to exceed one's expectations (in a positive way) 
[verb]
[mee-val-len, viel mee, i. mee-ge-val-len]
"Meevallen" is composed of "mee" and "vallen", which respectively translate to "along/with" and "to fall. Hence literally, "meevallen" translates to "to fall along", but this makes absolutely no sense at all of course 
"Meevallen" is used when your expectations about something are exceeded in a positive way. The opposite of "meevallen" is "tegenvallen". Related noun is "meevaller" (or its diminutive "meevallertje"): a situation or occurrence in which your expectations are positively exceeded, see also Related words.
Examples:
- "De bank wordt binnen twee weken bezorgd." – "Dat valt mee, normaal is het ten minste acht weken."
("The couch will be delivered within two weeks." – "That's all right, normally it's at least eight weeks.")
- "Frank heeft heel rustig gereden." – "Dat valt mee, normaal houdt hij erg van bumperkleven."
("Frank drove real quietly." – "That's not bad, normally he's really into tailgating.")
- "Het is niet makkelijk om Nederlands te leren…" – "Dat valt wel mee, Xavier."
("It's not easy to learn Dutch…" – "It's not so bad as it seems, Xavier.")
Expressions:
- "Een storm in een glas water": a storm in a teacup, much ado about nothing.
- "Van een mug
een olifant maken": to make a mountain (out) of a molehill, to
exaggerate. Lit.: "to make an elephant out of a mosquito".
Example:
- "Frank heeft weer eens van een mug een olifant gemaakt…de schade aan zijn auto viel reuze mee…"
("Frank has made a mountain out of a molehill again…the damage to his car wasn't really all that much…" Note that "reuze" literally translates to "gigantically": really much…)
Related words:
- Meevaller: piece of good luck, pleasant surprise, stroke of unexpected luck [noun] [de meevaller, de meevallers].
Example:
- "Ik heb gisteren vijftienhonderd euro gewonnen bij de loterij!!" – "Dat is te gek! Wat een financiële meevaller!"
("I won fifteen hundred euros yesterday at the lottery!!" -"That's great! What an unexpected financial surprise!")
- Tegenvallen: to not meet one's expectations, to exceed one's expectations in a negative way [verb] [tegenvallen, viel tegen, i. tegengevallen].
- Vallen: to fall [verb] [vallen, viel, gevallen].
I can’t believe that you’ve got to number 764 before you mention this word. I find this one of the most important expressions in Dutch “Het valt (best) wel mee, hoor.” I wouldn’t like to guess how many times a day I hear or say this!
Tegenvallen doesn’t seem to be used anything like as much, except when talking about the weather on holiday!
By the way, could you help me with a good translation for ‘een pittige tante’? Is this a ‘tough old maid’ (slightly positive) or an ‘old battleaxe’ (negative)? Thanks!
I totally agree with Simon that I hear this expression at least 10 times a day from my husband. But I actually want to thank Marc by making it very clear because although I know what it means I never bothered to ask my husband what it really is. Now I do!! Thanks!!
Oh, by the way, I am very happy that I found this website by accident…
Is it correct to say: “Je geeft me altijd een meevaller.” for someone who always exceeds expectations?
Hi Barbara,
You can’t use ‘meevaller’ in that way, but what you could say is:
“Je valt me altijd mee”.
However, that is a bit weird, and is most likely to be interpreted as ‘I am always inclined to expect less of you’.
Exceeding expectations is ‘verwachtingen overstijgen’ in Dutch, so to someone who is always exceeding expectations you could say something like:
“Je overstijgt altijd alle verwachtingen”.
Or in colloquial Dutch: “Je bent goed bezig!”
Hope this helps,
Sander
Ok, that helps a lot. Thanks, Sander. Je bent goed bezig!