Basic Dutch Words and Phrases for Beginners (With Pronunciation)

The basic Dutch words to learn first are hallo (hello), dag (hi or bye), dank je and dank u (thank you), alsjeblieft and alstublieft (please, and also here you go), ja and nee, sorry, plus Spreekt u Engels? and Waar is het toilet? Then learn the throat sound in g and ch, and numbers like eenentwintig, literally one-and-twenty.

How Dutch sounds: a cheat sheet for English speakers

Dutch spelling is fairly regular once you know a handful of letter combinations. In the respellings below, kh stands for the throaty sound in Scottish loch, and uu for the vowel in German München.

The northern g, heard in Amsterdam or Rotterdam, is the hardest sound for English speakers. In Flanders and the southern Netherlands it is much softer. Either way, never say it like the hard g in go: goedemorgen starts with a breathy kh, not a g.

Greetings and goodbyes

Watch out for dag: it works both coming and going, so a shopkeeper saying it as you leave is wishing you goodbye. Goedenavond is an evening greeting, not a bedtime one; say welterusten or slaap lekker (sleep well) when someone heads to bed. More greetings with audio are on the Dutch greetings page.

Please, thank you and sorry: the alstublieft trap

The big one: alstublieft does double duty. It means please when you ask (De rekening, alstublieft, the check, please), and it also means here you go when you hand something over. At a register the cashier gives you your change with alstublieft, and you answer dank u wel. You may also hear it as a reply to thanks.

Je or u: which you to use

Dutch has an informal you, jij (or je when unstressed), and a formal one, u. Every polite phrase above comes in both versions, which is why you see pairs like dank je and dank u. In the Netherlands, u is used less and less: it is mainly for older people and formal settings, and most adults your age will say je to you. In Flanders the polite form is much more common. If you aren't sure, start with u: using it where je would do only sounds a little formal, while je in the wrong place can come across as rude.

Survival phrases for travelers

Most Dutch and Flemish people speak good English and will often switch to it when they hear an accent. If you want the practice, say you're learning and ask to keep going in Dutch. For more lines, see the Dutch travel phrases and the restaurant phrases.

Numbers one to twenty, and why 21 comes out backward

From 21 on, Dutch says the unit first, then en (and), then the ten, all in one word: eenentwintig (21, one-and-twenty), tweeëntwintig (22), achtentwintig (28), drieëntachtig (83). With prices and phone numbers, wait for the end before writing digits. The tens have their own small traps: dertien and dertig (13 and 30) swap the letters of drie, veertien and veertig (14 and 40) use vee- rather than vier-, and 80 is tachtig, with an extra t. 100 is honderd.

Telling time has one classic trap. Half tien means half past nine, because Dutch counts toward the coming hour: it is half of the way to ten. Turn up at 10:30 and you'll be an hour late. Kwart over twee is a quarter past two.

De or het: the two words for the

Dutch has two words for the. Masculine and feminine nouns take de and neuter nouns take het. The indefinite een (a, an) is the same for all of them. You can't reliably guess which one a noun takes, so learn the article with each word, for example from the Dutch vocabulary lists. Two rules do help: every plural takes de, and every diminutive (a noun ending in -je) takes het, which is why het meisje (the girl) and het kaartje (the ticket) are neuter.

False friends that catch English speakers

Belgian Dutch (Flemish) variants you'll hear

Say this today: five sentences

When these feel easy, the Dutch stories show the same words in context, and the tips guide covers what to learn next. The g and the ui only get easier by saying them, so practice them out loud with Polly, the PollyStop tutor.

Frequently asked questions

What are the most basic Dutch words to learn first?

Start with hallo, dag, tot ziens, dank je and dank u, alsjeblieft and alstublieft, graag gedaan, sorry, ja and nee, then Spreekt u Engels?, Waar is het toilet? and Hoeveel kost dit?, plus the numbers one to twenty. Learn de or het with every noun.

What is the difference between alsjeblieft and alstublieft?

They mean the same thing, please or here you go. Alsjeblieft goes with the informal je, for friends and people your age. Alstublieft goes with the formal u, for older people and formal situations, and it is heard more often in Belgium.

How do you pronounce the Dutch g?

In the Netherlands it is a rough kh sound at the back of the throat, like the ch in Scottish loch, for both g and ch. In Belgium and the southern Netherlands it is a much softer sound. It is never the hard g of English go.

Why does Dutch say twenty-one as one-and-twenty?

Dutch builds 21 to 99 as unit, then en (and), then the ten, written as one word: eenentwintig is 21 and achtentwintig is 28. Listen to the whole number before writing digits down.