Odd Gramatical Terms in Dutch Grammar – Pt. 2: Verbs Posted by Sten on Apr 18, 2016
If you have studied any language, or even just English, you have come across terms for the types of words and word combinations in the language. You might have also come across the widespread Latin terms for cases: nominativus, accusativus, dativus, genitivus, or even an ablativus. This is to identify the role of nouns in a sentence. These were…
Back to Basics: Incorrect uses of “als” Posted by Karoly Molina on Apr 13, 2016
The word als is a very versatile Dutch word. You can use it as a conjunction (Als je klaar bent met studeren, kunnen wij ijs gaan eten) or a preposition (Ik zeg dit als een Nederlands leerling). This is perhaps one of the reasons why it is a word that can easily be used incorrectly. Here are just two…
Odd Gramatical Terms in Dutch Grammar – Pt. 1: Nouns Posted by Sten on Apr 11, 2016
If you have studied any language, or even just English, you have come across terms for the types of words and word combinations in the language. You might have also come across the widespread Latin terms for cases: nominativus, accusativus, dativus, genitivus, or even an ablativus. This is to identify the role of nouns in a sentence. These will…
Back to Basics: D and dt endings Posted by Karoly Molina on Apr 6, 2016
NTR: SchoolTV recently released a very catchy song explaining the use of -d and -dt when conjugating verbs in Dutch. For the section Snapje? meaning Do you understand?, SchoolTV teamed up with the Dutch alternative rock band De Staat to create a catchy tune to help us all figure out when to use just a -d ending or…
On Wednesday, The Dutch Have To Make A Big Decision Posted by Sten on Apr 4, 2016
On April 6, 2016, it is happening. The referendum over de wet tot goedkeuring van de Associatieovereenkomst tussen de Europese Unie en Oekraïne (referendum about the law on approval of the association agreement between the European Union and Ukraine). The referendum is raadgevend (consultative), so the kabinet (government) is not obliged to follow the uitslag (result). It came after the GeenPeil (NoPoll) campaign, organized by news…
Book Review: You Have Me to Love Posted by Karoly Molina on Mar 30, 2016
Continuing the research of Dutch literature, the latest Dutch novel I’ve picked is Birk by Jaap Robben. Robben, born in Ooosterhout in 1984, is a writer, theatre producer and poet. Before 2014, Robben had mostly published children and teen novels and books. Birk is his first adult novel and was received with great praise. It won the 2014 Nederlandse Boekhandels…
Sounding Dutch in Dutch: Consonant Aspiration Posted by Jakob Gibbons on Mar 29, 2016
You may have noticed that Dutch sounds kind of weird. It’s full of these sometimes ridiculous-seeming sounds that you’ve never heard before setting foot in the Netherlands, Even once you’ve gotten your hard g and tongue-cramping diphthongs like eu and ui under control, people can still hear you’re foreign, and it’s because of the phonetic details. This is because…