comparative
In the previous lesson we learned to compare things to eachother, but in order to really say something useful with a comparison, it is good to know the word for ‘than‘ in Dutch. ‘than‘ is ‘dan‘ in Dutch, it’s almost the same as in English. The use of this word is also very similar:
He’s bigger than me.
Hij is groter dan mij.
He learns more than me.
Hij leert meer dan mij.
me is the 3rd case of the personal pronoun in Dutch. Let’s take a look at it:
1st singular: mij (me)
2nd singular: jou (you)
3rd singular: hem (him)/haar (her)
1st plural: ons/onze (us)
2nd plural: jullie (you)
3rd plural: hun (them)
Possessive pronouns
The possessive pronouns are just like in English very easy, once you know them, you can always use them in the same way. The only irregularity is the word ‘us’ which is ons/onze. It depends on the word when you use ons or onze, but the rule is very regular:
het = ons
de = onze
our house = ons huis (het huis)
our friend = onze vriend (de vriend)
mijn – my
jouw – your
zijn/haar – his/her
ons/onze – our
jullie – your (plural)
Tekst
Ik leer Nederlands en daarin maak ik vooruitgang. Mijn woordenschat wordt steeds groter. John leert ook Nederlands. Zijn Nederlands wordt beter en beter. Zijn grammatica is ook beter dan mijn grammatica. Zijn Engels is ook beter dan die van mij.
vocabulary:
maken = to make
ik maak (maken) = I make
daarin = in it, in there
vooruitgang = progress
woordenschat = vocabulary
groter = (groot = big)
zijn = his
beter = better
grammatica = grammar
dan = than
die van mij = mine
Possessive pronouns
The possessive pronouns are just like in English very easy, once you know them, you can always use them in the same way. The only irregularity is the word ‘us’ which is ons/onze. It depends on the word when you use ons or onze, but the rule is very regular:
het = ons
de = onze
our house = ons huis (het huis)
our friend = onze vriend (de vriend)
mijn – my
jouw – your
zijn/haar – his/her
ons/onze – our
jullie – your (plural)
comparative
In the previous lesson we learned to compare things to eachother, but in order to really say something useful with a comparison, it is good to know the word for ‘than‘ in Dutch. ‘than‘ is ‘dan‘ in Dutch, it’s almost the same as in English. The use of this word is also very similar:
He’s bigger than me.
Hij is groter dan mij.
He learns more than me.
Hij leert meer dan mij.
me is the 3rd case of the personal pronoun in Dutch. Let’s take a look at it:
1st singular: mij (me)
2nd singular: jou (you)
3rd singular: hem (him)/haar (her)
1st plural: ons/onze (us)
2nd plural: jullie (you)
3rd plural: hun (them)
From now on, some words will be in Dutch because we know the Dutch words for vocabulary and grammar now.
good – better – best
In order to say that something will be increased or has increased the most, you use a technique which is simpler than English.
In long words in English you say:
interesting
more interesting
most interesting
In Dutch we just add -er to indicate that there is more of the property of something and -st to indicate that the property of something is in it’s maximum, just like in English short words, but in Dutch we always use this.
Let’s take our English word, ‘interesting‘.
interesting is ‘interessant‘ in Dutch.
interessant = interesting
interessanter = more interesting
interessantst = most interesting
There are exceptions of course. Some of the most important are:
goed = good
beter = better
best = best
graag = really want
liever = prefer
liefst = most liked
If you use it as an adjective, you add an -e, which will give you either -ere or -ste.
De interessante man = the interesting man
De interessantere man = the more interesting man
De interessantste man = the most interesting man
words which contain -r as an ending, will often use -d.
Example:
zuur = sour
zuurder = more sour
Words which contain -s as an ending, will have a change of the ‘s‘ in ‘z‘ when you use this. This has to do with pronunciaton, it’s easier to pronounce the word if you use z. The -st part is replaced by the English way, you use the word ‘meest’, which means ‘most’.
A good example is the word ‘grijs’.
grijs – grey
grijzer – more grey
meest grijs – most grey
If you would say ‘grijser’, it takes longer for your mouth to pronounce it, z gives the word a better flow.
Tekst
John leert Nederlands. Vandaag leert hij een les, omdat hij graag de taal beter onder de knie wil krijgen.
Als John de les geleerd heeft, wil hij met een vriend ergens naartoe. Daar hebben zij veel zin in.
Vocabulary:
de les = the lesson
graag = really want(s) (this word is used in Dutch to indicate something which you really like or want)
beter = better
onder de knie krijgen = to be able to do something in the future, this can’t be translated literally
als = if, when
de vriend = the friend
ergens = somewhere
naartoe = to
daar = in this context: in that thing
zin hebben in = to enjoy, to like
zij hebben zin in = they really enjoy to
grammar
good – better – best
In order to say that something will be increased or has increased the most, you use a technique which is simpler than English.
In English you say:
interesting
more interesting
most interesting
In Dutch we just add -er to indicate that there is more of the property of something and -st to indicate that the property of something is in it’s maximum.
Let’s take our English word, interesting.
interesting is ‘interessant‘ in Dutch.
interessant = interesting
interessanter = more interesting
interessantst = most interesting
There are exceptions of course. Some of the most important are:
goed = good
beter = better
best = best
graag = really want
liever = prefer
liefst = most liked
If you use it as an adjective, you add an -e, which will give you either -ere or -ste.
De interessante man = the interesting man
De interessantere man = the more interesting man
De interessantste man = the most interesting man
words which contain -r as an ending, will often use -d.
Example:
zuur = sour
zuurder =
Words which contain -s as an ending, will have a change of the ‘s‘ in ‘z‘ when you use this. This has to do with pronunciaton, it’s easier to pronounce the word if you use z. The -st part is replaced by the English way, you use the word ‘meest’, which means ‘most’.
A good example is the word ‘grijs’.
grijs – grey
grijzer – more grey
meest grijs – most grey
If you would say ‘grijser’, it takes longer for your mouth to pronounce it, z gives the word a better flow.
Er
The word ‘er‘ in Dutch is a word with different meanings. In the first place it means ‘there‘, the word ‘er‘ refers to a place here. You can say for instance:
Ben je er? = Are you there?
It’s a shorter way to say: ‘Ben je daar’
Furthermore, er is used to say if something is present. It is used as ‘er zijn‘, which means ‘there are‘. You can also say: ‘er is‘, which means ‘there is‘.
Er zijn veel boeken = There are a lot of books
Er is een pagina = There is a page
‘er‘ can also be used to refer to a situation in which something is wrong:
Wat er is weet ik ook niet. = I don’t know neither what’s going on.
Weet jij er iets aan te doen = Do you know something what we can do about it?
‘er’ can be used too when counting. If you have 2 pages, you say:
Ik heb 2 pagina’s – I have 2 pages
You can change this into: Ik heb er 2 – I have 2 of them
In this case, ‘er‘ is still having the function of indicating a place, because it refers to the pages which are present somewhere. The difference is that it’s not clear where they are, but ‘er‘ is a referer to a place again.
Another use of ‘er‘ can be with a preposition.
Heb je het gegeven? – Ja, ik heb er een van gegeven.
Have you given it? – Yes, I have given one of it.
Tekst
In de bibliotheek zijn heel veel boeken. Er zijn boeken over allerlei onderwerpen en veel mensen komen er om een boek te lenen.
Vocabulary:
de bibliotheek = the library
heel = very
veel = much / a lot
er zijn = there are
over = about
allerlei = all kind(s)
het onderwerp = the subject
er = there
om (te) = to, in order to
lenen = to lend
Grammar
Er
The word ‘er‘ in Dutch is a word with different meanings. In the first place it means ‘there‘, the word ‘er‘ refers to a place here. You can say for instance:
Ben je er? = Are you there?
It’s a shorter way to say: ‘Ben je daar’
Furthermore, er is used to say if something is present. It is used as ‘er zijn‘, which means ‘there are‘. You can also say: ‘er is‘, which means ‘there is‘.
Er zijn veel boeken = There are a lot of books
Er is een pagina = There is a page
‘er‘ can also be used to refer to a situation in which something is wrong:
Wat er is weet ik ook niet. = I don’t know neither what’s going on.
Weet jij er iets aan te doen = Do you know something what we can do about it?
hallo = hello (a like in ‘after‘)
ik = I
ik heet = I ‘m called (ee like a in ‘page‘)
dit = this
is = is
hij = he (ij like e + i, e like ‘a’ in ‘and‘ and i like ee in ‘feedback‘ )
hij woont = he lives
hier = here (ie like ee in ‘feedback‘)
sinds = since
maanden = months ( e like e in ‘pages‘ )
maand = month
ik spreek (spreken) = I speak irregular
al = already
een = a, an
beetje = bit
Nederlands = Dutch
maar = but
het = it
moeilijk(e) = difficult, hard
de taal = the language
ik leer (leren) = I learn (to learn) regular verb
wordt (worden) = in this context: is otherwise: to become irregular verb
gesproken = spoken (past tense)
in = in
en = and
lijkt op (lijken op) = looks like (to look like) irregular verb
Engels = English
nu = now
Nederland = the Netherlands
ik kom (komen) = I come (to come) irregular verb
uit = this context: from other meaning: out
vandaag = today
het boek = the book
gekocht (kopen) = bought (to buy)
ik wil (willen) = I want (to want)
volgende = next
de week = the week
lezen = to read
omdat = because
nog = still
veel = a lot
doen = to do
nog veel te doen hebben = having a lot to do
het weekend = the weekend
belangrijk = important
groot = big
het huis = the house
Adjectives
In Dutch you have adjectives like ‘volgende‘. You can use it in two forms: ‘volgend‘ and ‘volgende‘.
Which one you have to use depends on the article which you use before the adjective.
de = volgende
het = volgend(e)
When you use the word ‘het‘ you can often use both ‘volgende‘ and ‘volgend‘. Some examples: Het volgend weekend, het volgend examen, het volgend jaar.
Volgend without “e” is often used to indicate something what will happen in the near future.
Volgende however is always correct. So you can always use: het volgende weekend, het volgende examen, het volgende jaar, but it is also used to emphasize something.
volgend weekend = next weekend
het volgende weekend = it’s in the next weekend, not in another weekend
if you use the indefinite article “een“, you always use the adjective without “e“.
Example:
an important year/the important year:
een belangrijk jaar
het belangrijke jaar
a big house/the big house:
een groot huis
het grote huis
Why the double “oo” changes in “o” is already explained in a previous lesson.
important rules!!
Adjectives:
de/het = -e
een = not using -e
Tekst
Vandaag heb ik een boek gekocht. Ik wil het boek volgende week lezen, omdat ik nog veel te doen heb.
Vocabulary:
vandaag – today
het boek – the book
gekocht (kopen) – bought (to buy)
ik wil (willen) – I want (to want)
volgende – next
de week – the week
lezen – to read
omdat – because
nog – still
veel – a lot
doen – to do
nog veel te doen hebben – having a lot to do
Grammar:
Adjectives
In Dutch you have adjectives like ‘volgende‘. You can use it in two forms: ‘volgend‘ and ‘volgende‘.
Which one you have to use depends on the article which you use before the adjective.
de = volgende
het = volgend(e)
When you use the word ‘het‘ you can often use both ‘volgende‘ and ‘volgend‘. Some examples: Het volgend weekend, het volgend examen, het volgend jaar.
Volgend without “e” is often used to indicate something what will happen in the near future.
Volgende however is always correct. So you can always use: het volgende weekend, het volgende examen, het volgende jaar, but it is also used to emphasize something.
volgend weekend = next weekend
het volgende weekend = it’s in the next weekend, not in another weekend
if you use the indefinite article “een“, you always use the adjective without “e“.
Example:
an important year/the important year:
een belangrijk jaar
het belangrijke jaar
a big house/the big house:
een groot huis
het grote huis
Why the double “oo” changes in “o” is already explained in a previous lesson.
Vocabulary:
het weekend = the weekend
belangrijk = important
groot = big
het huis = the house
important rules!!
Adjectives:
de/het = -e
een = not using -e
Vocabulary: 15 new words = total vocabulary of 56 words
