Category: Dutch

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All in Dutch: al, alle, alles, allen, allemaal

Learn the Dutch language from Belgium, also called Flemish

So when an English-speaking student is learning the Dutch translation for ‘all’, all hell breaks loose. How do you explain to a student there are five (!) ways to translate ‘all’?

Let’s see them all:

  1. Is that all?
  2. All are here. (as in people)
  3. All people are here.
  4. All the people are here.
  5. We are all here.

All as in everything

If you can replace the ‘all’ by everything, you use ‘alles’.

  • Is dat alles? (Is that all)

All as in everyone

If you can replace the ‘all’ by everyone, you use ‘allen.’ You can also use iedereen.

  • Allen zijn hier. (all are here)

All plus nouns

When you’re using all plus a noun, you use ‘alle.’ There’s nothing standing between de ‘all’ and the noun.

  • Alle mensen zijn hier. (all people are here)

All plus article plus nouns

If there’s an article or a pronoun (this, that) in between the all and the nouns, it’s ‘al.’

  • Al de mensen zijn hier. (all the people are here)
All or everything?

All separated from the noun

When all stands behind the noun, use ‘allemaal’. Allen can also be used in case of people.

  • We zijn allemaal hier.  (we are all here)

Exercises

(words: de studenten, de leraars, werken met, naar België, was, het)

  1. All students go to Belgium.
  2. The students all go to Belgium.
  3. All go to Belgium.
  4. All teachers work with all the students.
  5. Was it all, students?

Solutions

  1. Alle studenten gaan naar België.
  2. De studenten gaan allemaal naar België.
  3. Allen gaan naar België.
  4. Alle leraars werken met al de studenten.
  5. Was het alles, studenten?
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  • Section 2: how to talk about jobs, countries and names
  • Section 3: the Dutch verbs
  • Section 4: the possessive, the family and the negative
  • Section 5: how to ask questions, how to use diminutive and when to write capitals
  • Section 6: the numbers and pronouns
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Busy in Dutch: druk or bezig

Learn the Dutch language from Belgium, also called Flemish

During one of my online Dutch lessons, a student said this:

  • Het was een bezige week (= it was a busy week).

It’s a literal translation from English into Dutch. Due to the close relationship between the two languages, it’s a good tactic. However, in this case, it isn’t.

So I corrected my student:

  • Het was een drukke week.

But I couldn’t tell why. Yes, language teachers do not know everything. So I did some research and found interesting forum conversations on an amazing website. And here’s how it is:

Bezige bij or drukke bij?

Bezig is used for living things doing an activity. The result is that the living thing can’t do something else:

  • Jan, kan je me helpen? (= Jan, can you help me?)
  • Nee, ik ben bezig. (= No, I’m busy.)

So a week can’t be ‘bezig’. Because it’s not a living thing. Also, it’s not doing an activity. And that is why it’s a drukke week. Let’s do some exercises:

Fill in: druk/bezig (solution below)

  • Ben je met de afwas … ?
  • Het plein is … .
  • Jan is altijd zo’n … mens.
  • Op het werk is het altijd … .
  • Hij is … . Dus vraag het aan Sara.

(afwas = dishes, zo’n = such a)

Mind as well that you can use ‘druk bezig‘ as in very busy. Again, this is only for living things doing an activity.

Druk can also mean pressure. For example luchtdruk (= air pressure) and in stressful situations. And ‘bezet‘ means occupied. As in what you have to reply when you’re in the bathroom.

Fun fact: a busy bee is an expression also used in Dutch: een bezige bij. It’s a living thing and doing an activity.

Solutions:

Bezig – druk – drukke – druk – bezig.

 

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Niet or geen? Differences between Dutch not’s and no’s

As you’re learning your first Dutch words, you’ll come across an important topic: to say a sentence in the negative. For example: I don’t live in Germany:

  • Ik woon niet in Duitsland.

So, not is niet, right? Yes. And no. Because as you’re translating the next sentence: ‘I am not a German’, you won’t see a niet in:

  • Ik ben geen Duitser.

But you do see a geen appearing. So when do you use geen, and when niet? Well, it’s simple: if you can replace the not in English by a no, it’s geen. In the other cases, it’s niet. Let’s see our two examples:

  • I don’t live in Germany. I do no live in Germany = wrong, so it’s… Ik woon niet in Duitsland.
  • I am not a German. I am no German = right, so it’s… Ik ben geen Duitser.

That’s it. Also mind that a simple ‘no’ as in not a yes is translated as nee or neen.

Check out more Dutch here!