19 August 2009

HoW To Use ThE DuTCh DIcTIOnARY

When you look up a word in the Dutch dictionary be sure to take down what part of speech it is. If you know the part of speech then it is easy to construct a sentence.
1. NOUN -
zelfstandig naamwoord
meisje, znw (means zelfstandig naamwoord)
meisje o
(means onzijdig, when it is onzijdig the article is HET)
het meisje (singular),
meisje + -s = de meisjes (plural)
So, when you use it in a sentence, the sentence will go like this:

The girl eats strawberries.
a. Het meisje eet aardbeien.
b. Het meisje zit aardbeien te eten.

The girls eat strawberries.
a. De meisjes eten aardbeien.
b. De meisjes zitten aardbeien te eten.
Sentence b gives the position of the girls.

(The girl/girls sits/sit eating strawberries.)

2. PRONOUN - voornaamwoord

(she) zij/ze,
pers vnw (means persoonlijk voornaamwoord)
3. ADJECTIVE - bijvoeglijk naamwoord
(red) rood, bn (means bijvoeglijk naamwoord)
4. ADVERB -
bijwoord
(now) nu, bijw (means bijwoord)
5. VERB
- werkwoord
(cook) koken (kookte, past tense), (h. gekookt, participle)
, ww (means werkwoord)
Hij kookte gisteren ons avondeten.

Hij heeft gisteren ons avondeten gekookt.

These two sentences have the same meaning.
Actions took in the past.

6. PREPOSITION -
voorzetsel
(to, on) aan, op; voorz (means voorzetsel)
7. CONJUNCTION -
voegwoord
(and, or)
en, of; voegw (means voegwoord)

You should know the abbreviations in your dictionary
znw means zelfstandig naamwoord
Zelfstandig naamwoord
(noun) can be v (vrouwelijk), m (mannelijk) and o (onzijdig)
Dutch nouns are divided into three groups. Words can be feminine (vrouwelijk), masculine (mannelijk) and neuter (onzijdig)
If the noun is vrouwelijk and mannelijk then the article is DE
If the noun is onzijdig then the article is HET

per vnw means persoonlijk voornaamwoord
bn means bijvoeglijk naamwoord
bijw means bijvwoord
ww means werkwoord
voorz means voorzetsel
voegw means voegwoord

When you take notes don't forget to:
a. write the vrouwelijk, mannelijk and onzijdig. So that you will know the article you are going to use when you construct a sentence.
b. jot down the tenses of the verbs

c. take note sample sentences

d. choose the correct meaning of the word which fits your sentence. One word has many explanations dus choose the right one.

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About this Blog

I make this blog for foreigners who will live in this country, THE NETHERLANDS. Foreigners who are engaged or married they have to learn a lot of things about their new home like the culture, architectures, landscape, government, dikes etc. Especially the Dutch language which is very important in their social life. It is very difficult if they cannot communicate with other people. Most people speak Dutch, only few speaks English.
For visitors and readers, this will give you an idea what this country is. This small country ranks no. 5 in the economic stability in EUROPE. Their architectures like palaces, castles, dikes, ports (air and sea) are amazing.
Their culture is very interesting.

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