Windy sayings

Posted by noortje
Feb
9
2010

With windmills as one of the main icons of Holland, sayings about this main source of energy couldn’t be left out. Below some of the most famous sayings that all have to do with wind, with their literal translation and with what it really means. Laughing is allowed!

Dat legt geen windeieren: That doesn’t lay wind eggs
Meaning: a business that is not lucrative

Goede raad de wind inslaan: Slap advice in the wind
Meaning: Ignore good advice

De wind uit de zeilen nemen: Take the wind out of one sail’s.
Meaning: To have the defense ready before the attack has started

Hoge bomen vangen veel wind: High trees catch lot of wind
Meaning: Important people get a lot of criticism

De wind eronder hebben: To have the wind below it
Meaning: To have control

De wind waait uit een heel andere hoek: The wind blows from another corner
Meaning: The situation changed

Ik kan niet van de wind leven: I can’t live off the wind
Meaning: I can’t work for free

Tegen de wind inplassen: Pie in the wrong wind direction
Meaning: Doing work that does harm or doesn’t make sense

De wind in de rug hebben: To have the wind in the back
Meaning: When things are going great

De wind van voren krijgen: To get the wind upfront
Meaning: To tell someone firmly the truth

Door weer en wind gaan: going through weather and wind
Meaning: Proud battle through tough weather

 

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Subject Pronouns

Posted by sarah
Feb
7
2010

In Dutch there are two forms of subject pronouns: the regular pronoun and the pronoun for emphasis. In English we tend to use our tone of voice to show the emphasis, but in Dutch you can use your tone of voice plus an emphasized subject pronoun to make such a distinction.

The regular subject pronouns with a regular present tense verb are as follows:

First person singular:

Ik werk: I work

Second person singular:

Je werkt : You work

U werkt : You (formal) work

Third person singular:

Hij werkt : He works

Ze werkt : She works

Het werkt : It works

First person plural:

We werken : We work

Second person plural:

Jullie werken : You all work

Third person plural:

Ze werken : They work

In Dutch we can also use the subject pronouns to show a contrast.

Nee, ik ga niet naar het feestje, maar zij gaat naar het feestje.

-No, I am not going to the party, but she is going to the party.

Emphasized subject pronouns do not exist for all subject pronouns. Pay careful attention to which emphasized subject pronouns match the regular subject pronoun:

Second person singular:

Je werkt : Jij werkt

Third person singular:

Ze werkt : Zij werkt

First person plural:

We werken : Wij werken

Third person plural:

Ze werken : Zij werken

Here are a few more examples:

1. Ik heb een nieuwe fiets gekocht met mijn vakantiegeld. Zij heeft haar vakantiegeld gespaard.

-I have bought a new bicycle with my vacation money. She has saved her vacation money.

2. Wie heeft het laatst koekje opgegeten?

-Who ate the last cookie?

Sorry, hoor. Wij hebben alle koekjes opgegeten.

-Sorry. We ate all the cookies.

3. Hij vond de film interesant, maar zij vond de film saai.

-He found the film interesting, but she found the film boring.

Here are a few questions. Try to answer them with an emphasized subject pronoun.

Met wie wil je op vakantie gaan?

Komt hij uit Frankrijk?

Willen jullie iets drinken?

Weet je wie vlakbij het park woont?

 
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Winkels

Posted by sarah
Feb
5
2010

If shopping is your thing, there are plenty of shops to be found in the Netherlands. Most cities have a shopping street and at least one major market area. There are three shops in the Netherlands that are particularly Dutch, not for any cultural reasons, but because you can find them just about everywhere. Since shopping isn’t really my thing, I find it useful to know these three stores, where I can (usually) get in and out quickly and spend the least amount of time hunting around.

Albert Heijn

The grocery store Albert Heijn is more prevalent in the northern parts of the Netherlands, and in the major cities there seems to be one on just about every corner. They are easy to spot by the glowing blue AH sign. If you were a visitor, you might see them so often you would think those signs are for the metro or something, but nope, that’s just good ol’ Albert Heijn.

Albert Heijn is notoriously one of the more expensive grocery stores, but what they do have is selection and location. My house is equidistant between two Albert Heijns, and just slightly farther from a third. Of course I do my shopping there. I think this is how they manage to keep a consistent clientele, since no one can really compete with the store that’s on every corner.

Unless you go to an Albert Heijn XL, the stores are a lot smaller than I was accustomed to as an American. Much much smaller. The selection varies by store because they cater to the neighborhood they are in. So, the Albert Heijns around my house have a smaller selection of vegetarian food and cheese, but a large selection of meat and veggies, while the Albert Heijn in the artsy-fartsy neighborhood has tons of vegetarian options and quality cheeses, and the Albert Heijn in the center of town carries tons of munchy foods for tourists. They are smart like that.

One of my favorite things about Albert Heijn are the hamsteren commercials. Every once and awhile the store has a sale called hamster weken, which means literally hamstering, but likens best to squirreling away. Running with the theme, Albert Heijn has come up with some of the greatest commercials with hamsters announcing the sales. It’s really cute and really funny.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Di2kdmrWKsM

Hema

Hema is best compared to the American store Target, but a lot smaller and with a much smaller selection of clothing. It’s actually a really old Dutch company, and people here seem to have some sort of emotional attachment to it. I like Hema. They have nice stuff and it’s not that expensive. If I need socks, I go to Hema. If I need a present for someone, I go to Hema. If I need bicycle lights, I definitely go to Hema. It’s basically a department store, but it’s not that big.

Blokker

I’m not really sure what to compare Blokker to, it’s kind of another department store. I’d sort of compare it to Wal-Mart, but that might be offensive, and it’s not completely like Wal-Mart either. It’s sort of like a cheaper version of Hema, meets a dollar store…They buy seasonal house decoration items in bulk, what you see is what you get, and once it’s gone, it’s gone. They are usually pretty inexpensive, but carry some decent cookware. I’m at a loss how to describe it exactly, but it’s a useful store.

 
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The Dutch and Ice Skating

Posted by noortje
Feb
3
2010

Besides soccer, one of Holland’s favorites sports is ice skating. As soon as the canals, rivers, and lakes freeze up during the coldest winters, the Dutch take out their ice skates to the frozen waters. Kids practice by putting on ice skates with double blades next to each other for better balance. Usually the parents take a chair on the ice for the kids to lean on to practice their moves. Adults sometimes go hardcore by wearing “Nooren”, skates with long blades made for long distances and speed. People who are just out for fun usually where figure skating skates, because they are more stable and easier to ride on.

But besides just for fun, the Dutch also created competition on natural ice, called the Elfstedentocht (the eleven city tour). For almost two hundred kilometers ice skaters from all over the country conquer the natural ice in Friesland, from one city to another, until they reach the eleventh city where the finish is. The Elfstedentocht is organized by the Koninlijke Verening De Friesche Elfsteden in Leeuwarden, the main city in Friesland.

The first time this ice skating competition was organized was in 1909. Unfortunately, not every year the Elfstedentocht is taking place, because of the condition of the ice. If the winters aren’t cold enough, the waters won’t freeze and logically, there is no ice skating. Until now the Elfstedentocht occurred fifteen times. Each time it is a huge deal in Holland and many people follow the competition all day on TV.

You don’t have to be a professional if you want to be a part of this competition. People who just want to experience it once can enroll and so can everyone who want to have some fun or the ones just trying to get their face on TV. But in the end the fame goes to the one who wins and he or she becomes a national hero until the next Elfstedentocht, or until he is forgotten. Because that happens. Especially since the last tour took place in 1994…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyoQ4wz6d64

 
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De and Het Words: Also Known as Definite Articles

Posted by sarah
Feb
1
2010

One of the more tricky parts of the Dutch language are the definite articles. As a non-native Dutch speaker, this is one of the more difficult things for me to get correct, and if you haven’t noticed already, I still occasionally mess it up every now and again. At least as a non-native Dutch speaker I get granted a certain amount of leniency by the very patient Dutch people around me, because if you use the wrong one, you will usually still be understood. But it’s still very important to learn, so let’s get down to some nitty-gritty grammar.

Without further ado…

In English we have the definite article the. In Dutch we have the definite articles de and het.

For example:

de auto: the car

het huis: the house

De and het serve the same function as the in English. What makes it all so tricky is that there are no simple rules for determining if a word is a de word, or a het word. Apparently all native Dutch speakers come equipped with a de/het determining radar, but alas you and I must somehow try to make some sense of it all. Do not despair, there are a few tricks to help us out along the way.

1. The first clue is that around 80 percent of Dutch words are de words. If you really aren’t certain, just stick with de. If you chose the wrong one, it’s okay. More often than not, if you make a  de/het error, you will still be understood.

2. The second clue is that all plural words are always de words. All the time. No exceptions.

Examples (keep your eye out for spelling changes with plurals here):

het huis = de huizen [the house(s)]

het jaar = de jaren    [the year(s)]

het restaurant = de restaurants    [the restaurant(s)]

de stoel = de stoelen    [the chair(s)]

de kat = de katten    [the cat(s)]

de tafel = de tafels    [the table(s)]

3. A third clue is in the ending of the word. If a word ends in -je, -pje, -asme, -isme, -um, or -sel the word is a HET word.

For example:

het huisje: the little house

het filmpje: the little film

het enthousiasme: the enthusiasm

het feminisme: (the) feminism

het universum: the universe

het verschijnsel: the phenomenon

4. A fourth clue is yet another ending of the word. If a word ends in -held, -ie, -ica or -ing it is a DE word.

For example:

de gezondheid: the health

de situatie: the situation

de grammatica: the grammar

de ontdekking: the discovery/finding

5. The fifth clue isn’t really a clue at all, and I offer my deepest apologies and sympathies for it. You simply have to memorize whether or not a word is de or het. A tip for making it less tedious is to keep a list of het words as you learn them, and remember that these are het words. Otherwise, assume you have a de word on your hands.

If you are really very curious about de and het words, there are resources available that go into even more complicated rules for determining whether a word is de or het. I don’t recommend doing it unless you want a headache. After you have read the rules you will only discover there are more exceptions to the rules than words that follow the rules. But over time, with lots of practice, you’ll start to develop a small de/het determining radar as well.

 
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