17 notes · ~70 min total

The things that actually block you.

Not a textbook. The specific rules that unlock whole categories of sentences once they click — plus the ones every course skips because they're hard to teach.

VerbsHow to conjugate, every verb, practiceNumbersUnits before tens, prices, years, datesTelling the timehalf drie is 2:30, and timetables
  1. 01Where to put the verbThe #1 thing that makes you sound foreign. Two small rules fix it.
  2. 02de or hetDutch has two words for 'the'. There is no rule. Here is what to do instead.
  3. 03Talking about nowTake the verb, chop the end off, add nothing or add -t. That is genuinely it.
  4. 04Talking about yesterdayDutch says 'I have worked' where you would say 'I worked'. Learn this one pattern and you can talk about the past.
  5. 05Verbs that break in halfWhy 'opbellen' turns into 'ik bel je op' — and why you must listen to the end of Dutch sentences.
  6. 06The little words that make you sound humaneven, maar, toch, hoor, wel. They mean nothing and change everything.
  7. 07The word 'er'You will hear it in every conversation. You do not need to master it — you need to recognise it.
  8. 08How to say noDutch has two words for 'not'. One rule tells you which.
  9. 09je or uBeing too polite in the Netherlands is its own kind of mistake.
  10. 10How to make the soundsSix sounds English does not have. Fix these and your accent improves more than from 100 new words.
  11. 11Bigger, better, the bestStops 'meer goedkoop' and 'groter als'. Dutch adds -er and -st, and says dan.
  12. 12Sentences with because, that and ifStops 'omdat ik heb geen tijd'. After words like omdat and dat, the verb goes to the end.
  13. 13Who, which and thatStops 'het huis die' and 'de man dat'. The noun picks the word, and the verb goes last.
  14. 14Must, may, can and wantStops 'je moet niet komen' when you mean 'you don't have to come'. One wrong word turns 'no need' into 'don't'.
  15. 15Talking about tomorrowStops you putting zal in every future sentence. Most of the time Dutch just uses the present tense.
  16. 16Would, could and shouldStops your requests sounding like orders. One small word makes you polite, careful and hypothetical.
  17. 17Things being doneEvery letter from the gemeente is full of it. Stops you mixing up 'wordt gedaan' and 'is gedaan'.