Category Archives: Dutch word of the day

Liefie

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sweetie, dear, darling [noun, informal diminutive] [de het liefie, de liefies] [‘lie-fie’]

couple-168191_640“Liefie” is the informal diminutive of the noun “lief” that
translates to “beloved/love/dear”. As a pet name, “liefie” is more
common amongst the younger generations (including people in their
thirtees). Alternatively, the similar “lieveling” can be used.
“Lieveling” has a slightly more poetic or old-fashioned touch to it,
and would be best translated with “darling”, not with “sweetie”.
In general, one who is “lief” is called a “lieverd”.

Examples:
– “Hoi liefie, ik ben even naar de Albert Heijn wat boodschapjes halen.”
(“Sweetie, I’m off to Albert Heijn to get some groceries.”)

– “<sms text message:> Liefie! Kom je vanavond bij me eten? Mis jou…”
(“Sweetie! Would you like to have dinner at my place tonight? Miss you…”)

– “Jij bent mijn allerliefste liefie!!”
(“You are my dearest
sweetie!” In Dutch the superlative of ‘lief’ is ‘liefst’, however you
can go one step higher by adding ‘aller’ 🙂 It means something like
“of all”. It is very common, so put it to practise!)

Related words:
– “Lieveling”: darling, sweetheart, love.
– “Lieverd”: synonym for “lieveling”.

Schat

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1. hon, honey, baby, darling [noun] [de schat, de schatten] [‘sgat‘]

Literally, “schat” means “treasure”, see 2. When used as a pet word, “schat” would be best translated with “hon” or “honey” in English, sometimes “darling”.
The diminutive form “schatje” is also often used, which would also be best translated with “honey” or “baby”.

Examples:
– “Schat, ik ben thuis!”
(“Honey, I’m home!”)

– “Wat ben je toch een schat!”
(“You’re such a darling!”)

– “Hee schatje, heb je zin om met me te dansen?”
(“Hey baby, do you wanna dance with me?”)

– “Schat, wil je alsjeblieft opschieten? We zijn al een half uur te laat.”
(“Hon, will you please hurry, we’re already half an hour late.” Lit.: “…do you want to hurry please?…”)

Related words:
– “Schattebout”: sweetie pie. Lit.: treasure bolt.
– “Schattig”: sweet, lovely. Lit.: treasure-like.
– “Skatje”: baby. (Phonetic form of “schatje” pronounced with a French/Italian accent 😉 Street slang, no official spelling…)

2. treasure [noun] [de schat, de schatten] [‘sgat‘]

Examples:
– “De piraten hadden de schat op een klein eiland verborgen”.
(“The pirates had hidden the treasure on a small island.”

– “Die man heeft een schat aan technische kennis, maar hij blijft contactgestoord.”
(“That man has a wealth of technical knowledhe, but he still is socially handicapped.” Lit.: “That man has a treasure on technical knowledge, but he still remains contact-disturbed.”)

Extra:
There’s also a Dutch verb “schatten”, which is surprisingly not translated with “to treasure” but with “to estimate”.

“To treasure” is translated with “als een schat bewaren” (to keep like a treasure) or with “koesteren” (to cherish).

Noodzakelijk

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1. necessary [adjective / adverb] [‘noot-zaa-ku-luk’]

Examples:
– "Samenwerking is noodzakelijk om een goed resultaat te behalen."
("Cooperation is necessary to achieve a good result.")

– "Het was noodzakelijk dat de politie met geweld ingreep tijdens de rellen."
("It was necessary that the police acted with force during the riots.")

– "Het feit dat Nederland coffeeshops heeft, betekent niet noodzakelijk dat iedereen in Nederland wiet rookt."
("The fact that The Netherlands have coffeeshops, does not necessarily mean that everybody in The Netherlands smokes weed.")

– "Liefde is een noodzakelijke levensbehoefte."
("Love is a necessity of life." Lit.: "Love is a necessary life’s need.")

2. inevitable [adjective / adverb] [‘noot-zaa-ku-luk’]

Examples:
– "Files zijn een noodzakelijk gevolg van de toegenomen economie."
("Traffic jams are an inevitable consequence of the increased economy. ")

Related words:
– "Noodzaak": necessity.
– "Genoodzaakt": forced, obliged.
– "Nood": need.
– "Onvermijdelijk": inevitable, inescapable.

Onmiddellijk

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immediate, at once [adjective / adverb] [‘on-mi-du-luk’]

"Onmiddellijk" was rammed into our heads at primary school: "Onmiddellijk? Dubbele ‘d’, dubbele ‘l’ !!!": "double ‘d’, double ‘l’ !!!"

Examples:
– "Kom onmiddellijk hier!"
("Come here at once!")

– "Toen ik het verschrikkelijke nieuws hoorde, ben ik onmiddellijk omgedraaid."
("When I heard the awful news, I turned around immediately.")

– "Deze regel gaat onmiddelijk in."
("This rule applies immediately." Lit.: "This rule goes in immediately.")

– "Het roken van een joint heeft niet altijd een onmiddellijk effect."
("Smoking a joint does not always have an immediate effect.")

– "Wilt u een miljoen euro winnen? Bel onmiddellijk met het volgende nummer!"
("Do you want to win a million euros? Call the following number at once!")

Expressions:
– "God straft onmiddellijk.": <ironic:> God punishes at once (when someone has done something wrong/stupid, and is negatively affected by his own actions).

Related words:
– "Dadelijk": immediate, direct.
– "Direct": direct.
– "Gelijk": right.
– "Meteen": immediately, straight away.
– "Ogenblikkelijk": instantly.
– "Geleidelijk": gradual.

Verschrikkelijk

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terrible, dreadful, awful [adjective / adverb] [‘vur-sgri-ku-luk’]

"Verschrikkelijk" is for most non-native Dutch speakers a terrible word to pronounce 🙂 The tongue breaking focuses around the letter combination "s"-"ch"-"r", pronounced: sharp "s" – raspy "g" – rolling "r". The only thing that we can advise is: keep on practising 😉

Examples:
– "Verschrikkelijk!"
("Terrible!")

– "Dat is verschrikkelijk nieuws!"
("That is awful news!")

– "Het spijt me verschrikkelijk, lieveling."
("I’m dreadfully sorry, darling.")

– "Sinds de introductie van de euro is alles verschrikkelijk duur geworden."
("Since the introduction of the euro, everything has become terribly expensive.")

– "Frank deed verschrikkelijk kinderachtig tijdens die vergadering."
("Frank acted terribly childish during that meeting." Lit.: "Frank did terribly childish…")

– "Wat een verschrikkelijk auto ongeluk: drie doden, één zwaargewonde."
("What a terrible car accident: three dead, one heavily injured.")

Related words:
– "Gruwelijk": horrible.
– "De Verschrikkelijke Sneeuwman": The Yeti.  Lit.: The Abominable Snowman.