Bijna

almost, nearly, close to [adverb]

We have almost reached the 100th Dutch word of the day! When Sander first started to explain some of the intricacies of the Dutch language to some of his co-workers, he did not expect the rudimentary explanations of the first DWOTDs to grow into where we are now. After some time Marc joined in writing the DWOTD, since it does take some time! (even for the experienced Dutch like us 🙂 ).

Although we are sometimes pressed for time, we try our best to write an informative DWOTD with sentences that you can either use in daily life, or study to improve your Dutch.

Readers who wish to discuss the DWOTD can do so on the website, this is also the central repository for all DWOTDs. Don’t forget that you can always request a word by using the mailform (‘Mailformulier’) on the website (or just reply to the mailing).

We hope you still enjoy the DWOTD and if you do, please tell others about our website or the mailing list!!

Sander and Marc

Examples:
– “Hoe laat is het?” – “Het is bijna zes uur.”
(“What time is it?” – “It is close to six o’clock.”)

– “Het toiletpapier is bijna op!”
(“The toilet paper is almost used up!”)

– “Kom op! Niet opgeven, we zijn er bijna!”
(“Come on! Don’t give up, we’re almost there!”)

–  “Waar is Frank?” – “Ik weet het niet, hij zei dat hij bijna klaar was.”
(“Where’s Frank?” – “I don’t know, he said he was almost ready.”)

– “Vanwege file was ik vanochtend bijna te laat.”
(“Due to traffic jams, I was nearly too late this morning.”)

– “Mijn vriendin moest bijna huilen bij het zien van die film.”
(“My girlfriend was close to tears when seeing that movie.” Literally: “… almost had to cry…”)

– “Wat een slecht feest! Om elf uur was er al bijna geen bier meer…”
(“What a lousy party! At eleven o’clock already, there was hardly any beer left…” Literally: “… there was almost no more beer…”)