fellow, guy, man [noun] [de vent, de venten] [‘vent‘]

More or less synonymous to "kerel" is the informal "vent". Its plural is never used (but does exist according to the dictionary 😉 ). The biggest difference is that "vent" can be used in both a positive and negative context, the latter mainly when you to point to or describe a man you don’t know (see the Examples).

Examples:
– "Heb je Daniela’s nieuwe vriend al ontmoet? Een leuke vent!"
("Have you met Daniela’s new boyfriend? A nice fellow/guy!")

– "Ik vind die tennisster niet aantrekkelijk, ze lijkt wel een vent…"
("I don’t think that tennis player is attractive, she looks like a guy…" Pay attention to the spelling of "tennisster". The verb is "tennissen". A male tennis player is a "tennisser" with the male ending -er, whereas the female ending is -ster.)

– "<tegen een klein neefje:> Zo ventje! Wil jij een snoepje?"
("<to a little nephew:> Well little man! Do you want a sweet/piece of candy?")

– "Hee moppie, heb jij al een vent?"
("Hey doll, got a man already?")

– "<vrouwen onder elkaar:> Kijk daar! Wat een lekkere vent!"
("<women among each other:> Look (over there)! That guy is hot!" Lit.: "…What a tasty guy!")

– "Wie is die enge vent aan de overkant van de straat?"
("Who is that scary man on the other side of the street?")

– "Wie was dat?" – "O, een of andere vent die wat van me wilde."
("Who was that?" – "Oh, some guy who wanted something of me.")

Related words:
– "Venten": to sell on the street, to hawk.
– "Venter": street seller.
– "Potloodventer": flasher (that is: a man showing his genital organ to innocent passers-by). Literally "potloodventer" translates to pencil street seller.
– "Gozer": guy, bloke, dude.
– "Gast": guest, or: guy, bloke, dude.
– "Kerel": guy, bloke, dude, fellow.