Op de hoogte

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[Dutch phrase of the week]

Literally, "hoogte" translates to "height" or "altitude". In general, "op de hoogte" translates to
"informed". It has a somewhat informal connotation, and can be used in combination with quite some verbs. Depending on context, the translations may vary. We’ll deal with most of them in the Examples.

"Op de hoogte" is also often used in combination with the preposition "van" – "op de hoogte van", which translates to "informed of".

Don’t confuse "op de hoogte" with "uit de hoogte", see Expressions.

Examples:
– "Het spijt me, ik ben niet op de hoogte van deze deal." 
("I’m sorry, I wasn’t informed of this deal.")

– "Het kan toch niet zo zijn dat Frank niet op de hoogte is van deze procedure." 
("It can’t possibly the case that Frank is not aware of this procedure.")

– "Kunt u mij op de hoogte stellen van de stand van zaken in het project?" 
("Can you inform me of the project status?")

– "Ik verwacht dat je me op de hoogte houdt van de meest recente ontwikkelingen." 
("I expect you to keep me posted on the most recent developments.")

– "Wat?? Yvonne en Claude hebben hun scheiding aangevraagd?? Daarvan was ik niet op de hoogte!" 
("What?? Yvonne and Claude have filed for divorce?? I wasn’t aware of that!")

Expressions:
– "Uit de hoogte": arrogant, haughtily, with an air.
– "Ergens geen hoogte van (kunnen) krijgen": to not be able to understand/grasp.

Example:
– "Frank deed erg vaag vandaag, ik kon geen hoogte van hem krijgen."
("Frank was acting very vague today, I couldn’t make him out.")

Related words:
– Hoogte: height, altitude [noun] [de hoogte, de hoogtes].
– Bijpraten: to catch up [verb] [bijpraten, praatte bij, h. bijgepraat].

Example:
– "Lang niet gezien! Heb je even tijd om bij te praten?"
("Long time no see! Do you have a moment to catch up?")

– Informeren: to inform [verb] [informeren, informeerde, geïnformeerd].

3 thoughts on “Op de hoogte

  1. I always thought that ‘op de hoogte’ was roughly the same as ‘up to date’. So am I right that “ik hou je op de hoogde” can be translated as either “I’ll keep you informed” or “I’ll keep you up to date”?
    That begs the question, what is “up to date” in Dutch, as in the meaning ‘modern’, or to keep up to date with fashion?

  2. Just wanted to say thanks for maintaining this excellent site. Great examples and very helpful repetition of previous words!

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