Gewoon

1. usual, common, ordinary, regular, plain Iconspeaker_3
[adjective/adverb]
[ge-woon]

The Dutch think they’re pretty common people. We even feel that it’s a virtue to be “common”…see the – very common – first expression under Expressions.

Examples:
– “Ik ben slechts een gewone jongen.” 
(“I’m just a common guy.”)

– “In Nederland is het heel gewoon dat mensen elkaar tutoyeren.”
(“In the Netherlands, it’s very normal that people are on a first-name basis with each other.”)

– “Dit is geen gewone man, nee dit is Superman!”
(“This is not an ordinary man, no this is Superman!”)

– “Ik wil graag een gewone koffie.”
(“I would like a regular coffee.”)

– “Hebben ze in Jordanië gewone stopcontacten?”
(“Do they have normal power plugs in Jordan?”)

Expressions:
– “Doe nou maar gewoon, dan doe je gek genoeg”: There’s no need to act all crazy like that. Lit.: Just act normal, that’s crazy enough”.
– “Zoals gewoonlijk”: As usual.

Related words:
– Gewoonlijk: usually [adjective].

2. just, simply Iconspeaker_3
[adjective/adverb]
[ge-woon]

Examples:
– “Dit is gewoon liefde op het eerste gezicht.” 
(“This is just love at first sight.”)

– “Het is gewoon de bedoeling dat deze ellende ophoudt!”
(“This misery is simply supposed to stop!”)

– “Het was niet gewoon een vluggertje…Frank is echt verliefd...”
(“It wasn’t simply a quickie…Frank is really in love…”)

– “Gewoon doen.”
(“Just do it.”)

3. used to, accustomed to Iconspeaker_3
[adjective/adverb]
[ge-woon]

Using “gewoon” in this context is somewhat formal. A less formal synonym you may see more often is “gewend”.

Examples:
– “Ik ben dit niet gewoon.” 
(“I’m not accustomed to this.”)

– “De burgemeester is niet gewoon zich te begeven onder het gewone volk.”
(“The mayor is not used to make his way among the common people.”)

Related words:
– Gewend aan: used to [adjective].

Example:
– “Frank is niet gewend aan deze hoge temperaturen.”
(“Frank is not used to these high temperatures.”)

One thought on “Gewoon

  1. I don’t know how many times my neighbor would scold her children with a simple “Gewoon!” when they were doing something dopey.

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