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afkeuren – goedkeuren
A new author on the blog
Great news!
Cactusmuerto — a native Dutch speaker and a language expert, is joining this blog as a co-author! 🙂
I am happily waiting for him to continue with his comments and to answer my questions about the language.
Conjunctions
Coordinating conjunctions
The coordinating conjunctions are:
en – and
dus – thus, so
maar – but
of – or
want – because, for
The coordinating conjunctions join two clauses (“sentences”) of equal importance:
De hond speelt en de kat slaapt. – The dog is playing and the cat is sleeping.
Rijd je mee of blijf je thuis? – Are you taking a ride with us or are you staying home?
Ik hoor je niet want de muziek is zo luid. – I can’t hear you because the music is so loud.
Subordinating conjunctions
The subordinating conjunctions are:
dat – that
nadat – after
omdat – because (unlike want, it is used to answer the question “why”).
totdat – until
voordat – before
hoewel – although
nu – now that
of – whether
terwijl – while
zoals – as
als – if, when
wanneer – whenever, when
toen – when (points to an event in the past. Used with past simple and past perfect only)
1. als and waneer are used to refer to something what has yet to happen:
als zij komt… = wanneer zij komt… (when she comes …)
2. als and waneer are used to refer to something what happens repeatedly:
als de zon schijnt, voel ik me gelukkig = wanneer de zon schijnt, voel ik me gelukkig (When/whenever the sun shines I feel happy).
youtube.nl
The Dutch YouTube said:
Deze video is door de gebruiker verwijderd. Het spijt ons.
This video was deleted by the user. We are sorry.
de gebruiker – user
verwijderen – to delete, to remove
oplossing – solution
Eindelijk heb ik de oplossing gevonden voor dit moeilijke probleem.
Finally I’ve found the solution to this difficult problem.
eindelijk – finally
de oplossing – solution (answer)
Adjectives in front of the nouns
When an adjective follows a noun its usual form is used:
De auto is klein. Deze boeken jizn duur. Jouw tuin is mooi.
When an adjective is placed in front of a noun, an -e ending must be added:
de kleine auto
deze dure boeken
jouw mooie tuin.
Mind the spelling change: duur → dure, groot → grote, wit → witte, dik → dikke
No -e is added to an adjective when:
1. it is goes before a neuter singular noun without an article:
Het weer → mooi weer
Het water → koud water
2. A neuter singular noun us preceded by een, geen, veel
een aardig meisje
geen groot huis
veel warm water
Adjectives which end in -en never add -e. Examples:
gebroken – broken
gesloten – closed
gouden – golden
houten – wooden
open
zilveren
een houten bed – a wooden bed
de zilveren ring – the silver ring
linker (left) and rechter (right) never add -e, but almost always are joined to a noun that follows them:
de linkerarm – the left hand
de rechterhand – the right arm
If a noun is ommitted, an adjective still adds -e according to the rules above:
– Koop je een jurk?
– Ja, ik neem de rode.
– Neemt u een groot glas wijn of een klein?
I have just discovered a nice blog, titled “Dutch Word of The Day”. It looks like it has nothing to do with the RSS feed, which is broadcast on keepindutch.org. It’s authored by a few Dutch language enthusiasts from the Netherlands.
It looks like a very good source of the spoken language.
ontbijt — breakfast
Het ontbijt is de belangrijkste maaltijd van de dag.
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.
belangrijk – 1. important 2. considerable
maaltijd – meal (meal time)
ont-
I’ve found out that if a verb starts with “ont-” it could be one of the two following cases:
1. Adds “away”, “un-” or “release” to the meaning of a verb
nemen – to take
ontnemen – to take away, to deprive
doen – to do
ontdoen – to undo, to discard
2. Indicates the beginning of action or changing of the state
branden – to burn, to be on fire
ontbranden – to ignite, to flame up
staan – to stand
ontstaan – to come into being, to arise, to originate, to start