Avond

evening, night
[noun]
[de a-vond, de a-von-den] 

In Dutch the noun ‘avond’ is used for the period between 6PM and midnight. The ‘nacht’ (night) is typically between midnight and 4AM. It depends a bit when you would translate ‘night’ as ‘avond’ or ‘nacht’. For example, a ‘night out with your friends’ translates best as ‘een avond(je) uit met je vrienden’ and ‘tonight’ can either be ‘vanavond’ (if it starts well before midnight) or ‘vannacht’ (if it starts at midnight or later, or the majority of the activity happens past midnight). Anyways, you will manage, ask the local Dutch Guru for advice 🙂

‘Avond’ is also the title of a song by Dutch singer Boudewijn de Groot who was popular in the sixties and is still well-known now. The song will not teach you anything on how to use ‘avond’, but as you know the DWOTD is often inspired by events in my personal life 😉 And it is a good song to sing along with, so you can join the crowd in the YouTube video below (and perhaps engage in typical Dutch audience behaviour as well).

Lyrics

Nu hoef je nooit je jas meer aan te trekken en te hopen dat je licht het doet
( (From now on) never again you will have to put on your coat and hope that your light will work [probably a bicycle light is implied here] )

Laat buiten de stormwind nu maar razen in het donker
(Just let the storm wind rage outside in the dark)

Want binnen is het warm en licht en goed
(Because inside it is warm and bright/light and good)

Hand in hand naar buiten kijken waar de regen valt
(Looking outside – hand in hand – where the rain is falling)

Ik zie het vuur van hoop en twijfel in je ogen, en ik ken je diepste angst
(I see the fire of hope and doubt in your eyes, and I know your deepest fear(s) )

Want je kunt niets zeker weten en alles gaat voorbij
(Because there’s nothing you can know for sure, and everything will pass)

Maar ik geloof, ik geloof, ik geloof, ik geloof, ik geloof in jou en mij
(But I believe, I believe, I believe, I believe, I believe in you and me)

En als je ‘s morgens opstaat ben ik bij je, en misschien heb ik al thee gezet
(And when you get up in the morning I will be with you, and maybe I will already have made (us) tea)

En als de zon schijnt buiten gaan we lopen door de duinen
(And when the sun shines outside we’ll go for a walk in the dunes)

En als het regent, gaan we terug in bed
(And if it rains, we’ll go back in bed)

Uren langzaam wakker worden, zwevend in de tijd
(Waking up slowly for hours, floating in time)

Ik zie het licht door de gordijnen en ik weet: het verleden geeft geen zekerheid
(I see the light through the curtains and I know: the past does not provide assurance/certainty/security)

Want je kunt niets zeker weten en alles gaat voorbij
(Because there’s nothing you can know for sure, and everything will pass)

Maar ik geloof, ik geloof, ik geloof, ik geloof, ik geloof in jou en mij
(But I believe, I believe, I believe, I believe, I believe in you and me)

Ik geloof, ik geloof, ik geloof, ik geloof, ik geloof in jou en mij
(I believe, I believe, I believe, I believe, I believe in you and me)

Ik doe de lichten uit en de kamer wordt nu donker
(I turn off the lights and the room is getting dark (now) )

Een straatlantaarn buiten geeft wat licht
(A streetlamp/light outside shines a bit of light)

En de dingen in de kamer worden vrienden die gaan slapen
(And the things in the room turn into friends who go to sleep)

De stoelen staan te wachten op het ontbijt
(The chairs are waiting for breakfast)

En morgen word ik wakker met de geur van brood en honing
(And tomorrow I will wake up with the scent of bread and honey)

En de glans van het gouden zonlicht in jouw haar
(And the sheen of the golden sunlight in your hair)

En de dingen in de kamer, ik zeg ze welterusten
(And the things in the room, I wish them good night)

Vanavond gaan we slapen en morgen zien we wel
(Tonight we’ll go to sleep and we’ll see what happens tomorrow [“We zien wel” is typically translated as “we’ll see (what happens)” or “we’ll take it as it comes”] )

Maar de dingen in de kamer zouden levenloze dingen zijn, zonder jou
(But the things in the room would be lifeless things, without you)

En je kunt niets zeker weten, want alles gaat voorbij
Maar ik geloof, ik geloof, ik geloof, ik geloof, ik geloof in jou en mij
Ik geloof, ik geloof, ik geloof, ik geloof, ik geloof in jou en mij

3 thoughts on “Avond

  1. Ah, this brings to mind something that has fascinated me for a long time (OK, very off topic :-)).

    Vorige avond I was listening to BBC radio when up should pop an interview with noted Dutch conductor Jaap Van Zweden. Now, being a simple sort of fellow, this immediately tickled me – as lots of charming Dutch names frequently do – and I wondered “well, is he?”.

    In fact, many Dutch people seem to have what I call “does he?” surnames. I used to work with a chap called Erwin Moons (does he?). For clarity, mooning is the act of bearing one’s buttocks in order to offend the unfortunate onlooker and may cause swooning amongst bystanding prim ladies of a nervous disposition.

    Then there was another chap John Huis in’t Veld (really, has he? Is it a barn?)

    I suppose this isn’t unique. We have our Fletcher (arrow-makers), Coopers (barrel-makers) and so on. But, Dutch names seem quite special and different in a way. There was also that lady who runs the Anne Frank museum who popped up in the news when a venerable tree had to be cut down. I’m sure her name was Bosboom! Yes, there she is: http://bbc.in/uFCyvA

    Well, I’m not expecting an explanation (though it would be nice! :-)). I just thought I’d share it with the class.

    • Hi Chris – thanks for sharing 🙂

      So to keep it slightly ‘on topic’, when you want to say ‘last night’ in Dutch, you’d say ‘gister(en)avond’ (both forms are correct). Then what is somewhat interesting to us ‘low lands’ linguists, in Flanders one would say ‘Ik kom van Antwerpen’ whereas I would say ‘Ik kom uit Rotterdam’. But indeed, many Dutch surnames refer to the origin of the family name. My surname has no ‘van’ but it’s the village where my ancestors are from.
      If you would pronounce Erwin Moon’s surname in Dutch, you may think he ‘moans’ a lot in English 😉

  2. Oh yes indeed, pronunciation: one of many faults in Dutch. You may imagine how Belgian colleagues literally fell about laughing one day when I asked if “Durk Murx” (Dirk Merckx) was coming to a meeting. 🙁

    Oh and on the other subject, Rob Van Den Heuvel called me today. I was going to ask if he could see the wood for the trees, but thought better of it…:-)

    Prettig weekend!

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