in a while/moment, soon, later [adverb]

You will often hear "straks" in the expression "tot straks": see you soon/later/in a while. There are subtle differences between "tot ziens", "tot straks", "tot zo" etc. and these can be difficult to grasp at first. See the Extra for an explanation. Don’t mistake "straks" for "strak" which means "tight".

An informal variation of straks is "strakjes" or (even more informal): "strakkies".

Examples:
– "En nu je troep opruimen!" – "Jahaa, straks…" – "Nee, niet straks, nu!!" 
("And now you are going to clean up your mess!" – "Yeah yeah, in a while…" – "No, not in a while, now!!")

– "We gaan straks in de stad koffie drinken. Heb je zin om mee te gaan?" 
("We are going downtown to drink coffee in a while. Do you feel like coming along?")

– "Ik denk dat het straks gaat regenen, dus ik neem alvast mijn paraplu mee."
("I think it will rain later, so I will bring my umbrella just now.")

Related words:
– Dadelijk: like "straks" but usually a little ‘sooner than’ "straks" [adverb]. You will also hear "dalijk".
– Zo: in a bit, in a short while [adverb].

Example:
– "Ik ga zo naar huis, kan ik je nog ergens mee helpen?"
("I’m going home in a bit, is there something I can help you with before I go?" Here the "nog" is translated with "before I go".)

Extra:
If you plan on meeting somebody the same day and it will not be too long from the moment of departing, you can say "tot straks". If you know it will be a different part of the day (as in afternoon, evening etc.) you can be more specific by saying "tot vanavond/vanmiddag" etc. If you know you are going to see eachother again really soon (as in within a few minutes) you can say "tot zo". If you want to express the (polite) wish to meet again, you can say "tot ziens", this is also the normal polite way to say goodbye.

You might also hear "tot dadelijk" (somewhere inbetween "zo" and "straks"), "tot zometeen" (same as "tot zo"), "tot binnenkort" ("see you soon" when you know you will meet again soon), "tot snel" (same as "binnenkort" but can also be used to express the wish of meeting soon again), and finally "tot gauw" (like "tot snel"). But probably this list is not complete! 🙂