Vlaai is an open-faced pie. It is a typical product from the southern regions of the Netherlands, but variations are available throughout the country and in parts of Belgium and Germany near to the border of the Netherlands. Vlaais are often eaten on life events, such as birthdays.
More about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vlaai
de vlaai — flan, (open-faced) pie
To form a superlative of an adjective we just add -st in the end:
groot → grootst
klein → kleinst
However, if an adjective ends in -isch or -st it’s better to use meest in front in order to form superlative:
fantastisch → meest fantastisch
juist → meest juist (correct → most correct)
And the irregular ones to make it look complete (together with the comparatives):
goed → beter → best — good
graag → liever → liefst — gladly
veel → meer → meest — much
weinig → minder → minst — few
het vooroordeel — prejudice
An example from tatoeba.org:
Er bestaan veel onterechte vooroordelen tegen Esperanto. — There is much undeserved prejudice against Esperanto.
onterecht – undeserved
Expressions from vandale.nl:
een vooroordeel hebben over — be prejudiced against
zonder vooroordelen — unbiased, unprejudiced
voor-oor-deel
het oor – ear
het deel – part
delen – to divide; to share
oordelen – to judge, to pass judgement, to sentence
beoordelen – to judge, to assess
So a bit over a year ago I got myself a copy of “The Morphology of Dutch” by Geert Booij. The book is meant for linguists and is a bit hard to read without the relevant training, but it is very interesting! I just wish I had a bit more time for it as it often requires additional googling. So not too much progress so far.
I should probably start posting some of the interesting facts from the book here, on the blog. Hopefully. At least sometimes 😀
I’ve collected some nouns which are always plural in English but are singular in Dutch.
de bril – glasses
de schaar – scissors
de broek – trousers
de spijkerbroek – jeans
het broekje – briefs, panties, knickers
het spijkerbroekje – 🙂
de buigtang – pliers
de politiek – politics
de pyjama – pyjamas
It’s probably a pure coincidence that they are ‘de’ nouns (except the diminutives of course).
Discovered a reference guide to modern Dutch grammar on Google Books:
“Dutch: A Comprehensive Grammar” by Bruce C. Donaldson
I hope I’ll get myself a hardcopy and will read it through thoroughly some day 🙂
The word eigenwijs seems to be pretty simple, but I somehow keep on forgetting it over and over. In order to overcome this I am breaking it down.
eigen + wijs = eigenwijs
eigenwijs – stubborn, cocky
eigen – own, individual
wijs – way, manner
Eigenwijs seems to describe a person who prefers to have their own ways of doing things. The connotation is not very positive.
Doe niet zo eigenwijs! — Don’t think you know it all!
A few results returned by google.com for “Wat is er gebeurd?” request.
“Wat is er gebeurd?”
“Wat gebeurt er met je als je een zwart gat in wordt gezogen?”
“Wat is er gebeurd op die school in Eindhoven?”
“Wat Is Er Gebeurd Met Angelina?”
vorig – last, previous
I think I’ve accidentally figured out how to remember the word vorig:
voor + -ig = vorig | It looks so right.
een tweepersoonsbed – one double bed
twee aparte bedden – two separate beds [twin beds]
twee enkele bedded – two single beds [twin beds]
“Twee aparte bedden” en “twee enkele bedden” betekenen hetzelfde.
::Keep in Dutch:: 