're saying is crazy, explain yourself" or even rhetorical as in "This is crazy" period. Or even asking for confirmation "Casey said to me she was going to open a refregirator shop on Antarctica, hoe dan?" like, isn't that insane?
I'm from the Flemish speaking north in Belgium and we learn proper Dutch in school but speak our Flemish dialect at home. I grew up in a gezin van 8 kinderen, meaning there were 8 of us with mom and dad to form a gezin. Werk ze is a typical Dutch expression from the Netherland because we rarely use it in Flanders. It does indeed mean enjoy your work...
Hello Casey Kilmore , your doing absolutely great, i have a very inportand disclamer. Every word you learn is verry good to use with Sarcasm. Because we have so many tiny words to expres our selves its easy to turn on a dime. This makes sarcastic humor easy and quick. Dutch grammar on the other hand is something allot of dutch people have trouble with , including myself. It gets rewhritten like every 5 years. In other words learn the basics dont bother the specifics.
Compliments on exxplaining the word 'gezellig' (I'm dutch) 😉 Totally covers the it. The saying 'hoe dan?' however can be translated much easier with 'but... how?'
5:10 "Jammer de bammer" is the extended version of "jammer". The extension doesn't really mean anything in Dutch, it just rhyms nice. Also, "bammer" and the English "bummer" sound very similiar of course
As someone who's lived in the Netherlands for their entire life, I can't recall ever hearing someone say "Ik ben aan het genieten". It doesn't sound off to me, but it's not something I'd say I hear very often. What, in my experience, is used a lot more often (and actually sounds a lot better, too) is "Dit is echt genieten". It's essentially the same thing, but it's more clear you're enjoying the situation in general, and you're describing the situation as generally enjoyable, rather than needing to state that you specifically are enjoying the situation. "Dit is [verb in infinitive form]" or "Het is [verb in infinitive form]" is a common way to phrase things in Dutch. Examples would include "Het is even hard werken, maar dan wordt het ook wat.", "Het is flink pijn lijden, ik zou het niet aanraden." or the, perhaps even weirder, "Dit is echt geen doen" (This is frustratingly difficult)
The word "lekker" can also be used negatively ... for example in the sentence "nou , lekker ! ... or ... daar ben ik lekker mee ! .. This is said when one is not happy with something But also, for example, the sentence .. 'dat schiet weer lekker op !' can be meant both positive and negative ( To make it even easier LOL)
Coincidentally I was thinking about this today ...... the best word in Dutch (imho) is "tierelier" especially in the saying "trekt op als een tierelier" ... orgasmic beautiful and fitting (tieren comes from toeren (turns/revolutions) , lier = winch, trekt op = to pull up)
Beste Casey, je vroeg om meer typisch Nederlandse woorden. Ik heb er eentje voor je: smoes(je), in het Engels "a little lie". Voorbeeld: een kind gaat op de fiets naar school maar vertrekt te laat van huis en komt dus te laat aan. Als reden voor het te laat komengeeft hij/zij op : ik had een lekke band/mijn ketting was er af/ ik moest wachten voor de trein etc. De docent denkt dan: dat is een smoesje Overigens is 'fiets' ook een typisch Nederlands woord veel succes!
I’ll have a go at gezellig. A feeling of homeliness in company, where you’re disarmed because you trust the people around you, everyone else feels like that too, and lighthearted banter is taken as such without risk of affront. And it’s still not complete… It’s a big word
It's amazing how many great Dutch words have German cognates, like gezellig - gesellig and jammer ("Jammer" is not directly a word, but it is used in the expression "Jammerschade")
Overall Dutch had some very efficient words. Maybe that's because of our directness you talked about in a previous video. We don't like to spend time on small talk (well yes, ofcourse we do talk small, but not whe doing business). In several dialects it's even worse; people leave out words and even complete sentences to describe an action or a feeling. It has it's roots in our polders (a good Dutch word polder, which led to the verb polderen): despite our differences in religion, tradition or politic, we need each other to keep our feet dry. There is a world of Dutch sayings that are intranslatable.
Yeah, I always feel weird when English speakers say "I'm Sorry" in that situation. To me, it implies that it's their fault or something, while saying "sterkte" pretty much means "I wish you strength in this situation", which to me feels more appropriate to say.
“Sterkte” is also used at funerals and I really think it’s a lazy way of solving the problem of what to say in that case.it sounds a bit like an insult to me. It’s like saying “ too bad and I hope things will work out with a bit of effort. But then I’m knowen to “vergis mij af en toe in mijn opienies”.I was born in de oudste stad van België and was brought up in de Vlaamse taal ( Flemish, ABN or Algemeen Beschaaft Nederlands or Hollands or Dutch) and lived in Canada ( English) for the last 53 yrs and noticed that all languages evolve and change over time. The only ones that not change are the old or dead ones like old Latin and Greek especially Grammarly , but they are the foundations of modern English, French, Dutch ,German enz...And that makes different, as humans , of de hele dierenwereld but not necessarily slimmer / smarter ....jusayin !...
Correction:seeing it’s impossible to edit my already sent message , I meant to say at the end that we ,as humans are on the cusp or spear point of the evolution of life on earth and we as part of the animal world ,differentiat ourself from other animals by languages but it’s not necessarily an advantage seeing how the present politians talk and behave.... jusayin !...
A few other typical Dutch words/phrases are: Betovergrootvader/betovergrootmoeder: great-great grandfather/grandmother Goedemorgen/goedenavond/goedemiddag: Good morning/good evening/good afternoon: In English you would most likely use them as a greeting. In Dutch they can be a greeting or a good bye. Snikken: sobbing, again not really the same. Sobbing is more like ugly crying, while snikken is more like the state just before or just after actual crying, where your eyes are still watery, but your not yet/no longer crying
Used to hear my dad say this and in context I always took it to mean " old ladies of dubious social standing gossiping complete nonsense." Bit of slang, but gets the sentiment across.
“Hoe dan?” I love this frase too, but I think it’s slipped into Dutch pretty recently, pretty sure I never used or heard it being used before about 10-15 years. I first encountered it when my kids brought it in 😀 “Genieten” that’s such an overused word, especially in form when someone is telling you to enjoy something, like in a restaurant; every time the waiter brings something you get this as an assignment “geniet ervan!” , also in museums or at the cinema. I know it’s not meant to be rude or anything, but there are so many alternatives.
"Hoe dan?" became a bit of a meme after it was said by some girl in a tv show. Gerard Ekdom used the fragment frequently in his radio shows. That's why it became so popular it recent years.
Knuffel has a proper English translation: cuddle. You can both say "I want to cuddle" and "How about a cuddle?" so it's used in similar ways too. However, knuffel with the meaning 'teddy bear' or similar does not; closest translation is 'stuffed animal'
Haha When you talked about "ik ben aan het genieteen" I cracked up cause I didn't realize you felt like the sentence wasn't finished cause in my native language (French), we literally have the same expression with the same meaning ("je profite" litt. "I am enjoying")
Interesting I'm sure there are more languages that must have it if french does too. I'm so use to saying it or hearing it now but in the beginning I really remember being like from what?? hahahah
The thing is that "enjoy" is a transitive verb: it needs an object, so you always enjoy something. The usual Dutch word "genieten" is intransitive: it cannot have an object. If there is something specific that gives you the enjoyment, you still don't say "Ik geniet iets" maar "ik geniet van iets". THAT is the reason that Dutch can say "ik geniet" as a complete sentence. To be fair, we do have a transitive form of "genieten", although it is quite formal and rarely used. This is when we have a meal (or perhaps just a snack or drink) we could e.g. say "we hebben de lunch genoten in een restaurant". Not sure if this is fully equivalent to "we have enjoyed lunch in a restaurant", because this form of "genieten" does not require that the food is good (dus dat je ERVAN geniet), it rather means neutrally that you've eaten lunch. I don't know if this is also true for English.
Nice video and excellent pronunciation ! You must have spent a long time in Holland. There is the expression : "Lekker dan." which we sometimes replace with : "Daar ben ik klaar mee." It expresses a negative feeling you have when something goes wrong or something bad overcomes you. In such a situation we say that such a person "zit met de gebakken peren" (sits with the fried pears). Ik heb een lekker gezellig gezin. Do Australians confuse Dutch for German ?
Waterkoud. No idea how to translate that in English. But it is a weathertype that descripes a cold which is very humid, and because of that feels much colder then the actual temperature. The cold will go through, merg en been 😜
Gezellig is not only a feeling, but it also refers to a group activity (gezelschap), while "ik ben aan het genieten" is more personal, but they are quite similar.
Hi Casey, love your videos! You know which Dutch word is hard to find in English: "Kruidig". So, I work in a restaurant and sometimes when I get expats, I have to explain to them the flavours of a dish. I want to use the word "kruidig", as "dit gerecht is lekker kruidig en pittig van smaak", but there's no real translation to that word. Seasoned is kinda like that, but it doesn't describe the spices in itself as a flavor.
In English, you can colloquially say "herby" as in, this tastes of herbs, which is what I thought 'kruidig' meant! (as an English-speaker trying to learn Dutch)
@@didreams1 I guess, but in Dutch we have "specerijen" which translates in English to "Spices" and "kruiden" which translates in English to "herbs". But if you want to use "kruidig", this means more to the flavour of the spices haha.
@@didreams1 spices=kruiden (e.g. pepper, nutmeg). Herbs=groene kruiden(e.g. thyme, parsley) . The English word “spicy” aplies only to to the first, I think. One could also translate it with “pikant” , but that has wider connotations of course. But I happily give up my explanation for a better one 😉
In Gronings (Which is a Nethersaxon dialect, spoken in the north of the Netherlands) we say "Dik doun in toene". It means barbecuing. The literal translation is "doing fat in the garden".
Nice one about "gezin" I always was jealous about the english word "Siblings" because in dutch you need to say the gender if you talk about your siblings. e.g.: "Mijn broer en mijn zus" "Jammer" I would translate as pity Nice video, I like them. By the way, I am dutch (from Zeeland, Vlissingen) and I'm living in Belgium. Language differences between Flemish and Dutch are part of my life :).
Jammer actually translates to unfortunately For extra context, helaas translates to alas, which ofcourse is interchangeable with unfortunately. Just like jammer and helaas Gezellig basically is enjoying someone's company
Not exactly. Helaas and jammer aren't interchangable. "Helaas is het mislukt" is a correct sentence, "Jammer is het mislukt" is not. Helaas is, however, interchangable with "jammer genoeg". This is because of their grammatical function. Jammer is an adjective, whereas helaas and 'jammer genoeg' are adverbs. Jammer and helaas can also both be used as an interjection - in that case they can be interchangable. "Jammer!" and "Helaas!" mean exactly the same thing. But if you turn "Jammer joh!" into "Helaas joh!", people will probably still understand you, but it'd sound very weird. Alas and unfortunately are a similar case. They might seem interchangable, because they usually take the same spot in a sentence, but note that alas is pretty much always followed by a comma, while unfortunately can easily be put in a sentence without any commas whatsoever. Again, this has to do with a difference in grammatical function. Alas is an interjection, while unfortunately is an adverb. Alas and unfortunately can both be translated as helaas or "jammer genoeg", jammer as an interjection translates to alas, and jammer as an adjective actually translates to unfortunate. "Dat is jammer" > "That's unfortunate" But you did get pretty close, considering what a complicated mess grammar can be sometimes.
Natuurlijk is a GREAT dutch word especially because we have naturally in English but it's never used no where near as much as in dutch. This is a good word, glad you shared it. 😊👍👍👍
Hm, maybe "commiserations" but it certainly doesn't mean the same. Sterkte is most commonly translated as "get well soon" but you can also use it when expressing compassion and encouragment wrt other misfortune.
About "Doe eens normaal": it's more like "act normal" then "be normal". The sentence is used when someone behaves unbecoming of the circumstance. Can be used in an ironic or - more common - in a derogative(?) way.
Yeah. It's a way to say "stop exaggerating, act like normal people" in a derogatory way. The derogatoriness can be serious or mock, depending on te context.
3:41 Doe normaal is just saying. act normal. or in other words. just be Yourself. We saying this because ask yourself this question, how many people know themselfs? A lot of people want to look or act like someone else. So we say. act normal My quote in life is alwawys: do not forget who you are.
"gezin" is father, mother and kids. "familie" contains the entire family, regardless whether you are within a specific 'gezin' or not, regardless of age, whether you are alive or dead etc. I think that would make the best translation for those words. "antikraak" pretty much is allowing people to stay in a building for a short period of time until it is repurposed or taken down. This can mean any building that would be able to hold people and a decent living space. So not just apartments and houses, but also a office building, church, factory or pretty much anything you can come up with. Lengths of how long these places are available to you can differ per building obviously. It could be for a few weeks up to years. It's way cheaper but you won't be able to hold much in that building as you need to clear out rather quickly after you receive that notification. This antikraak thing is to stop people from breaking in to empty buildings and making sure someone is around to protect the building, this is also why the rent will be a lot lower as you are pretty much offered lower rent in exchange of protecting the building. You are in essence the guard of the building in a way of speaking. "ik ben aan het genieten" is one of those things based up on common sense. If for example someone is sitting in the park on a bench with the sun in their face, you can clearly understand why they would be saying that. Same for when you are on the beach for example. It really isn't so difficult in that context. However there is another context you didn't think about, typical Dutch humor. If someone is about to do something stupid and you warned them it would go wrong as you said, you can use that line in a sarcastic way as if you were to say "I told you so". "gezellig" can also be used in a sarcastic way, if someone spoils a party for example you can say 'gezellig' with a straight face. Like you would say "well, you fucked that up quite well didn't you?". Or in another sarcastic way would for example translate to "well, this party is dead" or when there is a awkward tension you could also use it, both in a sarcastic way and to break the tension. There are a lot of words or sentences you can use in a sarcastic way, which makes Dutch humor so brilliant. Specially if you added in the right timing and managed to add or change the context. Even better if you can keep a straight face not showing any emotions when saying it.
Gezellig is related to 'gezelschap', which is a group of people, especially the people you are with. I think the best translation for the feeling associated with 'gezellig' is: it's so nice being together with you (or with this group). This is a feeling that for sure everybody on the planet knows, whatever language they are using. Isn't it time that also the English speakers come up with a single word to capture this phrase? Just use your imagination and invent a word, that's how we Dutch did it! How hard can it be? Here, the next time so sit down with friends in a cosy restaurant near the open fire, rain outside, and a kind waitress has just brought you some delicious starters, you look to the others and say: "Hey guys, this is really companuzzi, isn't it?"
Gezellig actually means like enjoying and appreciating the company of people and having a good time together in a positive spirit. The old Dutch word gezel literally means companion.
A phrase that I’ve heard a few times is “toe maar.” In the context that I heard it (a Christian sermon), it was being used so say “go ahead.” I know that it English, “go ahead” can commonly be used when you’re impatient with someone or will tolerate someone. When I heard “toe maar,” it felt really encouraging. It felt more like a way to encourage someone to do something that takes courage or surrender to step out into something new and that it’s alright. I guess that some similar English phrases would be “you can do it” or “I believe in you,” but “toe maar” seems to encompass all of that and more. I bet that there are other translations and uses for the phrase, but that’s what it meant to me in the context it was said.
I'm thinking "please do" would be an appropriate translation in many cases. I also don't think "go ahead" necessarily implies impatient. Such phrases tend to be imbued with a lot of meaning from the accompanying non-verbal communication. With the right intonation and gesturing "go ahead" can convey the friendly encouragement of the phrase "toe maar" just fine imho. By the way "toe maar" can also be used sarcastically to comment on someone taking a bit too much liberty with something, like when they cut off an overly large piece of cake for themselves.
Very good interpretation of "toe maar" . In essence it means : You have my consent , I believe in you and I know you can do ! You can say it to you kids or pets when they are hesitant i.e . It is the consent part that weighs heavily.
Ik ben aan het genieten.. It can be a finished sentence in English aswell. It's like saying 'I'm enjoying myself.' In this case, people can als be participating in a variety of different activities, or none at all, just like the Dutch 'Ik ben aan het genieten.' For me, usually, it describes a state of mind in a particular moment. And since the person you're telling this sentence to is sharing the moment with you, they usually understand what you mean.
This goes both ways tho, there are English words that just work better for certain situations. Even tho there are literal Dutch translations for it, sometimes they just don't describe the "feeling" just right.
Watch best english words here: th-cam.com/video/3jUUzqGvtso/w-d-xo.html
Some people say: Jammer de bammer... which of course sounds like bummer of course
@@bdeheer Jammer Joh ken ik wel
I love the Dutch word for universe, “heelal”... the “whole all”
Ikr
I’m dutch and i never realised
As a Dutch person, I totally agree. One of my favourite Dutch words.
Het staat vast dat er in het heel al ook genoeg ruimte is.
I think ‘the Universe’ will fit. So in my opinion it’s not that unique Dutch word which doesn’t have a counter word in the English language. But I agree, I like the word a lot.
My favourite Dutch phrase is 'tjonge jonge', I just love how it sounds 😁
sowieso
Tjonge jonge jonge, hhmmmpfff, man man man.
@@wishart9016 I first thought that you are German, but now I know that this word exists in both German and Dutch with the exact same meaning.
Jammer is a pitty
@@sehabel it is a German word. 100%. We just use it as is in Dutch. But it is not Dutch. You do even see it as zowiezo. That is Dutchified. Same with ueberhaupt.
Anti-kraak is geen kraak. Kraak is kraak (squatters taking your building to live in). Anti-kraak is renting out that same building to people: to PREVENT a kraak. Which is often cheaper then 'real renting', but its not kraken.
Yes. Hence 'anti', against, 'kraak', squatting.
Kraken used to be big, starting in the 60s, or perhaps just after the war: we lacked the housing to house all people in the Netherlands, 'woningnood'. Some people pointed out that some buildings where empty, for instance a large abandoned factory that was empty for decades: some people would sneak in, break the door ('kraak'), and replace the door with their own door/lock. The police would not know what to do: was it stealing? Yes, perhaps it was, but since there was woningnood, and the krakers mostly did good for the neighborhood and property, they where not beaten out by the police: they got a legal status if they followed some basic rules, like the building must be empty for an amount of time, they would have to inform the police when they had done a kraak, etc. A lot of hippies and free thinkers where krakers: it was a politcal movement 'de krakersbeweging', that tried to live 'outside the system'. With a lot of drug use and vandalism and graffiti. And the owners of the buildings also started to complain: some people where just renovating their house, or working abroad half a year, to find their house 'stolen' by krakers: and unable to remove them (legally, some just beat them out, but then the krakers could call the police, and the police would be on their side).
People have the right to a house. If those houses not exist: they can occupy empty buildings. That was the main idea. Over time: counties produced lots of houses, the woningnood got a bit less problematic. It became harder and harder to legally kraak a house. One of the things they do now is 'anti-kraak': renting the place to people for below market prices; on the condition that they move out the moment the place is sold (normally you cannot evict a person that wants to remain in his house without a LOT of hassle). Since one of the conditions of a legal kraak is that the house should be empty: they dont get 'kraakt'. Note that if a kraker legally kraakt your house: you CANNOT evict him. AND he does not have to pay rent. AND he can destroy your house while you can do nothing about it. So its very much hated / loved, depending on who you ask.
Nowadays: the krakersbeweging is, well, more dead then alive. Most people that kraak nowadays are non-Dutch, like for example polish illegals. They dont even bother to do a legal kraak, they just occupy, make a mess, drug use everywhere. The hippies tried to make music and a nice atmosphere: these people wont anymore. This created a hate towards krakers. They are now just seen as 'thieves who steal the house of hardworking people', mostly. There is still some 'real krakerbeweging' that is all ideological, but its become very rare.
nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kraakbeweging since 2010 its become MUCH harder to legally kraak. When 'krakersbolwerken' got evicted, sometimes the krakers resisted, which created the (in)famouse 'krakersrellen'. nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krakersrellen
Kraak is beter dan antikraak ;-)
Release the "kraken"
@@JurgendeMooij Welease Bwian!
Gezellig comes from 'gezel', meaning companion. So 'gezellig' can be described as the feeling of companionship.
It's similar to the German word "Geselle", which also means companion, and of course "gesellig", with the same meaning as in Dutch.
I don’t agree. I live alone and i have Things that is gezellig allthough i am alone
No way. Gezellig is a very Dutch feeling.
Well, I haven’t had that many rooms as my companion. But a room can still be gezellig. The entomology is correct, the meaning just isn’t that anymore
@@loeshalberstadt9998 Dat klopt. Je kunt bijvoorbeeld een kamer gezellig inrichten. Dat zegt dan niets over (de gevoelens van) de personen die zich in die kamer bevinden.
This is so weird. These days English words and sayings are being used by native Dutch more and more, because they think English is more efficient. But to hear from a native English speaker that Dutch words can be more efficient than English is.... Making me proud to be Dutch 🤔
English is actually more efficient. There are more lexical gaps (taalleemtes) in Dutch than in English. In fact, English is probably the richest language in the world, due to having incorporated a huge amount of Romance (Latin derived) words during the Norman occupation of England, and by having been allowed to bastardize more than other large European languages. In France and Germany, there has historically been more top-down control of (d)evolution of their languages, which kept them more ´pure´ in terms of grammar and spelling, but also prevented new words and expressions of taking hold. You can see this in the fact that English lost the quality of compounding words that Dutch and German still have (which does make it poorer), almost no verb conjugations, the loss of gendered nouns and the cases (Dutch lost those too), the fact there´s just one definite article, and the very high amount of irregular verbs. It also left them a massive lexicon.
@@robertdegroot8302 goed verhaal, lekker kort
@@robertdegroot8302 Dutch has a lot of words that aren't used often anymore these days but that doesn't mean they don't exist. For example, how often do you hear the word jegens these days? Almost no one uses it anymore. It's from a different era. I sometimes find the English colloquial vocabulary (especially the American version) a bit too rich. You might even say over the top. The fact that Dutch colloquial language use seems simpler attests mostly to a cultural difference and if we would translate (American) English to Dutch as accurately as possible it sounds very wollig (wooly as in aged or from a different time). Wollig taalgebruik is something Dutch speakers tend to be allergic to as they/we don't cling to old words that much. Dutch is a very progressive language. Spelling especially is very good evidence of that since it's highly modernized whereas English spelling is basically stuck in the 1500s.
Apparently the Dutch can convey all they want to say with using fewer words. That is basically efficiency by definition. The language matches the tijdgeest and fulfills its purpose to the best possible way.
@@moladiver6817 And don't forget we have the largest dictionary in the world. The complete "Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal" (something like that, I am not totally sure of the exact formulation) is the one with the largest vocabulary. Especially our amount of sayings, idioms, proverbs is very extensive
I like the words overmorgen and eergisteren. I don't think the English language really has any words other than 'the day after tomorrow' and 'the day before yesterday'.
Yeah, I'm kind of learning Spanish, and they somewhat have they same: anteayer (before yesterday) and pasado mañana (after tomorrow)
the best about it is that you just can continue it untill it becomes ridiculous; overmorgen? nee overovermorgen
English technically does have the word overmorrow, but it has very much fallen out of use.
These words add to our "planning" culture, we have two words that make planning easier.
I myself am half Dutch / half English , and am born and raised in the small coastal town called Egmond aan Zee , which we locals call Derp. The language we speak (spoke) is called "Derps" and it a sub-dialect of the "West-Frisian" dialect. Our town is more than a 1000 years old and for a long time the "Derper" dialect was what we spoke and most Dutch people couldn't understand us. Such a small country with so many distinct dialects.
Nowadays , the Derper dialect is at it's last breath and soon it will be lost. There is very little written "Derps" and even the little snippets that do exist cannot phonetically express it. It is a dialect you must HEAR , there are no letters to describe the sound. I wish I knew how to record say me speaking in that dialect , preferably telling the Derper version of "Roodkapje en de 7 dwergen." and add it to this video.
gruwelijk is also a good word the dutch use especially in dutch slang. it litterally translates to horific but it also means something awesome.
its like ''terrific'' (of great size, amount, or intensit) or (causing terror).
maybe 'wicked' comes close
Thank you Casey for reminding me how lovely my language is 🥰
Hello.
There is one word that i miss and i never heard in a list is the dutch word "stoer".
You can translate it like tough but it is more than that.
And if you are working today, werk ze😉
Good one! Not even the word badass really covers it.
Same with 'flink.' And with 'potig,' In English it just seems like you are calling them fat if you want to try and translate these words. 'Sturdy' might come closest for all three, whcih is weird because they all mean slightly different things.
Stoer can also more or less mean macho
"Hij doet stoer" = "He's acting macho"
*It also means cool and crazy!!*
fine example of dutch often being way more nuanced and variable then english yes ... bold would be the closest in English ... dapper... which coincidentally is also a dutch word...well not coicidentally , as coincidental as two sisters being family
"Ik ben aan het genieten" is so great about our language because we don't have to explain the specific thing which we enjoy because it's not about the thing. It really puts the focus on the enjoyment instead of the cause of your enjoyment as the English language does
Enjoying myself is the same as genieten so english doesn't need to explain what it is you're enjoying.
@@caspardejonge5902 well it does by explaining you're enjoying "yourself". In English you usually cant say "I'm enjoying." When translating that would definitely be the closest translation in English but still not totally direct translation because it doesn't exist in English.
@@herovandiejen1479 that's exactly what I meant. 🙂
2:01 for those who do still are confused about "gezin". It basically means the family currently living in your house. A classical "gezin" would consist of a husband, wife and their children (assuming they all live in your house). Once someone left the house and normally no longer sleeps in the house, they are no longer part of the "gezin". An aunt who doesn't life in your same house, is also not part of the "gezin", but she is part of the "familie". That being said, a pet dog or cat who you are close with and normally also sleeps in your house, in the Netherlands that is, is often also included in the "gezin". However, say a horse, can never be part of the "gezin".
Yeah gezin is everyone in your household that is either your parent, sibling or child
“Ik kom uit een gezin met 10 kinderen”; no matter where they all live now,, “gezin”
One of the words I find hard to translate properly is ‘lief’. You could say like ‘you’re sweet’ but you can also use it like ‘you’re very, very nice’ as in ‘ ik heb je lief’ as in "I love you", but just not yet daring to say that. We actually had a campaign "doe ‘s lief" = "be nice to each other"
One other typical one is ‘ooo, op die fiets!’ Which is like ‘now I understand’
Ohhhhhhhhh good one!!! I love reading the comments and finding good additions to these list. I also like op is op which again is just a shorter better way to say it then the many ways and words you'd have to use in english to say the same thing.
op die fiets is more of an expression thou not a word
misschien lovely??
Even as "leuk".
‘Gezin’ while technically meaning your immediate family actually refers to the family you live with. Which in Belgium or the Netherlands traditionally would be your parents and siblings as a child. And then later as an adult would refer to your partner and children. For instance as an adult I would never refer to my parents anymore as my ‘gezin’ even though they are my immediate family.
You can use "lekker" in many situations: lekker gegeten, lekker gezwommen, lekker gevreeën, lekker gepoept.
Lekker is always related to a physical sensation, though. Otherwise you need to use "leuk".
Haha lekker gevreeën ik ga stuk
@@ronaldderooij1774 lekker weertje
lekker hoor
nou, lekker belangrijk..😉
Anti Kraak is like House Sitting for a homeowner to prevent squatting by some gang. We do it with our own house when we decide to live in the Philippines for some months.
The best and most useful word in Dutch is lekker. It's so versatile and it's really used all the time by all people and all its translations are positive. Love it!
"Lekker dan" is not a positive translation. it's a sarcastic and dissapointed way to use lekker. Besides that I think almost all of them are positive.
It's quite amazing how you've managed to grasp these so subtle nuances as a second language speaker...
"desalniettemin" it's been elected as the most beautiful word in Dutch
Desalwelteplus😂😂
Wat een prima Nederlandse uitspraak. Chapeau !
Leuk om te ontdekken wat rare woorden zijn in de Nederlandse taal.
Ook leuk om te ontdekken dat Engels soms tekort schiet.
Thanks for these videos Casey! I'm an English expat living in Amsterdam and I love surprising groups of Dutch friends when I throw one of these in casually ;)
Hey Casey, the way you (and other people from English talking countrys) explain Dutch to your fellow English users, does not only learn them something, but as dutchman I learn al lot of it too. I can' t explain all our Dutch words in English, but you give us Dutchies the right words too.
So get used to many Dutchies to your video's too. We are here to help or to comfirm ( or deny, if you are wrong)... but as an minority nation concerning our language... we love these English, Americans, Australians etc that love the Dutch way of live...or at least love a big part of it. Well I'am one of them. You make us find out about our selves.
4:24 That's amazing for me to learn as an American learning Dutch - we have the slang verb "to vibe" over here which operates similarly grammatically. If you say "I'm vibing" it basically means you're enjoying yourself, but if you want to say that something - like a song - is making you vibe, you say "I'm vibing with..." the song, the person, the vibe (if you want to be meta), etc. I've always wanted a more perfect way to translate this because it has a youthful, energetic sense to it which "ik ben goed" simply doesn't encapsulate. I'm vibing when I'm having a truly good night, listening to some great music and without a care in the world. This seems like the closest translation I can use - so that's incredibly useful!
"Antikraak" was also fascinating - I've never left North America, so I am not privy to many of the policies which many of us worship as a body without understanding the specifics of. There are an estimated 6,500 homeless people in my city (of about 684,000) which, though the lowest it's been in years, is surely going to go up because of the economic crisis caused by the pandemic. I wonder how our mayor and city council would feel about using antikraak-type methods to temporarily house them while we work on building more affordable housing, since we're wedged between other cities and have literally no room to expand.
Wonderful video!
Ik ben goed is niet juist. Het moet zijn : ik voel me goed.
I don’t know it is already mentioned but I think the verb ‘gunnen’ can’t be translated properly in english :-)
I’ve heard this elsewhere :-)
Hangt van de context af.
Als in een aanbesteding vertaal je het naar “to grant” (“The city granted the contract to the Spanish manufacturer yesterday”)
Als in een positieve toewensing is er inderdaad geen goed engels woord voor; je zal de zin moeten verbouwen: “Ik gun het je van harte!” => “You really deserve that!”
=> “I really wish that will work out for you!”
yield in english is related to gunnen..
Gunnen has an element of generosity. There is also 'gunfactor'
@@heroicnonsense They do have a word for 'misgunnen' though (begrudge)...
i like your video's about my country and language very much, i send them to my friend in Florida so she can learn about the dutch and their country. thank you for your great video's.
Glad you like them!
you are correct about gezellig...it's enjoying each other's company and what you're doing together like having a party or just sharing some yummy Dutch coffee and a sandwich or cookie....
Gezellig can also be used to describe places. For example I have a few friends who got an appartement in the city and I'd say: "zo een gezellig appartementje", so it's not only a word to describe the vibes but also for cozy places
Wow , finally a good way how i could translate gezellig to a non dutch person. so far the best option to explain it I'll stick to "the vibe of niceness"
Just wanted to say say.....I loooove vids like these :-))). When I think I should do some Dutch study but had full on day and don't want to sit a read verbs ect or anything to heavy i love to listen to them. I find them soooo helpful and they really help me Learn when cooking or cleaning ect....these vids are perfect. Thanks ☺ 👍🏽
'Gezellig' has more to do with enjoying being together, while 'ik ben aan t genieten' is saying you're enjoying something circumstancial like good food or the weather and you're taking in that nice moment. You know by know how the Dutch have to cherish every sunny day! I really like your video's, they make me appreciate the Netherlands and our language (:
I never thought about "ik ben aan het genieten" that way! How nice to see the language through your eyes.
One that might be nice for your next list might be "gelukkig". In English you might say "happy", but "gelukkig" has so much more weight. I would never ask someone if they were "gelukkig" unless I wanted to have a really deep conversation. "Happy" always seems so much more flitty, easy to just brush off with something superficial. "Yeah, sure I'm happy, the weather is nice, my shoes fit, I'm grand". :)
If you ask me if I'm gelukkig you'd better be a close friend and have a big pot of tea or a stiff drink ready. :)
Gelukkig zijn er zulke vrienden.
There is one more. “Sterkte.” After an American friend of mine died, her daughter looked over some of the condolences I got on my Facebook. She was at first confused by all the people saying “strength.” But after a while she started to understand that it means much more than that
The most accurate translation for this would be "Be strong".
My compliments for your dutch. You actually have a dutch sound
I'm really liking all these video's, I've been speaking and writing English for what feels like ages,
and you're pointing out many similarities and differences in use of language I never thought about.
So.. Well done, keep going!
When are you going to do your first video in Dutch? Judging from the way you manage to pronounce 'gezellig' makes me believe your accent is great.
I always feel like my grammar is too terrible to make people listen to a whole video in it haha but it may be on the cards :)
@@caseykilmore Honestly I'm just curious what kind of accent you have. I saw a video once where someone tried to pronounce "aarbeien" and they sounded like they were form Limburg.
@@caseykilmore To be on the cards is 'het zit in de pijplijn'.
@@caseykilmore your Dutch sounds really good actually
@@caseykilmore Would be fun to hear some longer texts. Maybe you could look at some dutch song lyrics and translate them on the spot and discuss them.
15 miljoen mensen by Fluitsma & Van Tijn seems a good starting point.
Then you can go into all kind of topics
Doe Maar - Nederwiet
Drs P - Knolraap en Lof Schorseneren en Prei
Herman van Veen Opzij Opzij Opzij
Klein Orkest Over de Muur
De Dijk Iedereen is van de wereld
Raggende Mannen - Poep in je hoofd or Lullen bij de bus of Fiets which are both shorter and less controversial.
Katinka Polderman Erge dingen vind ik ook heel erg
Actually there is a ton of interesting songs in dutch cabaret.
Brigitte Kaandorp - Protestlied is hilarious too....
The genieten is really scenery important. If you’re ‘aan het natafelen’ (like after having dinner with friends/family your still at the table, just enjoying the evening) and than you’re aan het genieten, you’re enjoying the evening, just like a sunset...
I actually learn more from you than from my Dutch teacher and I’m dutch
Breda??
Als leraar Nederlands en NT-2 docent (Nederlands als tweede taal) wil ik even vermeld hebben dat taalverwerving (spreken en luisteren en het herkennen en toepassen van de daarbijhorende nuances van de moedertaal) gebeurt door de opvoeders en niet door je docent Nederlands op de middelbare school. Die docent biedt verdieping in taal aan, geen taalverwerving.
gezellig = cozy. It's our way of saying you're comfortable with the situation you're in
I have a soft spot for 'desalniettemin'. Hard to dissect.
In spite of all that...(?)
Nevertheless? That's an English word that would mean the same thing.
Hahaha. Dat is een goeie.
I must say that the expression "hoe dan?" is very recent... like a trend. This is not something that was said 5 years ago or something. Five years ago people would've said "Huh? Hoe kan dat nou?" "Hoe dan?" seems like a way to express a sort of annoyed surprise. It has a sarcastic flavour if you ask me. The depth of your understanding of the Dutch language is pretty amazing I must say. Ga zo door!
"Hoe dan?" can be used in many ways like: "What you're saying is crazy, explain yourself" or even rhetorical as in "This is crazy" period. Or even asking for confirmation "Casey said to me she was going to open a refregirator shop on Antarctica, hoe dan?" like, isn't that insane?
I'm from the Flemish speaking north in Belgium and we learn proper Dutch in school but speak our Flemish dialect at home.
I grew up in a gezin van 8 kinderen, meaning there were 8 of us with mom and dad to form a gezin.
Werk ze is a typical Dutch expression from the Netherland because we rarely use it in Flanders.
It does indeed mean enjoy your work...
Can you do a video on Dutch weather descriptions? And if you have equivalent English words for them.
Hello Casey Kilmore , your doing absolutely great, i have a very inportand disclamer. Every word you learn is verry good to use with Sarcasm. Because we have so many tiny words to expres our selves its easy to turn on a dime. This makes sarcastic humor easy and quick.
Dutch grammar on the other hand is something allot of dutch people have trouble with , including myself.
It gets rewhritten like every 5 years.
In other words learn the basics dont bother the specifics.
Compliments on exxplaining the word 'gezellig' (I'm dutch) 😉 Totally covers the it.
The saying 'hoe dan?' however can be translated much easier with 'but... how?'
5:10 "Jammer de bammer" is the extended version of "jammer". The extension doesn't really mean anything in Dutch, it just rhyms nice. Also, "bammer" and the English "bummer" sound very similiar of course
I think this video was kei gaaf.
Also your pronunciation of the hard G is impeccable.
As someone who's lived in the Netherlands for their entire life, I can't recall ever hearing someone say "Ik ben aan het genieten". It doesn't sound off to me, but it's not something I'd say I hear very often. What, in my experience, is used a lot more often (and actually sounds a lot better, too) is "Dit is echt genieten". It's essentially the same thing, but it's more clear you're enjoying the situation in general, and you're describing the situation as generally enjoyable, rather than needing to state that you specifically are enjoying the situation.
"Dit is [verb in infinitive form]" or "Het is [verb in infinitive form]" is a common way to phrase things in Dutch. Examples would include "Het is even hard werken, maar dan wordt het ook wat.", "Het is flink pijn lijden, ik zou het niet aanraden." or the, perhaps even weirder, "Dit is echt geen doen" (This is frustratingly difficult)
How about: "DAT is nog eens genieten."?
Oh. 'vibe' is probably the best translation for 'gezellig' I ever heard.
When I was in Nederlands they were always say: gezellig, I still always say it even here in Canada lol 😝.
"Lekker in je vel zitten" is denk ik ook wel een heel Nederlands dingetje om te zeggen met een heel eigen betekenis.
Sitting nicely in your skin!
I am going to use that one. In Afrikaans it will be. "Voel gemaklik in jou eie vel".
The word "lekker" can also be used negatively ... for example in the sentence "nou , lekker ! ... or ... daar ben ik lekker mee ! .. This is said when one is not happy with something
But also, for example, the sentence .. 'dat schiet weer lekker op !' can be meant both positive and negative ( To make it even easier LOL)
Coincidentally I was thinking about this today ...... the best word in Dutch (imho) is "tierelier" especially in the saying "trekt op als een tierelier" ... orgasmic beautiful and fitting
(tieren comes from toeren (turns/revolutions) , lier = winch, trekt op = to pull up)
Je uitspraak van de G is perfect! complimenten!
Beste Casey,
je vroeg om meer typisch Nederlandse woorden. Ik heb er eentje voor je: smoes(je), in het Engels "a little lie". Voorbeeld: een kind gaat op de fiets naar school maar vertrekt te laat van huis en komt dus te laat aan. Als reden voor het te laat komengeeft hij/zij op : ik had een lekke band/mijn ketting was er af/ ik moest wachten voor de trein etc.
De docent denkt dan: dat is een smoesje
Overigens is 'fiets' ook een typisch Nederlands woord
veel succes!
I love the english for ' ga toch weg" wich is " get lost"
No - the English use the phrase "get outta here" to express disbelief, just like we do
genieten is a state of being. no matter what or which activity. its always good to know if somebody is enjoying themselves :)
I’ll have a go at gezellig. A feeling of homeliness in company, where you’re disarmed because you trust the people around you, everyone else feels like that too, and lighthearted banter is taken as such without risk of affront. And it’s still not complete… It’s a big word
It's amazing how many great Dutch words have German cognates, like gezellig - gesellig and jammer ("Jammer" is not directly a word, but it is used in the expression "Jammerschade")
Isn't 'jammer' translated as 'schade' in German? Jammerschade sounds double :)
Gezin, is also mostly used for a unit of close relatives living in one house, like father, mother, kids.
Overall Dutch had some very efficient words. Maybe that's because of our directness you talked about in a previous video. We don't like to spend time on small talk (well yes, ofcourse we do talk small, but not whe doing business). In several dialects it's even worse; people leave out words and even complete sentences to describe an action or a feeling. It has it's roots in our polders (a good Dutch word polder, which led to the verb polderen): despite our differences in religion, tradition or politic, we need each other to keep our feet dry. There is a world of Dutch sayings that are intranslatable.
Your pronunciation is very good!
Yes it is. I’d much rather say it’s “ a bomb in a bowl” (abominabel) but that would be a lie.
So glad that I stumbled across this video.
If you are talking to someone, that expresses that he has fallen on hard times, or does not feel happy, you can say. "Sterkte"
Yeah, I always feel weird when English speakers say "I'm Sorry" in that situation. To me, it implies that it's their fault or something, while saying "sterkte" pretty much means "I wish you strength in this situation", which to me feels more appropriate to say.
“Sterkte” is also used at funerals and I really think it’s a lazy way of solving the problem of what to say in that case.it sounds a bit like an insult to me. It’s like saying “ too bad and I hope things will work out with a bit of effort. But then I’m knowen to “vergis mij af en toe in mijn opienies”.I was born in de oudste stad van België and was brought up in de Vlaamse taal ( Flemish, ABN or Algemeen Beschaaft Nederlands or Hollands or Dutch) and lived in Canada ( English) for the last 53 yrs and noticed that all languages evolve and change over time. The only ones that not change are the old or dead ones like old Latin and Greek especially Grammarly , but they are the foundations of modern English, French, Dutch ,German enz...And that makes different, as humans , of de hele dierenwereld but not necessarily slimmer / smarter ....jusayin !...
Correction:seeing it’s impossible to edit my already sent message , I meant to say at the end that we ,as humans are on the cusp or spear point of the evolution of life on earth and we as part of the animal world ,differentiat ourself from other animals by languages but it’s not necessarily an advantage seeing how the present politians talk and behave.... jusayin !...
A few other typical Dutch words/phrases are:
Betovergrootvader/betovergrootmoeder: great-great grandfather/grandmother
Goedemorgen/goedenavond/goedemiddag: Good morning/good evening/good afternoon: In English you would most likely use them as a greeting. In Dutch they can be a greeting or a good bye.
Snikken: sobbing, again not really the same. Sobbing is more like ugly crying, while snikken is more like the state just before or just after actual crying, where your eyes are still watery, but your not yet/no longer crying
Gezellig is indeed a good vibe, but always is a social context.
Another one you won't hear in any other language (I think) is Ouwehoeren. Try to explain it to a foreigner.
Lol 😂
I’d translate it to “chin wagging”.
Used to hear my dad say this and in context I always took it to mean " old ladies of dubious social standing gossiping complete nonsense." Bit of slang, but gets the sentiment across.
@@_JoyceArt Could also be translated as ' talking shit again'.
Da's een goeie. Ouwehoeren. "Kutweer" is ook zo'n geval.
“Hoe dan?” I love this frase too, but I think it’s slipped into Dutch pretty recently, pretty sure I never used or heard it being used before about 10-15 years. I first encountered it when my kids brought it in 😀
“Genieten” that’s such an overused word, especially in form when someone is telling you to enjoy something, like in a restaurant; every time the waiter brings something you get this as an assignment “geniet ervan!” , also in museums or at the cinema. I know it’s not meant to be rude or anything, but there are so many alternatives.
"Hoe dan?" became a bit of a meme after it was said by some girl in a tv show. Gerard Ekdom used the fragment frequently in his radio shows. That's why it became so popular it recent years.
@@gwboes Ooh tnx for explaining, I had no idea :)
I even didn’t know the term. I’m 67, so before my time.
Knuffel (ker-nuf-el) my favourite Dutch word. always on the lookout for a knuffel!
Knuffel has a proper English translation: cuddle. You can both say "I want to cuddle" and "How about a cuddle?" so it's used in similar ways too.
However, knuffel with the meaning 'teddy bear' or similar does not; closest translation is 'stuffed animal'
Haha When you talked about "ik ben aan het genieteen" I cracked up cause I didn't realize you felt like the sentence wasn't finished cause in my native language (French), we literally have the same expression with the same meaning ("je profite" litt. "I am enjoying")
Interesting I'm sure there are more languages that must have it if french does too. I'm so use to saying it or hearing it now but in the beginning I really remember being like from what?? hahahah
The thing is that "enjoy" is a transitive verb: it needs an object, so you always enjoy something.
The usual Dutch word "genieten" is intransitive: it cannot have an object. If there is something specific that gives you the enjoyment, you still don't say "Ik geniet iets" maar "ik geniet van iets". THAT is the reason that Dutch can say "ik geniet" as a complete sentence.
To be fair, we do have a transitive form of "genieten", although it is quite formal and rarely used. This is when we have a meal (or perhaps just a snack or drink) we could e.g. say "we hebben de lunch genoten in een restaurant". Not sure if this is fully equivalent to "we have enjoyed lunch in a restaurant", because this form of "genieten" does not require that the food is good (dus dat je ERVAN geniet), it rather means neutrally that you've eaten lunch. I don't know if this is also true for English.
@@klaasbil8459 This is the perfect explanation!!!
You do the "hoe dan?" so well! So another one we Dutch use alot is "lekker hoor!". I'd love to see a part 3😁👍
Nice video and excellent pronunciation ! You must have spent a long time in Holland.
There is the expression : "Lekker dan." which we sometimes replace with : "Daar ben ik klaar mee."
It expresses a negative feeling you have when something goes wrong or something bad overcomes you.
In such a situation we say that such a person "zit met de gebakken peren" (sits with the fried pears).
Ik heb een lekker gezellig gezin.
Do Australians confuse Dutch for German ?
i really like this new setting, very naturish and happu
Gezellig = vibes. Using that translation now!
Waterkoud. No idea how to translate that in English. But it is a weathertype that descripes a cold which is very humid, and because of that feels much colder then the actual temperature. The cold will go through, merg en been 😜
@5:50 jammer comes from jammeren (To wail)
Gezellig is not only a feeling, but it also refers to a group activity (gezelschap), while "ik ben aan het genieten" is more personal, but they are quite similar.
Hi Casey, love your videos! You know which Dutch word is hard to find in English: "Kruidig". So, I work in a restaurant and sometimes when I get expats, I have to explain to them the flavours of a dish. I want to use the word "kruidig", as "dit gerecht is lekker kruidig en pittig van smaak", but there's no real translation to that word. Seasoned is kinda like that, but it doesn't describe the spices in itself as a flavor.
In English, you can colloquially say "herby" as in, this tastes of herbs, which is what I thought 'kruidig' meant! (as an English-speaker trying to learn Dutch)
@@didreams1 I guess, but in Dutch we have "specerijen" which translates in English to "Spices" and "kruiden" which translates in English to "herbs". But if you want to use "kruidig", this means more to the flavour of the spices haha.
Just 'spicy'?
@@nlbergsma I guess spicy would be more 'pittig' than kruidig? Really intrigued about the difference though
@@didreams1 spices=kruiden (e.g. pepper, nutmeg). Herbs=groene kruiden(e.g. thyme, parsley) . The English word “spicy” aplies only to to the first, I think. One could also translate it with “pikant” , but that has wider connotations of course. But I happily give up my explanation for a better one 😉
In Gronings (Which is a Nethersaxon dialect, spoken in the north of the Netherlands) we say "Dik doun in toene". It means barbecuing. The literal translation is "doing fat in the garden".
Does "dik doun" not just mean "sjiek doen", in other words "be pretentious"?
@@angelowentzler9961 nope
Gezellig = feeling nice in the moment with others. Or cozy.
I like the words 'kwibus' and 'snoeshaan' although they are somewhat archaic.
Nice one about "gezin" I always was jealous about the english word "Siblings" because in dutch you need to say the gender if you talk about your siblings. e.g.: "Mijn broer en mijn zus"
"Jammer" I would translate as pity
Nice video, I like them.
By the way, I am dutch (from Zeeland, Vlissingen) and I'm living in Belgium. Language differences between Flemish and Dutch are part of my life :).
Jammer actually translates to unfortunately
For extra context, helaas translates to alas, which ofcourse is interchangeable with unfortunately. Just like jammer and helaas
Gezellig basically is enjoying someone's company
Not exactly. Helaas and jammer aren't interchangable. "Helaas is het mislukt" is a correct sentence, "Jammer is het mislukt" is not. Helaas is, however, interchangable with "jammer genoeg".
This is because of their grammatical function. Jammer is an adjective, whereas helaas and 'jammer genoeg' are adverbs. Jammer and helaas can also both be used as an interjection - in that case they can be interchangable. "Jammer!" and "Helaas!" mean exactly the same thing. But if you turn "Jammer joh!" into "Helaas joh!", people will probably still understand you, but it'd sound very weird.
Alas and unfortunately are a similar case. They might seem interchangable, because they usually take the same spot in a sentence, but note that alas is pretty much always followed by a comma, while unfortunately can easily be put in a sentence without any commas whatsoever. Again, this has to do with a difference in grammatical function. Alas is an interjection, while unfortunately is an adverb.
Alas and unfortunately can both be translated as helaas or "jammer genoeg", jammer as an interjection translates to alas, and jammer as an adjective actually translates to unfortunate. "Dat is jammer" > "That's unfortunate"
But you did get pretty close, considering what a complicated mess grammar can be sometimes.
@@Felixr2 That makes a lot more sense
I love the dutch use of _Natuurlijk_. As in: Spreek je Choctaw? Natuurlijk.
Natuurlijk is a GREAT dutch word especially because we have naturally in English but it's never used no where near as much as in dutch. This is a good word, glad you shared it. 😊👍👍👍
We got also Tuurlijk that has a similar funtion.
doesn't everybody??
what about sterkte dotn think that has a single word translation
Hm, maybe "commiserations" but it certainly doesn't mean the same. Sterkte is most commonly translated as "get well soon" but you can also use it when expressing compassion and encouragment wrt other misfortune.
gezellig: a positive verdict on a moment or a place
About "Doe eens normaal": it's more like "act normal" then "be normal". The sentence is used when someone behaves unbecoming of the circumstance. Can be used in an ironic or - more common - in a derogative(?) way.
Yeah. It's a way to say "stop exaggerating, act like normal people" in a derogatory way. The derogatoriness can be serious or mock, depending on te context.
Immediately thought about this when she began talking about it.
th-cam.com/video/gf1brl2R6Hs/w-d-xo.html
(english translation available)
"Oh, pull yourself together!" would be a fine translation most of the time.
*Be sensible in England!*
"Don't be silly!" seems like another situational translation
What about the oldfashioned swear-words like Schobbejak, Jokkebrok, Stoethaspel, Vlerk, Snoodaardor or Oelewapper? 😊
3:41 Doe normaal is just saying. act normal. or in other words. just be Yourself.
We saying this because ask yourself this question, how many people know themselfs? A lot of people want to look or act like someone else. So we say. act normal
My quote in life is alwawys: do not forget who you are.
Je toelichting bij ‘Jammer’ deed me denken aan een hele mooie en typisch Nederlandse uitdrukking: ‘Helaas pindakaas’ :))
"gezin" is father, mother and kids. "familie" contains the entire family, regardless whether you are within a specific 'gezin' or not, regardless of age, whether you are alive or dead etc. I think that would make the best translation for those words.
"antikraak" pretty much is allowing people to stay in a building for a short period of time until it is repurposed or taken down. This can mean any building that would be able to hold people and a decent living space. So not just apartments and houses, but also a office building, church, factory or pretty much anything you can come up with. Lengths of how long these places are available to you can differ per building obviously. It could be for a few weeks up to years. It's way cheaper but you won't be able to hold much in that building as you need to clear out rather quickly after you receive that notification. This antikraak thing is to stop people from breaking in to empty buildings and making sure someone is around to protect the building, this is also why the rent will be a lot lower as you are pretty much offered lower rent in exchange of protecting the building. You are in essence the guard of the building in a way of speaking.
"ik ben aan het genieten" is one of those things based up on common sense. If for example someone is sitting in the park on a bench with the sun in their face, you can clearly understand why they would be saying that. Same for when you are on the beach for example. It really isn't so difficult in that context. However there is another context you didn't think about, typical Dutch humor. If someone is about to do something stupid and you warned them it would go wrong as you said, you can use that line in a sarcastic way as if you were to say "I told you so".
"gezellig" can also be used in a sarcastic way, if someone spoils a party for example you can say 'gezellig' with a straight face. Like you would say "well, you fucked that up quite well didn't you?". Or in another sarcastic way would for example translate to "well, this party is dead" or when there is a awkward tension you could also use it, both in a sarcastic way and to break the tension.
There are a lot of words or sentences you can use in a sarcastic way, which makes Dutch humor so brilliant. Specially if you added in the right timing and managed to add or change the context. Even better if you can keep a straight face not showing any emotions when saying it.
Gezellig is related to 'gezelschap', which is a group of people, especially the people you are with.
I think the best translation for the feeling associated with 'gezellig' is: it's so nice being together with you (or with this group). This is a feeling that for sure everybody on the planet knows, whatever language they are using.
Isn't it time that also the English speakers come up with a single word to capture this phrase? Just use your imagination and invent a word, that's how we Dutch did it! How hard can it be? Here, the next time so sit down with friends in a cosy restaurant near the open fire, rain outside, and a kind waitress has just brought you some delicious starters, you look to the others and say:
"Hey guys, this is really companuzzi, isn't it?"
Gezellig actually means like enjoying and appreciating the company of people and having a good time together in a positive spirit. The old Dutch word gezel literally means companion.
not really cause people also use gezellig as a discription for things like a living room or a cafe or a bar.
"Hoe dan" - two polite words. But it can feel like "WTF?"
yeah it is very informal, on the edge of being rude.
A phrase that I’ve heard a few times is “toe maar.” In the context that I heard it (a Christian sermon), it was being used so say “go ahead.” I know that it English, “go ahead” can commonly be used when you’re impatient with someone or will tolerate someone. When I heard “toe maar,” it felt really encouraging. It felt more like a way to encourage someone to do something that takes courage or surrender to step out into something new and that it’s alright. I guess that some similar English phrases would be “you can do it” or “I believe in you,” but “toe maar” seems to encompass all of that and more. I bet that there are other translations and uses for the phrase, but that’s what it meant to me in the context it was said.
I'm thinking "please do" would be an appropriate translation in many cases. I also don't think "go ahead" necessarily implies impatient. Such phrases tend to be imbued with a lot of meaning from the accompanying non-verbal communication. With the right intonation and gesturing "go ahead" can convey the friendly encouragement of the phrase "toe maar" just fine imho.
By the way "toe maar" can also be used sarcastically to comment on someone taking a bit too much liberty with something, like when they cut off an overly large piece of cake for themselves.
Very good interpretation of "toe maar" . In essence it means : You have my consent , I believe in you and I know you can do ! You can say it to you kids or pets when they are hesitant i.e .
It is the consent part that weighs heavily.
Ik ben aan het genieten.. It can be a finished sentence in English aswell. It's like saying 'I'm enjoying myself.' In this case, people can als be participating in a variety of different activities, or none at all, just like the Dutch 'Ik ben aan het genieten.' For me, usually, it describes a state of mind in a particular moment. And since the person you're telling this sentence to is sharing the moment with you, they usually understand what you mean.
have you ever explained 'wat een gedoe'? Just find out when and how to use this
This goes both ways tho, there are English words that just work better for certain situations.
Even tho there are literal Dutch translations for it, sometimes they just don't describe the "feeling" just right.
How do you say Poffertjes in English?
You don't. Because talking with a mouth full of delicious food is very rude 😉
🤣🤣🤣🤣👌