Moving to a new country means that when we experience new things, we can compare them to the place where we lived before. We might compare the weather, the traffic, the food and even the customs of the countries. Here are some useful phrases and words for when we compare in Dutch:
- groter dan, mooier dan, rijker dan, etc.
The easiest way to compare two things is to add -er to the adjective. Some examples can be groter dan (bigger than), mooier dan (prettier than), rijker dan (richer than), etc. I will use Mexico as my point of comparison for the following examples.
Mexico is warmer dan Nederland.
Mexicaanse eten is pittiger dan Nederlands eten.
- het grootst, het mooiste, etc.
Just like the previous example, adding -st to an adjective can help to compare. The -st acts like -est in English and is used to signal something that is absolute (i.e. the biggest wave is clearly the only one that was that big).
Volgens mij is het eten in Mexico het lekkerste eten ter wereld.
Het verkeer in Mexico Stad is het drukst.
Terwijl can be translated as meanwhile and is easy to use. You can add it to a sentence when comparing.
Het weer in Mexico is warm, terwijl het weer in Nederland koud is.
Mexican Beach in the Pacific Ocean (personal photograph)
Nederland is een rijk land, terwijl Mexico een arm land is.
This is another phrase than you can use to compare and it can be translated to “on the other hand.”
Mexico heeft veel stranden. Nederland heeft daarentegen de Amsterdamse grachten.
Mexico heeft pyramides. Nederland heeft daarentegen windmolens.
What points of comparison have you found between the Netherlands and other countries you have lived in? Try using the words and phrases above to share with us!
