![[The Face of Dutch]](artwork/FaceDutch120.jpg) |
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'The Mini-Titans' ... more of the finest Dutch writing
| 'The Mini-Titans' | Nescio: Titaantjes
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| We were just kids - but nice kids. If I may say so myself. | Jongens waren we - maar aardige jongens. Al zeg ik
't zelf.
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| We are much wiser now, it's pitiable how prudent we've become - except for Bavink, who's gone crazy. | We zijn nu veel wijzer, stakkerig wijs zijn we,
behalve Bavink, die mal geworden is.
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| We had big plans to fix things. | Wat hebben we al niet willen opknappen.
2
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| We were going to show them how things should be done. | We
zouden hun wel eens laten zien hoe 't moest.
2
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| We, that were the five of us. All other people were 'they.' | We, dat waren wij, met z'n vijven. Alle andere
mensen waren 'ze'.
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| 'They,' who didn't understand anything and didn't see anything. | 'Ze', die niets snapten en niets zagen.
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| 'What?' Bavink said, 'God? Are you talking about God? Their hot meal is their God.' | 'Wat?' zei Bavink, 'God? Je praat over God? Hun
warme eten is hun God.'
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| Except for a few 'good guys' we despised everyone. | Op enkele 'goeie kerels' na werd iedereen door ons veracht.
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| Very, very quietly I'll add 'and rightly' now, but I wouldn't want anybody to hear that. | Heel stilletjes zeg ik daar nu bij: 'En niet ten
onrechte', maar dat mag niemand horen.
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| I am not a hero anymore. You never know how you'll need people. | Ik ben nu geen held meer. Je weet niet hoe je de
mensen nog eens nodig kunt hebben.
2
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| And Hoyer also thinks you should not give offense. Of Bekker we don't see or hear anything anymore. | En Hoyer vindt ook dat je geen aanstoot moet
geven. Van Bekker zie of hoor je niks meer.
2
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| And Kees Ploeger talks of those bad men that put him on the wrong track. | En Kees Ploeger praat van die rare
kerels
die 'm op
de slechte weg brachten.
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| But those were the days of our foolishness, when we were God's elect, even God himself. | Maar toen waren we in de dagen van onze dwaasheid,
de uitverkorenen God, ja God zelf.
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| Now we have become prudent, again except for Bavink, and we look at each other and smile, and I tell Hoyer: 'things have not improved.' | Verstandig zijn we nu, alweer behalve Bavink, en we
kijken mekaar aan en glimlachen en ik zeg tegen Hoyer: 'we zijn er
niet op vooruit gegaan.'
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| But Hoyer is too far gone already, he's joining the ranks of the Labor Party bigshots and signals doubt with his hands and shoulders. | Maar Hoyer is al te ver heen, hij begint bij de
bonzen van de SDAP te horen, en maakt een gebaar van twijfel met
z'n handen en z'n schouders.
2
3 |
| kennen | to know (people) | weten | to know (things) | gaan | to go | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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ik ken jij kent hij kent wij kennen jullie kennen zij kennen U kent
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(I know) (you know) (he knows) (we know) (you know) (they know) (you know) |
ik weet jij weet hij weet wij weten jullie weten zij weten U weet
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(I know) (you know) (he knows) (we know) (you know) (they know) (you know) |
ik ga jij gaat hij gaat wij gaan jullie gaan zij gaan U gaat
2
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(I go) (you go) (he goes) (we go) (you go) (they go) (you go) |
(you - singular, informal) (you - plural, informal) (you - polite) |
)
)
2)
)
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Exceptions Regular I: According to The Spelling Rules: If removing the -en would result in a stem ending in a single consonant preceded by a single vowel, then that single vowel will be doubled. When removing the -en would result in a stem ending in a double consonant, then one of the consonants is dropped. Examples:
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Exceptions Regular II: In Dutch, there always has to be a vowel after a V or a Z; otherwise, they change to F or S respectively. (The vowel before V or Z is always long.) Examples:
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Exceptions Irregular:
doen, zien - stem: doe, zie
gaan, staan - stem: ga, sta
zijn, hebben (to be, to have) - very irregular verbs
we have seen and heard in the previous two lessons.
Find a few more irregular verbs at the end of this lessons's verbs section.
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-
doe jij?
2
(no difference in pronunciation) - it's a problem for many Dutchmen too.
| zitten | (to sit, be sitting, be seated) | vinden | (to find) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| zitten ik zit jij zit hij zit wij zitten jullie zitten zij zitten U zit
| (to sit) (I sit) (you sit) (he sits) (we sit) (you sit) (they sit) (you sit) |
zit ik? zit je? zit hij? zitten we? zitten jullie? zitten ze? zit U?
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(am I sitting down?) (are you sitting down?) (is he sitting down?) (are we sitting down?) (are you sitting down?) (are they sitting down?) (are you sitting down?) |
vinden ik vind jij vindt hij vindt wij vinden jullie vinden zij vinden U vindt
| (to find) (I find) (you find) (he finds) (we find) (you find) (they find) (you find) |
vind ik? vind jij? vindt hij? vinden wij? vinden jullie? vinden zij? vindt U?
2
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(do I find?) (do you find?) (does he find?) (do we find?) (do you find?) (do they find?) (do you find?) |
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| mogen (to be allowed to, 'may') | kunnen (to be able to, 'can') | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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mogen ik mag jij mag hij mag wij mogen jullie mogen zij mogen U mag
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('may') (I 'may') (you 'may') (he 'may') (we 'may') (you 'may') (they 'may') (you 'may') |
kunnen ik kan jij kunt hij kan wij kunnen jullie kunnen zij kunnen U kunt
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('can') (I 'can') (you 'can') (he 'can') (we 'can') (you 'can') (they 'can') (you 'can') |
mag jij? kun jij? |
are you allowed to? are you able to? |
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You can say both jij kan and jij kunt, and also U
kan and U kunt.
Note that there is no T in jij mag, hij mag and jij kan, hij kan |
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A few common Dutch verbs have a short vowel in the singular and a long vowel in the plural. It's more common in the past tense; for the present the only example I can think of is komen ('to come'):
| komen (to come) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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ik kom jij komt hij komt wij komen jullie komen zij komen U komt
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(I come) (you come) (he comes) (we come) (you come) (they come) (you come) |
kom ik? kom jij? komt hij? komen wij? komen jullie? komen zij? komt U?
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(am I coming?) (are you coming?) (is he coming?) (are we coming?) (are you coming?) (are they coming?) (are you coming?) |
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In Dutch, we don't say something like '"How are you?" to about
everyone we meet, like in America. Just say it to people you already know.
Alstublieft
is 'please,' but it's also said when you hand someone something, like
'here you are.'
I have the impression people in England and America don't
say something like "Enjoy your meal" to the other diners at the table,
it's the waiter or waitress who says that; but in Holland, to say
Eet smakelijk
to your fellow diners is very common.
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Birthday |
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eerste tweede derde vierde vijfde
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1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th |
zesde zevende achtste negende tiende
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6th 7th 8th 9th 10th |
elfde twaalfde dertiende veertiende vijftiende
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11th 12th 13th 14th 15th |
twintigste eenentwintigste honderdste duizendste miljoenste
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20th 21st 100th 1000th 1,000,000th |
![[a map showing hte land reclamation in the former Zuyder Zee]](NL/NLIJsselmeerpolders.gif)
Urk
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De IJsselmeerpolders
2
('the reclaimed land in Lake IJssel')
Work on the Closing Dam ('Afsluitdijk') was started
Old and New The reclaimed land:
Andijk - (a small 1927 experiment)
Oostelijk Flevoland - (1950-57 - 525 km², 200 sq. miles)
For the Markerwaard some dams were laid, but Cities Old
Cities New
In the old days, ships had to sail down the Zuider
Zee to reach
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![[a map of the South-West of Holland, showing the extent of
the 1953 flooding
and the dams and other protection measures built since]](NL/NLDeltawerken.gif)
Maps drawn by Marco Schuffelen, after 'Kleine Geografie van Nederland,' - Published by 'Het Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken' (State Department), The Hague, Holland 1983 |
In early 1953, the combination of a very high tide and a full day of
high winds from exactly the wrong direction caused widespread
flooding in Southwestern Holland. 1854 People died. The water kept
rising after the tide was expected to turn - it must have
been very frightening.
The main problem seems to have been that the landside of the dikes quickly washes away when large amounts of water come over the dike. After the disaster a grand plan was developed that drastically shortened the coastline, so it was much easier to strengthen and maintain the dikes exposed to the sea.
Het Deltaplan
De Watersnoodramp (The Flood Disaster)
The real Hans Brinker To maintain a saltwater and tides environment one opening to the sea was not closed off with a permanent dam, but a $3 billion storm-surge barrier was built that can be lowered when a gale threatens. (The line of dots in the lower map.)
Flushing is the English name for the port of Vlissingen. |
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Don't be a
dief (thief) /
dievegge (female thief) -
diefstal (theft) -
stelen (to steal) -
heler (dealer in stolen goods) -
hear Dutch -
2
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