Overleven

to survive Iconspeaker_3
[verb]
[o-ver-le-ven, o-ver-leef-de, o-ver-leefd]

Overleven "Overleven" can be used both in the meaning of "to live through" and "to outlive". The related noun is "overlevende": survivor. Which is very different from an "overledene": deceased.

You may encounter the English noun "survival" in Dutch conversation; sometimes we use the English expression "survival of the fittest" instead of the Dutch alternative "recht van de sterkste(n)" or somebody may "op survival gaan" meaning he/she is going on a survival trip.

Examples:
– "Hoe gaan we dit in godsnaam overleven?" 
("How in God's name are we going to survive this?")

– "Hoe was je eerste werkdag?" – "Ach ja, ik heb het weer overleefd hè!" 
("How was your first day at work?" – "Oh well, I've survived it (you know)!")

– "De president heeft de aanslag overleefd, echter, drie van zijn lijfwachten zijn omgekomen." 
("The president survived the attack, however, three of his body-guards were killed." Note the verb "omkomen": to die, to be killed, to perish.)

– "En we kunnen weer rustig ademhalen mensen, het Nederlands elftal heeft de eerste ronde overleefd." 
("And we can breath comfortably again people, the Dutch team has survived the first round." Without context "Het Nederlands elftal" usually refers to the Dutch national team football/soccer, which consists of 11 players hence 'elftal'.)

– "Het stamhoofd heeft zijn kinderen reeds overleefd en lijkt vooralsnog niet van plan het loodje te leggen." 
("The tribal chief has already outlived his children and seemingly has no intention to die just yet." Note the informal expression "het loodje leggen": to kick the bucket, turn up one's toes, etc.)

– "Wanneer men in de jungle wil overleven, moet men niet te kritisch zijn wat eten betreft." 
("When one wants to survive in the jungle, one must not be too critical when it comes to food.")

Related words:
– Overlevende: survivor [noun] [de overlevende, de overlevenden].

Example:
– "Helaas zijn er geen overlevenden van de vliegramp."
("Unfortunately there are no survivors of the plane crash.")

– Overleving: survival [noun] [de overleving, <no plural>].

2 thoughts on “Overleven

  1. “overlevende”: survivor … is very different from an “overledene”: deceased. Tricky. Very tricky.

  2. It’s a well-known poser in Dutch: “Een vliegtuig stort neer op de grens tussen Nederland en Duitsland. Waar worden de overlevenden begraven?” Answer: “Nergens.”

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