1. small, little, minor, short [adjective]
Examples:
– "Een Mini is een kleine auto."
("A Mini is a small car.")
– "Hij is vrij klein voor zijn leeftijd."
("He is quite little for his age.")
– "Hebt u deze schoenen ook in een kleinere maat?"
("Are these shoes available in a smaller size?" Lit.: "Do you have these shoes also in …")
– "Op wat kleine details na, ziet het document er goed uit!"
("Apart from a few minor details, the document looks good!")
– "Het is een klein stukje rijden."
("It is a short distance to drive." Lit.: "… a short part …")
2. minor (musical scale) [adjective]
Example:
– "Dat stuk is geschreven in D klein."
("That piece is written in D minor.")
Expressions:
– "Kleine boodschap.": the opposite of ‘grote boodschap’, this is when you only have to pee 😉 Literally: ‘small message/delivery’.
– "Klein van geest.": lit. "small of mind" this translates to ‘narrow-minded’.
– "Klein maar fijn.": lit. "small but good" this is used when you want to say that something does not need to be big to ‘do the job’ (no sexual innuendos implied here…)
– "Kleine meisjes worden groot.": young girls grow up.
– "(In het) klein beginnen:": to start out small.
– "Een kleine eter.": a small/poor eater.
– "De wereld is klein!": it is a small world!
– "Die het kleine niet eert, is het grote niet weert.": lit. ‘if you do not honour the small, you are not worth the big’, this is used to say that you should be happy with having little if you are to deserve having a lot.
– "Een ongeluk zit in een klein hoekje.": accidents will happen (lit. ‘an accident sits in a small corner.’)