Tag Archives: zin

Nut

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usefulness, benefit, point, purpose Iconspeaker_3
[noun]
[het nut, <no plural>]

Fietser In Dutch something has "nut" when there is a point to it, or when it is to your advantage (or that of society if you are more of an altruist 🙂 ). A related adverb/adjective is "nuttig": when something has "nut", then it is "nuttig".

Examples:
– "Met dit weer heeft het toch geen enkel nut om je auto te wassen?" 
("With these weather condidions it is completely useless to wash you car, isn't it?")

– "Wat is het nut van jullie afspraak? Alles is toch al vastgelegd?" 
("What's the purpose of your meeting? Everything has been agreed upon, hasn't it?" Note that "vastleggen" also implies 'recording what was agreed'.)

– "Waarom moet bij jou altijd alles nut hebben; ik doe dit omdat ik het leuk vind! Klaar!" 
("Why do you believe there must always be a point to something; I do this because I like it! And that's it!" Note the use of "bij jou": it implies the other is of that opinion or always display a certain kind of behaviour etc. The word "klaar" translates as "ready/done" and can be used to indicate you are done explaining 🙂 )

– "Denk jij echt dat het hebben van een diploma nut heeft? Persoonlijk zie ik het nut er niet van in." 
("Do you really think that having a diploma is advantageous? Personally, I think there's no point to it.")

Related words:
– Nuttig: useful, advantageous [adjective/adverb].

Example:
– "Hoe was je zakenreis naar de VS?" – "Vermoeiend, maar heel nuttig!"
("How was your business trip to the US?" – "Exhausting, but very useful!")

– Zin: sense, point [noun] [de zin, de zinnen].

Example:
– "Laat nou maar zitten, het heeft geen zin!"
("Just leave it, it's pointless!")

– Noot: nut (from a tree) [noun] [de noot, de noten]. "Noot" is also used for musical/foot notes.

Zin

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liking/desire, meaning, sense, sentence [noun] [de zin, de zinnen]

"Zin" is truly a homonym: it has several different meanings and can be used in many contexts (the list above is not even complete!).

Examples:
1. "Ik heb zin in ijs als toetje."
("I feel like ice cream for dessert.")

2. "Nu vraag ik je: wat is de zin van het leven?"
("I ask you now: what is the meaning of life?")

3. "Pas een half uur na zijn woedeuitbarsting kwam Frank weer bij zinnen."
("Only half an hour after his raging outburst, Frank came to his senses again.")

4. "Door gebrek aan inspiratie kreeg de columnist slechts enkele zinnen op papier gezet."
("Due to lack of inspiration, the columnist was able to put only a few sentences on paper.")

5. "Ik heb geen zin!"
("I don’t feel like it!")

The following use of "zin" is quite common:
"Zin hebben in/om": to feel like. Depending on the sentence you either use "in" or "om", the latter always involving a verb.

Examples:
1. "Ik heb zin in koffie."
("I feel like coffee.")

2. "Ik heb zin om koffie te drinken."
("I feel like drinking/having coffee.")

3. "Ik heb helemaal nergens zin in!"
("I don’t feel like doing anything at all!")

Related words:
1. "Onzin": nonsense.
2. "Zinnig": sensible.
3. "Onzinnig": senseless, absurd.