Eind

end, distance
[noun]
[het eind, de ein-des/ein-den] 

rails-253140_640There are three words for ‘end’ in Dutch: ‘eind’, ‘einde’ and ‘end’. Both ‘eind’ and ‘end’ can also be used in the meaning of ‘(a) distance’, see the Examples below.

Note that ‘end’ is mostly used informally. When not sure, it’s better to use ‘eind’ instead.

Examples:
“Ik vond het een goede film maar het eind viel erg tegen, vond je ook niet?” 
(“I thought it was a good movie, however the end was very disappointing, didn’t you think so too?”)

“Pardon, weet u de weg naar de Lomanstraat?” – “Jazeker, u gaat hier rechts de straat in en dan aan het eind links afslaan. Daarna is het de tweede rechts.” – “Ok, dankuwel!”  
(“Excuse me, do you know the way to the Lomanstraat?” – “Absolutely, (you) enter the street here to the right and then turn left at the end. Then it is the second (street) on the right.” – “Okay, thank you!”)

“Kunnen we niet beter de fiets nemen? Het is vanaf hier echt nog een heel eind lopen naar de Noordermarkt. En daarna moeten we ook weer terug!” 
(“Had we not better take the bicycle? From here it is still a very long walk to the Noordermarkt. And after that we also have to go back again!”)

“Een eind lopen? Het is een klein eindje lopen! Wacht ik kijk op GoogleMaps. Nou ja, moet je zien, het is zelfs een kippeneindje! Kom we gaan, we treuzelen langer dan het lopen zelf zal duren!” 
(“A long walk? It is but a short walk! Wait, let me check GoogleMaps. Here, look at this, it is even a marginal distance! Come on let’s go, we linger longer than the duration of the walk itself!”)

Expressions:
– “Het bij het rechte eind hebben”: to be right (after doubt or dispute). E.g. ‘Sander heeft het niet altijd bij het rechte eind.’
– “Een eind breien aan iets”: to end an activity [colloquial]. The verb ‘breien’ translates as ‘to knit’.

Example:
“Jongens, we breien er zo een eind aan; willen jullie alvast beginnen met opruimen?”
(“Guys, we are about to stop; would you please start putting things away?”)

– “Eind goed, al goed”: all’s well that ends well.

Related words:
– Einde: end [noun] [het einde, de eindes/einden].
– Eindje: (a) distance [noun] [het eindje, de eindjes]. Although ‘eindje’ is a diminutive, it does not necessarily meant it is a short distance 🙂 E.g.: ‘Het is nog best een eindje wandelen.’
– Kippeneindje: very short distance [noun] [het kippeneindje, de kippeneindjes]. Literally: ‘a chicken’s distance’.
– End: (a) distance. Colloquially and in certain dialects also ‘end’ [noun] [het end, de enden]. E.g.: ‘Het is een end fietsen.’
– Uiteinde: the very end (of a street, a piece of rope etc.) [noun] [het uiteinde, de uiteindes/uiteinden].
– Uiteindelijk: eventually [adverb].
– Beëindigen: to end (a certain activity) [verb] [beëindigde, beëindigd].
– Eindigen: to end [verb] [eindigde, geëindigd]. E.g.: ‘Het eindigt hier en nu; ik wil je nooit meer zien!’

Things to remember from this DWOTD
– How to use ‘eind’, ‘einde’ and ‘end’;
– What is a ‘kippeneindje’;
– An ‘eindje’ is not necessarily a short distance, despite the use of the diminutive;
– The Dutch word for ‘eventually’ is ‘uiteindelijk’.

Afblazen

to call off (a plan) to blow off/away Iconspeaker_3
[verb]
[af-bla-zen, blies af, af-ge-bla-zen]

Afgeblazen Yesterday I read in a Dutch newspaper that president Obama “afblies” a plan by George W. Bush. Regardless of the plan I concluded that “afblazen” would make a good DWOTD 🙂 Literally “to blow off”, a common translation of “afblazen” is “to call off a plan”. Usually the plan that is “afgeblazen” is already close to execution or in an advanced state.

The adjective/adverb “af” can mean “off, away, finished, out” and verbs that are composed of “af” + “some other verb” usually indicate ending or moving away from something. An example is when a referee “afblaast”: blowing the whistle in order to end the match.

Examples:
– “En zijn jullie klaar voor morgen? Ik heb echt een heel goede presentatie, al zeg ik het zelf.” – “Heb je het nog niet gehoord? De voorlichtingsdag is afgeblazen!” 
(“Are you (guys) ready for tomorrow? My presentation is (going to be) excellent, if I say so myself.” – “Haven’t you heard yet? The information day has been cancelled!”)

– “De scheidsrechter negeerde de extra tijd en blies vroegtijdig af.” 
(“The referee ignored the extra time and ended the match early.” A common alternative to ‘afblazen’ in this context is ‘affluiten’.)

– “Weet je wat, het lijkt mij het beste als we het afblazen, zeg nu zelf, we hebben echt te weinig voorbereidingstijd.” 
(“You know what, I think it’s best if we call it off, let’s be honest, we definitely do not have enough preparation time.”)

– “Ruim een jaar geleden blies president Obama een omstreden plan van George W. Bush voor een raketschild juist af.” (in NRC Handelsblad, 18 November 2010)
(“While over a year ago president Obama called off a controversial plan by George W. Bush for a missile shield.” The use of the word ‘juist’ in the sentence indicates that the described (past) action is contrary to or in contrast with what is done at the moment; I tried to capture this with the word “while” at the beginning of the sentence.)

– ” ‘Het wordt weer vroeger donker en somberheid maakt zich van mij meester’, sprak Richard terwijl de wind de bladeren van het dak blies.” 
(” ‘The days are becoming shorter again and gloominess is taking control of me’, Richard said while the wind blew the leaves off the roof.” Literally “It is getting darker earlier again…”)

Expressions:
– “Stoom afblazen”: to let off steam.

Example:
– “Laat hem maar even stoom afblazen, hij is boos dat het toernooi is afgeblazen.”
(“Just leave him, he needs to let off some steam, he is angry about the tournament having been cancelled.”)

Related words:
Blazen: to blow [verb] [blies, geblazen].
– Beëindigen: to end, to terminate [verb] [beëindigde, beëindigd].
– Annuleren: to cancel [verb] [annuleerde, geannuleerd].
– Affluiten: blowing the whistle to end the match (by referee) [verb] [floot af, afgefloten].
– Aflasten/afgelasten: to cancel, to call off [verb] [(ge)lastte af, afgelast].

Opzeggen

1. to cancel/terminate, to resign, to give notice Click to listen
[verb]
[op-zeg-gen, zei/zeg-de op, op-ge-zegd]

“Opzeggen” in this translation has nothing to do with “zeExit_usbggen”: to say. It does however in the second translation below. The past tense of ‘opzeggen’ in its meaning of ‘to give notice’, ‘to cancel’ can also be ‘zegde’. This comes unnatural to most Dutch people hence you will mostly hear ‘zei’. “Opzeggen” is mostly used when cancelling subscriptions, tenancy or (job) contracts.

Examples:
– “Na de incorrecte berichtgeving hebben veel mensen hun abonnement op de krant opgezegd.”
(“After the inaccurate news coverage many people cancelled their newspaper subscription.”)

– “Goedemiddag, u spreekt met Janssen. Ik wil graag mijn abonnement opzeggen.”  (“Good afternoon, this is Janssen speaking. I would like to cancel my subscription.”)

– “U wilt uw abonnement opzeggen, tja, dat kan alleen schriftelijk. De opzegtermijn is 2 maanden… en ik zie dat uw abonnement net met een jaar is verlengd. Jammer maar helaas! Tot ziens.”
(“You would like to cancel your subscription, well, that is only possible in writing. There is a 2 months’ notice and I see we have just extended your subscription with a year. Too bad. Bye now.”)

– “Heb je het al gehoord, Paula heeft haar baan opgezegd! Een absolute aderlating voor het bedrijf!”
(“Have you heard the news, Paula has resigned from her job! An absolute drain on the company resources.” Literally an “aderlating” is a ‘bloodletting’ and is not only a drain on resources but also implies the person was doing a very good job.)

– “Wat?! Ga je verhuizen? Wanneer?!” – “Volgende maand al jongen! Ik heb de huur vanochtend opgezegd.”
(“What?! You are moving? When?!” – “Next month already mate/buddy! I terminated the tenancy this morning.”)

– “Ik ben van plan om mijn baan op te zeggen, maar ik weet het nog niet helemaal zeker.”
(“I plan to hand in my notice, but I am not entirely sure yet.”)

Related words:
– Ontslag nemen: to resign, to quit one’s job [verb] [nam ontslag, ontslag genomen].
– Ontslag indienen: to hand in one’s resignation [verb] [diende ontslag in, ontslag ingediend].
– Ontslaan: to lay off, to dismiss, to fire [verb] [ontsloeg, ontslagen].
– Beëindigen: to terminate, to end [verb] [beëindigde, beëindigd].
– Opzegging: termination, cancellation, resignation, notice [noun] [de opzegging, de opzeggingen].

Extra: A big annoyance in the Netherlands is the difficulty that it can take to cancel a subscription (to a magazine, cable, internet, phone). Often contracts are renewed automatically each year unless you cancel in time which usually involves a 2 to 3 months’ notice in writing. Then of course they may still pretend they never received your letter… I’ve just googled a bit and apparently there is at least one website that offers assistance in cancelling subscriptions: www.abonnementenopzeggen.nl .

2. to read out (loud), to recite Iconspeaker_3
[verb]
[op-zeg-gen, zei op, op-ge-zegd]

You will also hear ‘hardop opzeggen’ (to read out with a loud voice). Since ‘zeggen’ is used in its meaning of ‘to say’ the past tense that you will hear is ‘zei’. The verb ‘oplezen’ is used when you are just reading and not so much reciting.

Examples:
– “Als je de woorden opzegt blijven ze misschien beter hangen.”
(“If you read the words out loud, you may remember them better.” ‘Hangen’ is informal, a bit like ‘to stick’.)

– “Elke avond zegt hij trouw zijn gebeden op.”
(“Every night he says his prayers with dedication.”)

Related words:
– Oplezen: to read out [verb] [las op, opgelezen].