Handy Dutch phrases

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In Dutch there are two translations for the word ‘you’:

jij/jou – an informal form (masculine and feminine respectively)
u – the formal version.

You can pick which one you want to use.

Key Phrases

English Sentence:	Dutch Sentence:
Yes, please	Ja graag
No, thank you	Nee, dank u/jij
Sorry!	Sorry!
You’re welcome	Graag gedaan
I don’t understand (it/you/that)	Ik begrijp (het/u/jij/dat) niet

Meeting people:

English Sentence:	Dutch Sentence:
Hello/goodbye	Hallo/dag
How are you	Hoe gaat het
Fine, thank you	Goed, dank u/jij
See you later	Tot ziens

Asking questions:

English Sentence:	Dutch Sentence:
Do you speak English?	Spreekt u/Spreek jij Engels?
What’s your name?	Hoe heet u/jij?
Where are you from?	Waar komt u/kom jij vandaan?
How much is it?	Hoeveel is het?
How far is it?	Hoe ver is het?

Statements about yourself:

English Sentence:	Dutch Sentence:
My name is…	Ik heet …
I’m English	Ik ben Engels
I don’t speak English/Dutch	Ik spreek geen Engels/Nederlands
I live in…	Ik woon in…

Emergencies:

English Sentence:	Dutch Sentence:
Can you help me, please?	Kunt u/Kan jij mij alstublieft helpen?
I’m lost	Ik ben de weg kwijt
Call an ambulance!	Bel een ziekenauto!
Watch out!	Kijk uit!

Meeting and Greeting / Handy Dutch phrases

Goede morgen.

Good morning.

Goede avond.

Good afternoon.

Goede nacht.

Good night.

Spreekt u Engels?

Do you speak English?

Spreekt er iemand Engels hier?

Does anyone here speak English?

Ik spreek maar een klein beetje Nederlands.

I only speak a little Dutch.

Ik spreek niet erg goed Nederlands.

I’m not very good at Dutch.

Hoe gaat het?

How are you?

Goed, dank u.

I’m fine, thank you.

Heel leuk u te ontmoeten.

I’m very glad to meet you.

Ik heb al zoveel over u gehoord.

I’ve heard so much about you..

Het was leuk u te zien.

It was nice seeing you.

Het was leuk u te ontmoeten.

It was nice meeting you.

Ik versta het niet.

I don’t understand.

Ik begrijp het heel goed.

I understand perfectly.

Begrijpt u?

Do you understand?

Verstaat u mij?

Do you understand me?

Ik versta u als u langzaam praat.

I understand you if you speak slowly.

Dat is beter.

That’s better.

Wat zei u?

What did you say?

Een prettige dag.

Have a nice day.

pronunciation / Handy Dutch phrases

The pronunciation of some letters and letter combinations is very different to anything English uses. The explanation of some letters might sometimes be lacking, or slightly different to the actual Dutch pronunciation. In those cases there is no English equivalent of the phonetic sound.

The Letters

Letter	Name Pronunciation	Pronunciation in a word
A	Aaah	usually as in cat
B	bay	like English
C	say	like English
D	day	in the middle of a word like dog, at the end as a ‘t’
E	ay	a short ‘eh’ sound
F	ef	like English
G	(dutch g) -ay	The g in dutch is pronounced so that you make rougly the sound of clearing your throat, it is the same sound as the Scottish loch.
H	haaah	like English
I	eee	like English
J	jay	like English
K	kaah	like English
L	el	like English
M	em	like English
N	en	like English
O	oh	usually like the english word awe, but shorter
P	pay	like English
Q	koo	kw
R	er	a rolling r
S	es	like English
T	tay	like English
U	oe	like the e in her
V	[dutch v]ay	bit between a ‘v’ and a ‘f’
W	[dutch w] vay	short ‘v’
X	ix	like English
Y	ee-grec	like English
IJ	laahnge ay	ai as in train, not quite but nothing is closer…
Z	zed	like English

Vowel combinations

Combination	Pronunciation
au	ow
ai	like the English name for the letter ‘i’
aa	aaah
eu	her
ei	ai, as in train (see IJ from the letter list – this has the same sound)
ee	ay
ie	eee
ou	ow
oi	oi
oe	oo, like in boot
uu	oo, like in loo, but longer
ui	oe, like in foe

Consonant combinations

Combination	Pronunciation
ch	like a dutch g, sound of clearing your throat
dt	t

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