Bezet

occupied, engaged, busy 
[adjective]
[be-zet]

Bezet The adjective ‘bezet’ can have the meaning of ‘occupied’, ‘engaged’ or ‘busy’ depending on context. When you are in a relationship, you may be referred to as ‘bezet’ by others who discuss potential partners 🙂 These days, many of us lead a busy life: “een druk bezet leven leiden”. See the examples below for more.

The picture shows a common practice in the days leading up to ‘Koninginnedag‘ (Queen’s day): people claim their ‘flea-market spot’ by marking it ‘bezet’. How one then determines who claimed which spot when Koninginnedag arrives, I don’t know 🙂

Examples:
– “Pardon, is deze plaats/stoel bezet?” 
(“Excuse me, is this spot/seat taken?” A ‘stoel’ in general is a ‘chair’. The opposite of this sentence would be: “Is deze stoel vrij?” – “Is this seat/chair vacant?”)

– “Op 5 mei 1945 werd ons land volledig bevrijd. De zuidelijke provincies waren namelijk bezet tot eind ’44.” 
(“On May 5th 1945 our country was completely liberated. You see, the southern provinces were occupied until the end of ’44.”)

– “Helaas, alle kamers zijn bezet dit weekend. Ik kan u wel een ander hotel aanraden.” 
(“Unfortunately all rooms are occupied/taken this weekend. But what I can do is recommend another hotel.”)

– “Als ik jou was, zou ik niet te lang met haar praten; ze is bezet!” 
(“If I were you, I wouldn’t spend too much time talking to her; she’s attached/taken!”)

– “En, wat zei ze?”  – “Ik heb haar nog niet gesproken, de lijn is bezet.” 
(“And, what did she say?”  – “I haven’t spoken to her yet, the line is busy.”)

– “Sorry, ik ben bezet vanavond, maar morgen heb ik wel tijd. Zullen we dan een biertje drinken?” – “Nee, morgen kan ik niet. Goh, wat leiden we allebei toch een druk bezet leven!” 
(“I’m sorry, I’m otherwise engaged tonight, but tomorrow I have time. Shall we have a beer then?” – “No, tomorrow I can’t make it. My, how we both lead such busy lives!”).

Related words:
– Bezetten: to occupy [verb] [bezette, bezet].
– Bezet houden: to keep occupied [verb] [hield bezet, bezet gehouden].

Example:
– “Hou jij onze plaatsen even bezet, dan ga ik nog snel wat drinken halen!”
(“Keep our seat occupied will you, then I’ll go and quickly get some drinks!”)

– Bezetter: occupier(s), occupying force(s) [noun] [de bezetter, de bezetters].