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weather 		[cows]
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Dutch Everyday: The Outdoors

the: de click to hear 2 / het click to hear 2 3 - 't click to hear ->>
Plurals always take 'de'
a: (een) - 'n click to hear / one: één click to hear 2 3

buiten click to hear 2 ('outside') - buitenshuis click to hear 2 ('outside the house')
(de) buitenmens click to hear 2 ('outdoors person') - (het) platteland click to hear ('the countryside') -
op het platteland click to hear 2 3 in the countryside, in the country also:  Hij woont ergens achteraf click to hear 2 3 He lives [somewhere remote] in the countryside
(de) lucht click to hear ('air;' 'sky') - (de) hemel click to hear ('sky;' 'heaven') - (de) horizon click to hear 2 ('horizon')
De lucht is blauw - de blauwe lucht click to hear 2 The sky is blue - the blue sky
De hemel is blauw - de blauwe hemel click to hear The sky is blue - the blue sky
't Viel uit de hemel click to hear 2 3 It fell from the sky

['polder' - reclaimed land]
(de) polder click to hear 2 'polder' (reclaimed land)
(de) dijk click to hear dike, levee
(de) sloot click to hear ditch
(de) molen click to hear windmill
(het) gemaal click to hear pumping station
(het) kanaal click to hear canal, channel
het nieuwe land click to hear the new, reclaimed land >>
[ditch] [ditch] [wet fields] [wet fields]
These pictures are probably of newly reclaimed land, with its first vegatation, a few months after it became 'dry,' Eastern Flevoland, ca. 1958.
[a windmill]
(de) molen click to hear in Steenderen (Bronckhorst), Gelderland 		[a farmhouse]
(de) boerderij click to hear in Steenderen (Bronckhorst), Gelderland
[Santa in The Reclaimed Land]
Sinterklaas in De Polder click to hear - 2 		[modern windmill]
moderne windmolen click to hear (de) windmolen click to hear
[pasture, grass field]
(het) weiland click to hear 2
[farmland, agriculture field]
(de) akker click to hear		 [small path]
(het) paadje click to hear
[river]
(de) rivier click to hear
"Denkend aan Holland zie ik brede rivieren traag door oneindig laagland gaan ..." click to hear
(Thinking of Holland I see ['broad'] wide rivers flow slowly through lowlands without end ...)
Dutch Poems and Prose Read (with English Translation)
[river]
(de) rivier click to hear		 [bridge]
(de) brug click to hear		 [ruin]
(de) ruïne click to hear 2

more pictures of beautiful Holland

[mountain]
(de) berg click to hear		 [mountain path]
(het) bergpad click to hear		 [lake]
(het) meer click to hear
[vijver]
(de) vijver click to hear		 [waterfall]
(de) waterval click to hear		 [fountain
(de) fontein click to hear
de / het / 't click to hear (the)
een, 'n click to hear - 2 (a, an)
één click to hear (one)
>>
(de) berg
(de) rivier
(de) vallei
hear 		(montain)
(river)
(valley)
 (de) berg
(de) rivier
(het) meer
hear 		(montain)
(river)
(lake)
 (de) stroomversnelling
(de) waterval
(de) fontein
hear 		(rapids)
(waterfall)
(fountain)
 (het) meer
(de) vijver
(het) zwembad
hear 		(lake)
(pond)
(swimming pool)

'City canal' is (de) gracht click to hear
Amsterdam tour guides sometimes come up with the Dutch tongue-twister
"achtentachtig prachtige grachten" click to hear 2 ('88 wonderful canals.')
A longer variation:
"Smachtend dacht ik aan de prachtige nachten tussen d(i)e achtentachtig grachten" click to hear 2
('Full of longing I was thinking of the wonderful nights in the city of 88 canals.')

(See also picture above)
Er zijn geen bergen in Nederland click to hear
There are no mountains (bergen click to hear 2) in Holland. The highest point in the country is about 300 meters (1000 feet) above sea level. Still, many Dutch hills have the word berg in their names, like the about 40 meter (120 feet) high Hinkelseberg click to hear 2 and Wageningse berg click to hear 2 of my home town. >>
(de) heuvel click to hear 'hill' - plural: (de) heuvels click to hear 2
(de) molshoop click to hear 2 3 'molehill'
Dutch bergaf click to hear 2 is 'downhill.'

[a heap of sand]
een berg zand click to hear 2 3
Dutchmen may even call a heap of sand a 'berg' click to hear

Meer click to hear ('lake') also means 'more': meer vrijheid click to hear 2 ('more freedom')
uiterwaarden click to hear - the meadows between a river and the river dikes that may flood from time to time
Stadsmensen click to hear 2 ('city folk')
See also: place names (Dutch and Belgian towns and cities etc.) and Dutch geographical features

Een frisse neus halen click to hear '[Get a fresh, clean nose] To go outside, get some fresh air'
frisse lucht click to hear 2 3 ('fresh air' - usually: outside)
't Is lekker fris buiten. click to hear 2 3 4 ('it's [pleasantly cool] nice and cool outside.')
- fris click to hear 2 (fris / frisse click to hear) can mean both 'fresh, new, clean' and 'cool' (not warm)
Ik ben vandaag niet buiten geweest click to hear 2 3 'I've not been outside today, I've stayed in today'
Ik ben de hele dag binnen gebleven click to hear 2 3 'I've stayed inside all day, I have not been outside all day'
Ik ga even een blokje om click to hear 2 'I'll to step out for a little walk ("around the block")'

Windmill and farmhouse pictures: Peter Schuffelen; mountain, lake and fountain pictures: Siem & Monique Sipma; river IJssel picture: Margo Griffin

See also 'The Beauty of Dutch' for a few more very nice pictures of Holland and a collection of alliterations

[A Dutch flag on the edge of a puddle of water]
colors 		[grapes]
food 		[a house]
the house 		[books]
media 		[jacket]
clothing 		[a mirror]
beauty 		[glasses, watch, etc.]
necessities 		[a 50s radio]
days of old

>>

email - Copyright © Marco Schuffelen 2008. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Don't be a dief (thief) / dievegge (female thief) - diefstal (theft) - stelen (to steal) - heler (dealer in stolen goods) - hear Dutch - 2