The Conversations and Phrases pages are of course only a template, suggestions
and model sentences. You may have other preferences and priorities
than I. Substitute other words to create your own narrative. Find
words below or on the pages linked to below or use the 'search' function (top
left on most pages.)
This page is mostly about the verbs of perception like zien 'to
see,' horen 'to hear,' kijken 'to look,'
luisteren 'to listen' and related words of (as we now say)
'taking in, acquiring information.' A companion page 'Using
Words' is about 'expressing yourself,' or as we now say
'distributing, giving out information,' verbs like zeggen 'to
say,' spreken 'to speak,' praten 'to talk, chat' and
schrijven 'to write.'
in the
17th Century the word for a portrait of a 'type,' not a real person,
but in modern Dutch it means 'unpleasant face' or
'the face of an unpleasant person'
The 'hoor' in the sentence
above has nothing to do with hearing but it is a 'pragmatic
marker' that shows the speaker's willingness. I translated it
as 'really'
‑>>
zien
'to see' - something like 'observing with, using the eye'
to see / zien are almost
always with an 'object,' the thing seen or
'placeholder'het23
/'it'
and next to it
kijken
'to look' (often combined with
naar
'at') - something like 'having the eyes pointed in a direction.' 'To
watch' is sometimes a better translation.
(In some common combinations 'naar' seems to have
disappeared:
klok kijken2
[looking at the clock] telling time
>> TV kijken2
watching television
Likewise for the ear, Dutch and English have
horen2
'to hear' - something like 'observing with, using the ear'
to hear / horen is often with an object, the sound heard
or 'placeholder'het23
/'it'
and next to it
luisteren
'to listen' (often combined with
naar
'to') - meaning your attention (or at least your hearing) focused on
something
Zien and kijken are generally not interchangeable,
and neither are horen and luisteren. It's not a problem
for English-speakers, but other languages may not have two verbs
describing activities like these.
The jargon terms are 'transitive' for verbs that can be combined
with ('take') objects and 'intransitive' for verbs that do not 'take'
objects.
Ik zag de vogels
23I saw the birds
Ik keek naar de vogels
23I was looking at the birds
vogeltjes kijken
23[little birds] bird watching
(jocular or pejorative)
Ik hoorde de vogels
23I heard the birds
Ik luisterde naar de vogels
23I was listening to the birds
'To understand' has a double meaning. It can mean
'to know the how or why of something.' That
meaning is begrijpen in Dutch. 'To understand' can also
mean 'to hear what is said.' That meaning is
verstaan2.
There may be some overlap in the meanings.
Ik begrijp niet wat U zegt
I don't understand (the meaning of)
what you're saying (polite 'you')
Do you read Russian? Do you understand written Russian?
Hij spreekt ook Duits
He speaks German too
The related words
(het) verstand
'understanding:' - 'mind, intellect, brains'
and
(het) begrip2
'understanding:' - 'comprehension, grasp' - 'sympathy' - 'concept, idea'
and their derivatives
may not clearly follow 'verstaan' (hearing what is said)
as different from 'begrijpen' (understanding the reasoning.)
verstandig
/ verstandige
'prudent, sensible, well-thought-out'
onverstandig2
/ onverstandige22
'not sensible, a bad idea'
(het) misverstand2
'misunderstanding, incorrect interpretation'
(de) verstandhouding2
'understanding: relationship, pattern of contacts'
gezond verstand23
[healthy thinking, understanding] - common sense
(de) verstandsverbijstering[brain function shutdown] - 'thinking paralysis,
madness, of unsound mind, overwhelmed by something'
'verstand op nul'2'Setting brain functioning to zero, shutting
down the brain' (said when performing a mindless task)
- often combined with:
'Blik op oneindig23'Set eye focus to infinity'
- 'the thousand-mile stare'?
Ik vertrouw op het gezond verstand
23I trust the [healthy thinking] common sense
Ik vertrouw
op het gezond verstand van de mensen
2I have faith in the people's common sense
From Memory
Memories, things retrieved, brought up from memory are also
information, sometimes like a renewal, a refresher.
(de) herinnering2
'memory, something remembered'
(het) geheugen23
'memory, the brain function' - also: 'computer data storage'
'They are suffering from memory loss' - usually
said when people ignore inconvenient historical facts
But herinneren aan23
(without the reflexive pronoun)
means 'to remind,' bring something to someone else's attention,
trying to make sure they don't forget
The Dutch verb onthouden23
is also translated as 'to remember' but it actually means 'to
memorize - commit
to memory, to store in memory,' while
zich herinneren
means 'to retrieve, bring forward a memory.'
'Onthouden' is often better
translated as 'not forget.'
'Vergeten'23
'to forget' is the opposite of zich herinneren 'to remember.'
It can refer either to losing data, knowledge or skill from memory or to not
performing tasks because you didn't think of them, and sometimes it
has that double meaning.
'Vergeten' and 'to forget' can mean both something
disappeared from your memory, you don't remember, or it can mean you
were going to do something but didn't do it. In Dutch, forgetting to
do is traditionally with 'hebben' in the perfect tense, but I now
use 'zijn' for both meanings.
It is a strong
'inseparable'
verb, and the past participle is identical
to the infinitive:
He is forgotten (nobody knows him anymore, nobody
remembers him)
Look
Like English, Dutch has the two verbs
zien
'to see' - something like 'observing with, using the eye' - and
kijken
'to look' (sometimes combined with
naar
'at') - something like 'having the eyes pointed in a direction.' 'To
watch' is sometimes a better translation.
Zien and kijken are generally not interchangeable. It's
not a problem for English-speakers, but other languages may not
have two verbs describing activities like these.
'To look like,' meaning 'appear to be in a certain way,'
'giving an impression of' or 'noting a similarity, a resemblance'
can also be said in Dutch as
lijken
- a strong verb:
Dutch (de) leek
means 'layman' and English 'leek' is
(de) prei
in Dutch
The Dutch verb 'schijnen'
has a somewhat similar meaning of
giving an impression, 'to look like, seem' but with a sense that
it's uncertain, you can't be sure. It can also mean 'to shine,'
emitting light like the sun.
It looks like something happened, something seems
to have happened
The similar blijken(blijken / bleek / gebleken)
does not have a clear equivalent in English. It means something like
being found different from a first impression. I usually translate
it as 'to turn out.' Maybe you could also use 'come to light.'
blijkbaar23
'obvious, evident, apparently'
It turns out that there is enough money
(after all)
Bleken
is also 'to bleach, whiten,' like in New York's
'Bleecker Street'
->>
- it is a stretch, but
wij bleken
could mean 'we turned out (to be)' or 'we are bleaching.' A more common word is
bleek2(bleek/bleke) 'pale' - like in
lijkbleek23
('pale as a dead body')
I'd also like to bring up the lookalike but unrelated
blij
('glad, happy') and vrolijk
('cheerful, merry')
Ik ben blij dat te horen
I'm glad to hear that,
it makes me happy to hear that
(De) blik
is a look by a person, glance, gaze - but
(het) blik
is 'tin, can, tin can' -
usually in the diminutive (het) blikje2
- een blikje cola
('a can of coke') - een blikje bonen23
('a (small) can of beans') -
(de) blikvergiftiging23
(['tin can poisoning'] - when you leave food in an opened can metals
dissolve into
the food) ‑>>
For 'to show'
Dutch often uses the verb combination laten zien2 ('to let
see.') There are a few other verbs like this in Dutch, like for
instance
laten vallen2
('to let fall' - 'to drop') and
laten schrikken2
('to scare, to shock')
-
more laten
- 2
Bij nader inzien
['Upon closer inspection'] - usually: 'after some reflection,
having given it some thought'
Het oog is groter dan de maag
2['the eye is bigger than the stomach'] - said when you can't
finish the food you put on your plate
Met het oog op morgen
2'With an eye on tomorrow' - taking the future into? consideration
Onder vier ogen 2['Under four eyes'] 'In private, one-on-one conversation'
Uit het oog, uit het hart
234['out of eye, out of heart'] - 'out of sight, out of mind'
Ik heb het met eigen ogen gezien
23['I've seen it with my own eyes'] - I witnessed it myself,
personally
Een oogje in het zeil houden
23['to keep an eye on the sail'] - monitoring an event, or keeping
wath over a person, supervising from a distance Iemand die een oogje in het zeil houdt
2Someone to watch over someone or something
Ik kon m'n oren niet geloven
23'I couldn't believe [my ears] what I was hearing'
- Hearing something incredible or
something you had not thought possible
Hij had er wel oren naar
23['he had ears for it'] - He'd like to join in (an activity)
Je kunt door de bomen 't bos niet zien
23You can't see the forest (because of) for the trees (distracted
from the big picture by details)
Je kunt wel zien uit welke hoek de wind waait
2['You can see from which corner the wind is blowing'] 'You can see
where that's coming from, what's behind it'
Hij keek z'n ogen uit
23He really enjoyed seeing something unexpected
Wat doe je, als je dingen ziet die niemand ooit heeft
gezien?
2 'What do you do, when you see things no one has ever seen [before]?' - something that could have been said by Anthonie van Leeuwenhoek
17th Century Dutch scientist, inventor of the microscope -
Lens on Leeuwenhoek
Iets over het hoofd zien
234['to see something past the head']
- a failure to notice something
Iets door de vingers zien
234['to see something through the fingers' - that is: not see small
things] - overlooking minor infractions, ignoring small mistakes
and irregularities
Hij zag de bui al hangen
2[He had already seen the rainshower "hanging"]
- 'He understood trouble was brewing'
Ik sta nergens meer van te kijken
2'Nothing surprises me anymore'
De kat uit de boom kijken
2['looking the cat out of the tree']
- like a dog not climbing a tree after a cat,
'waiting to see how things develop, taking no action'
Ik stond erbij en ik keek ernaar
23'I was standing nearby and looking [at it] on'
Dan hoor je het ook eens van een ander
2['Then, you'll hear it from someone else'] - that will give you a
second opinion
Zonder blikken of blozen
2['without batting an eyelid or any blushing']
- shamelessly doing something questionable
De stilte voor de storm
The [quiet] calm before the storm, before a major event
'Roken'2 is 'to smoke'
(tobacco or otherwise producing smoke) - so
wij roken
can either mean 'we are smoking' or 'we smelled, we noticed a smell'
Hij rookt2 'he is
smoking' or 'he is a smoker'
(de) rookworst
2smoked sausage gerookt2
'smoked' -
gerookte paling2
'smoked eel'
Geen rook zonder vuur
[No smoke without a fire] - where there's smoke, there's fire
‑>>
hartig
(hartige
2)
savory, not sweet, 'salty'
- a good Dutch word for the fifth basic taste 'umami'? 'Spicy, hot' is scherp
2345
(scherpe
2)
which can also mean 'sharp' like of a knife - vlijmscherp('very sharp' - knives) To avoid confusion, some Dutch people use the Malay wordpedisfor 'hot, spicy' flauw 'weak of taste, missing something' (not enough salt?) See also: Herbs and Spices
Next to proeven2
'to taste' (more above) is the somewhat related
(de) proef
meaning something like 'test,' 'experiment' or even 'proof'
(het) proefje
2chemistry lab experiment Hoewel de proef mislukte, hebben we toch
veel geleerd
Although the experiment failed,
we still learned a lot
in geuren en kleuren
2['in smells and colors']
- a lively description full of sensory details
't Smaakt naar meer
2['It tastes like more'] - 'I'd like some more of that food or
drink' (informal)
Like English 'taste,' Dutch smaak is not only about food. It can
also be about fashion and other preferences and choices.
smaakvol tasteful, in good taste
Over smaak valt niet te twisten
2'There's no, you can't arguing about taste'
(De gustibus non disputandum)
't Getuigt niet van goede smaak
23It doesn't [witness] show good taste, it's a sign of bad taste
"Meneer heeft smaak!"
23'The gentleman [has] shows good taste!' (ironic, mocking)
Hij heeft de smaak te pakken
2[~He was captured by the taste]
- he really likes it (a new activity)
In een kwade reuk staan
23'to have a bad reputation' -
So NOT the literal meaning 'being in a place of bad smell'
Er zit een luchtje aan
2['There's a funny smell to it']
- 'there's something fishy about it' ('I smell a rat'?) -
Note that the T of 'luchtje' is dropped
The Many Meanings of
'Zin'
As mentioned before, (het) zintuig
['sensory apparatus'] is English 'sense' - the 'organs' with which we get
impressions of the world outside our bodies - plural:
zintuigen2 As mentioned above: (de) reukzin2 'sense of
smell' and (de) tastzin2
'sense of touch.'
Dutch (de) zin2 - plural:
zinnen
can mean many things,
especially in compound words,
like 'sense' in zintuig and by
extension it can mean something like
'thinking, brain function'.
Dutch (de) zin2 can also mean
an ordered collection of words: 'sentence, line'
- but 'sentence' as the judgement given or the punishment meted out
in a court of justice is (het) vonnis2- see
crime
or (de) straf
(also general 'punishment')
(de) gevangenisstraf23
- prison sentence
(de) zinsbouw
2
['sentence build'] - sentence structure, word order
(de) bijzin
2sub-sentence, 'subordinate clause' Dit is een unieke zin
234This is a unique line
(there is no other like it)
How Do You Feel?
English 'to feel' can (among other
things) refer both to feelings 'inside' a person and to sensations felt
on the skin. For the 'internal feelings' Dutch uses the reflexive
verb zich voelen
and for what's felt on the skin Dutch uses the 'regular' verb
voelen2 See also: - Reflexive Verbs
It made me feel horrible
(an event or fear made me feel sick)
Een gevoelige snaar raken
23'touching a sensitive string' ~ touching a raw nerve (de) snaar
string of a musical instrument
- Ik voel nattigheid
23[I feel wetness] - Something is fishy, I don't trust it -or-
something is going wrong
Ik ben nogal bijgelovig
2'I am rather superstitious'
Misschien zit er wat in
23Maybe there's something [in] to it
Je weet maar nooit
2[You just never know] - You can never tell,
you just don't know
even afkloppen!
23['taking a moment to'] knock on wood!
koffiedik kijken
23[looking at coffee dregs, wet coffee grounds]
- 'reading tea leaves' - to foretell, predicting the future
['sensory apparatus'] - 'sense' - pural: zintuigen
![[medal showing a farm worker holding a shovel]](artwork5/DoorsietdenGrondt250.jpg)
![[eye]](everydaypix/oog200.jpg)
![[my brown eyes]](ducolors/ogenbruin.jpg)
![[ear]](everydaypix/oor200.jpg)
![[two pairs of glasses]](everydaypix/brillen150.jpg)
![[reading glasses]](everydaypix/leesbril150.jpg)
![[headphones]](dutools/koptelefoon2.jpg)
![[hearing aid]](DuMusic2/gehoorapparaat150.jpg)
![[nose]](everydaypix/neus200.jpg)
![[nose]](everydaypix/neus200_2.jpg)
![[handkerchief]](everydaypix/zakdoek200.jpg)
![[blowing nose]](everydaypix/neussnuiten200.jpg)
![[tissue paper, 'Lenco' brand]](everydaypix/LencoZakdoekjes200.jpg)