Lucht

air, sky, scent, smell [noun] [de lucht, de luchten] [‘lugt’]

"Lucht" is the air that you breathe, but can also mean the sky. The Dutch succeeded in finding a use for the diminutive of "lucht", which of course in general would not make any sense; a "luchtje" is an informal word for perfume. It is also used in an expression (see below). Many expressions with "lucht" exist, we have only listed the most common ones.

Examples:
– "Help! Ik krijg geen lucht!"
("Help! I can’t breathe / get air!")

– "Wat hangt er hier een vieze lucht!"
("It really smells here!" Literally: "What a dirty air hangs here!" 🙂 )

– "Ja ja mensen, kom op, gooi die handen in de lucht!"
(<enthusiastic DJ:> Come on people, throw those hands in the air!")

– "Ik vind het heerlijk om in de buitenlucht te slapen."
("I really enjoy sleeping in the open air." Lit.:"outside air".)

– "Ik heb frisse lucht nodig, ik ga even naar buiten."
("I need some fresh air, I’ll go outside for a while.")

– "Wat heb jij voor luchtje op? Ik ken het ergens van…"
("What kind of perfume are you wearing? It seems familiar…" Lit.:"… I know it from somewhere.")

– "Toen ik kind was, vond ik het fantastisch om op en neer te springen op een luchtkussen."
("When I was a child, I found it fantastic to jump up and down on an air cushion.")

– "De lucht in het schilderij "Korenveld onder onweerslucht" van Vincent van Gogh is behoorlijk onheilspellend, maar in het schilderij "Korenveld met kraaien" is het nog erger!"
("The sky in the painting "Korenveld onder onweerslucht" by Vincent van Gogh is pretty ominous but in the painting "Korenveld met kraaien" it is even worse!" The word "onweer" translates to "thunderstorm" and "kraaien" to "crows".)

Expressions:
– "Gebakken lucht": hot air, of no significant content. Literally: "Fried/baked air".

Example:
– "De presentatie van Frank zat vol gebakken lucht."
("Frank’s presentation was full with hot air.")

– "Een luchtje scheppen.": to get some air. Lit.: "to scoop some air."

Example:
– "Waar ga je naar toe?" – "Ik ga naar buiten om een luchtje te scheppen."
("Where are you going?" – "I’m going outside to get some air.")

– "Er is geen wolkje aan de lucht": everything is fine, no problems. Literally: "There is no cloud in the sky."

– "Uit de lucht komen vallen": literally "to fall from the air" this is used when something unexpected happens, or an unexpected explanation is given.

Example:
– "Het verzoek om een contante bijdrage kwam volledig uit de lucht vallen."
("The request for a cash contribution was completely unexpected.")

– "Daar zit een luchtje aan": literally "there is a smell/odour to that" this is used when you do not trust something, or that you feel something is definitely off.

– "Er hangt iets in de lucht": something is about to happen, usually unpleasant. Lit.:"Something hangs in the air."

– "De lucht in vliegen": to blow up. Lit.:"To fly up in the sky."

Related words:
– "Luchtballon": hot air balloon.
– "Geur": scent, perfume. Here one also says "geurtje" for perfume.
– "Wolk": cloud.
– "Regen": rain.
– "Hemel": sky, heaven.