Vroeg

early [adjective/adverb]

Not to be confused with "vroeger" ("back in the days"), which will be tomorrow’s DWOTD 🙂

Examples:
– "Marc begint altijd vroeg op zijn werk."
("Marc always starts early at work.")

– "Sommige mensen hebben moeite om vroeg op te staan."
("Some people have trouble getting up early.")

– "Ik moet morgen om 5 uur op." – "Wat! Zo vroeg?!"
("Tomorrow I have to get up at 5." – "What! That early?!" Here only "op" is used, instead of the complete verb "opstaan" like in the previous example.)

– "Sara is een vroege vogel, ze staat ‘s ochtends altijd om zes uur op."
("Sara is an early bird, she always gets up at six in the morning.")

Expressions:
– "Dat meisje/die jongen is er vroeg bij."
("That girl/boy is quite mature for his age." Literally: "That girl/boy is at it quite early." Sometimes used in the context of being sexually active.)

– "Vroeg of laat zal de waarheid boven tafel komen."
("Sooner or later, the truth will come out." Literally: "…the truth will come above the table." Mark that in Dutch the comparative degree (‘vergrotende trap’) is not used here: literally "Soon or late…")

Related words:
– "Vroeger": earlier, back in the days, back then.
– "Laat": late.
– "Later": later.