A Dutch Vocabulary List For Learners
If you don’t know where to start learning Dutch, we made a Dutch vocabulary list for you. You can use this as your personal list for vocabulary recap every week. The Dutch words are listed by how often they are used. We also provide you with detailed grammatical information, and part of speech. We also provide you with IPA phonetic spelling, so you always know how to pronounce words correctly. Each entry comes with a bilingual sample sentence, so you can see them being used in context. They also provide you with bilingual reading practice.
MostUsedWords Frequency Dictionaries can be downloaded as ebooks from our website. They are also available as paperbacks on Amazon. These dictionaries provide vocabulary in various levels of fluency: beginners, intermediates, advanced, and near-fluent vocabulary for learners. The links above are affiliate links. Meaning, we might get a small commission if you make a purchase through these links, at no extra cost to you.
How Many Words Should You Know To Achieve Fluency At Different Levels?
Beginner – 250 to 500 words should suffice if you are just beginning to learn a language. You'll be able to hold basic conversations and navigate in tourist situations after just one week of studying. 500 words is enough to get you through everyday life in most languages.
Conversational – With only 1,000 to 3,000 words, you can communicate in almost all languages. You can then ask people about their day and tell them how you are doing.
Advanced – You will become more fluent in a language by learning between 4,000 and 10,000 words. This will allow you to use more specific vocabulary to discuss professional topics, current events, opinions and other complex topics. The 5000 most common Dutch words bundle will allow you to take your language skills up a notch.
Fluent – With around 10,000 words in your vocabulary, you can speak about almost any topic with ease. Additionally, you can recognize unfamiliar words with enough knowledge. Save even more and get a bigger discount if you order the 10,000 most common Dutch words at once.
Native – Word counts in different languages are not the same, so it can be difficult to estimate how many words native speakers know. An estimate of the number of words a native English speaker could know ranges between 10,000 and 65,000+
Dutch Vocabulary List
The Foundation
These are the most commonly used words you can find in the Dutch vocabulary. This is the key on how you can construct the most basic sentences or answers to basic questions.
ja means “yes”
nee means “no”
Begrijp je dat? means “do you understand?”
Ik begrijp het niet means “I don’t understand”
ik weet het niet means “I don’t know”
ik ben verdwaald means “I'm lost”
ik heb geen idee means “I have no idea”
ik spreek geen nederlands means “I don’t speak Dutch”
Introduce Yourself
Maybe you found yourself in a situation where you need to meet and chat with someone you don’t know. Here are some ways to introduce yourself to them:
mijn naam is… means “my name is…”
Ik ben… means “I’m…”
wat is jouw naam? means “what is your name?”
Ik kom uit… means “I am from…”
What’s Up
These are ways to ask someone what’s going on with their lives or a specific situation. You can use these Dutch words and phrases to start small talks:
Hoe is het? means “how are you?”
hoe gaat het? means “what’s up?” or “how’s it going?”
wat doe je? means “what are you doing?”
wat gebeurt er? means “what is happening?”
Etiquette Words
Etiquette can bring you to places around the world! Learn these polite Dutch words:
graag gedaan! means “you’re welcome!”
alsjeblieft means “please”
neem me niet kwalijk means “excuse me”
droevig means “sorry”
bedankt means “thank you”
zegen u means “bless you”
Essential Questions
These are the key questions you might use any time to any context:
wat? means “what?”
wie? means “who?”
wanneer? means “when?”
waar? means “where?”
waarom? means “why?”
welke? means “which?”
hoe? means “how?”
Dutch Pronouns
Pronouns are essential to make our sentences clearer, less awkward, and smoother. It is important to consider the gender of the noun to address them accordingly:
I means “I”
jij means “you”
hij means “he”
zij means “she”
wij means “we”
zij means “they”
Greetings
It’s a nice thing to know how to greet other people. You can start with a simple hallo!:
hallo means “hello”
goedemorgen means “good morning”
goedemiddag means “good afternoon”
goedeavond means “good evening”
goedenacht means “good night”
Saying Goodbye
It is polite to say "goodbye" and let the other person know you are leaving before you go:
tot ziens means “goodbye” or “see you later”
tot snel means “see you”
tot morgen means “see you tomorrow”
wees voorzichtig! means “take care!”
prettige dag! means “have a nice day!”
tot ziens! means “see you soon!”
goede reis! means “have a good trip!”
Days of the Week
Talking about specific times or dates, you should know how to say the days of the week:
Zondag means “Sunday”
Maandag means “Monday”
Dinsdag means “Tuesday”
Woensdag means “Wednesday”
Donderdag means “Thursday”
Vrijdag means “Friday”
Zaterdag means “Saturday”
Other Time Words
Of course you can’t miss the general terms used to address the time! Here are some:
eergisteren means “day before yesterday”
gisteren means “yesterday”
jaar means “year”
dag means “day”
maand means “month”
eeuw means “century”
uur means “hour”
vandaag means “today”
week means “week”
ochtendgloren means “dawn”
morgen means “tomorrow”
ochtend means “morning”
middernacht means “midnight”
middag means “noon”
minuut means “minute”
nacht means “night”
overmorgen means “day after tomorrow”
seconden means “seconds”
middag means “afternoon”
Nuclear Family
Addressing your family member is necessary, isn't it? You should know how to address them in your target language so that when you speak to them or talk about them with others, they would know who you are talking about:
vader means “father”
pa means “dad”
moeder means “mother”
mama means “mom”
broer means “brother”
zus means “sister”
zoon means “son”
dochter means “daughter”
hechte familie means “close family”
Personality and Emotions
With these Dutch words, you can describe your feelings and other people’s character:
blij means “joyful”
grappig means “funny”
echt means “serious”
verlegen means “shy”
moedig means “brave”
gek means “crazy”
tevredenheid means “content”
vrolijk means “happy”
bezorgd means “worried”
zenuwachtig means “nervous”
rustig means “tranquil”
kalm means “calm”
opgewonden means “excited”
Start Learning Today!
Although we provided you with a general Dutch vocabulary list in this article, it isn’t enough to achieve a level of actual fluency in the language. Learn more with MostUsedWords Frequency Dictionaries! Each dictionary follows the same layout. The only thing that differs is the range of vocabulary. You can download them as ebooks on our website, or as paperbacks on Amazon.
Each of the dictionaries contains English translations of the Dutch words, accompanied by example sentences to know the right use of words in context. Each word also has IPA phonetic spelling as pronunciation guide, as well as a detailed part of speech information!
- 2500 Most Common Dutch Words for Beginners
- 2501-5000 Most Common Dutch Words for Intermediates
- 5001-7500 Most Common Dutch Words for Advanced Students
- 7501-10,000 Most Common Dutch Words for Near-Fluent Learners
You can expand your vocabulary by learning new words through context. Reading can help you to understand the flow and grammar since this mimics natural language learning and will help you learn new vocabulary by allowing you to use context. You'll be able to retain words quicker if you are exposed to them repeatedly.