Dutch phrases
Dutch sounds like a difficult language to learn, but it really isn’t. It just sounds as though it is. Maybe it’s because of the oft-quoted phrase expression ‘double Dutch’, when things are confusing. Dutch is a Dutchic language, like English. You don’t have to guess what gender objects are, like with French. There is no: ‘le’, ‘la’, ‘un’, ‘une’, which will come as a relief to many. It is quite simple to learn Dutch.
Learn Dutch phrases
The best way to learn Dutch sentences is by total immersion. Unfortunately, however, it is not always possible to spend a few months in another country in order to learn the native language. Try to get some books to read. It is best to start with junior books, which are shorter and will teach you the basic vocabulary.
There are online courses available, which are the next best thing. Once you feel a bit more familiar with the language, a visit to the chosen country helps enormously to get the feel of it, especially with the pronunciation, which is the stumbling block for many English speaking people who want to learn Dutch.
Dutch pronunciation
The guttural G is quite hard for some people to pronounce. Vowels, such as aa, as in haar (hair) eu, as in neurotisch (neurotic) ui, as in uil (owl) and uu, as in uur (hour) are harder for English speaking people to learn too.
Dutch grammar
Dutch spelling is quite easy. The word order is different in Dutch sentences and needs to be studied closely. Regular verbs in Dutch phrases are easy to conjugate, and once you become familiar with them it will be much easier to conjugate any verb. Irregular verbs are more difficult to remember and need to be learned. Dutch adjectives and nouns are either neuter or common gender. Other characteristics of dutch phrases are the definite articles like ‘De’ and ‘het’ and the indefinite article ‘Een’.
Basic Dutch sentences
- ‘Kan u me de weg wijzen naar het station, alstublieft?’ - ‘Can you show me the way to the station, please?’
- ‘Hoeveel kost dit?’ - ‘How much does this cost?’
- ‘Verkoopt u postzegels?’ - ‘Do you sell postage stamps?’
- ‘Hoe heet u?’ - ‘What is your name?’
- Goede morgen - Good morning.
- Goede avond - Good afternoon.
- Goede nacht - Good night.
- Verstaat u Engels? - Do you understand English?
Learning Dutch phrases with Babbel
Learn Dutch with Babbel and start learning Dutch phrases now. Incidentally, ‘babbel’ in Dutch means to talk. Babbel employs up to date technology to teach basic Dutch. It will be easier with using the apps, the voice recognition to train pronunciation and multi-media exercises to help you learn Dutch. And to practice your Dutch you can get in touch with native Dutch speakers in the Babbel Community or chat with other Dutch learners.
