Fake it ‘til you make it! A 3-step beginners guide to sounding more Dutch

"English or Dutch?" The question that every Dutch learner dreads. You have finally gotten through learning some common phrases and even perfectly executed the two sentences you had memorised at home. Or so you thought, until a Dutch native speaker starts speaking English halfway through the conversation.

This used to happen to me quite often when I first arrived in the Netherlands. But fear not, let's explore some of the most useful tips I learned along the way to help me speak Dutch more fluently.

Step 1: Common Dutch expressions and diminutives 

These are a beginner’s bread and butter. Instead of immediately trying to memorise long complicated phrases and grammar, try using some of these common Dutch expressions instead.

Express sympathy in Dutch

Instead of saying, “That’s terrible! I’m so sorry to hear that.” Try: Jammer, Wat vervelend, Oh nee, Oh jeetje or Balen.

Congratulate a colleague on a new job

For some cultures it’s important to celebrate a job well done. In the Netherlands, however, it is often seen as just that: a job. Many people are simply doing what they’re paid to do. So try not to over-flatter.

Some words to say "well done" in Dutch include: Goed gedaan, Lekker/Goed bezig, Top and Fijn (Not to be confused with "fine", it actually means great!).

How to express disbelief in Dutch

When the story someone is telling keeps getting more and more interesting, but you don’t want to break the spell by using English, some of my go-to phrases for expressing shock are: Echt/Echt waar? Nou! or Hè?!

Other common Dutch expressions

There are some Dutch words that don't fit neatly into a category, but are still useful to learn to help you sound just that little bit more native.

Why not try:

• Ik ga stuk (for funny situations or stories - informal) 
• Gewoon/Maar (a great filler for ‘just’)
• Even/eens (makes things sound smaller/friendlier) 
• Hé hé (exclamation of relief)

Diminutives

I’ll let you in on a little secret: people in the Netherlands are not as scary as the common stereotypes make them seem. One thing that helps is Dutch phrases that purposefully make things sound small and sweet.

• Kopje koffie (little cup)
• Broodje kaas (little cheese sandwich)
• Stukje taart (little piece of cake)
• Hapje (little bite)
• Schatje (little treasure/sweetheart)

Step 2: Keep it short when speaking Dutch

Dutch people rarely say more than they need to. So use shorter, more concise phrases if you want to sound more natural when speaking Dutch. Using them at the right time in the conversation and with the right tone, you’d be surprised how far you can get. 

Zeg

"Wow, that was so delicious and flavourful. I really enjoyed that" can be said simply as "Dat was) Lekker, zeg".

Or: "Magnificent, it’s absolutely breathtaking" can be said as "Mooi zeg".

Wat

The easiest way to express your opinion is by using Wat plus an adjective. For example: Wat mooi!, Wat lief! or Wat lekker!

Step 3: Use less Dutch

"What?!" I hear you cry out in shock. Remember, language is not static. It is constantly changing, evolving and growing with us as our world changes. Loanwords from other languages are becoming ever more prevalent in modern languages worldwide, and Dutch is no exception. 

As counterintuitive as it feels, using non-Dutch words can actually leave you sounding more like a local than you’d expect.

English words used in Dutch

Words like download, meeting, app, check, update, and brainstorm are all perfectly fine words to use in Dutch if you know how to convert them correctly.

Adding "en" to the end of English verbs helps to "Dutchify" them. For example: appen, checken, downloaden, shoppen and chillen.

The past tense rules for spelling where you add ge- to the beginning of an English word and d/t to the end apply here, for example: gemaild, geappt, gecheckt, geüpdatet.

Changing -ion in an English word to -ie is perhaps the easiest English-to-Dutch conversion, for example: observatie, presentatie, organisatie, corporatie and selectie.

Bonus: Some words are even spelt exactly the same. Sprinkle your best Dutch accent over it, and you may well be able to blend in. This includes Water (Vah-ter), Sorry (Sor-ree) and Plan (Plun).

French words used in Dutch

Don’t know enough Dutch yet? Dust off some of that high school French you learned all those years ago. If you don’t yet know the word for something in Dutch, use the French equivalent (you’ll probably be right most of the time). 

Try using Abonnement, Mannequin, Bureau, Portemonnee and Jus d’orange (when "sinaasappelsap" is just too difficult to master yet).

Other foreign language words used in Dutch

• Tranquilo (Spanish)
• Mazzel (Yiddish, mostly used in Amsterdam)
• Überhaupt (German)
• Piekeren (Indonesian/Malay)

Speak Dutch more like a local

After incorporating these three strategies into your Dutch learning and speaking practice, not only will you have more confidence, but you will be well on your way to mastering casual Dutch conversation.