Dutch/Lesson 17

Advanced level
Welcome to the first lesson of the advanced level of this course. You should have a pretty good understanding of Dutch grammar, a good basis in syntax and a considerable vocabulary by now. This means that you should be able to practice your Dutch on your own through books, websites, videos, TV programs etc. etc.

The advanced level will concentrate on a number of special topics that will deepen your command of the language. This part of the course is the least developed in terms of practice or cultural context and is more aimed at being a reference source for you to come back to when you run into things you do not quite understand when using your Dutch out there on your own.

Bijwoorden
We have seen two major groups of words in the Dutch language: naamwoorden (nouns, adverbs, pronouns etc.) and werkwoorden (transitive verbs, intransitives, copula's, auxiliaries). The third group that comprises all the rest is known as bijwoorden (adverbs) and again they occur in a number of forms. Unfortunately it is not possible to classify them quite as thoroughly as the other two groups. In fact it is a bit of a miscellaneous rest group, a kind garbage can into which anything is flung that does not fit in the other two.

We have already seen a few groups of words that fall under the denominator bijwoord in the more extensive sense of the word and we will examine a few more


 * 1) prepositional adverbs, like in, voor, mee, toe, heen, af etc.
 * 2) prepositions like in, op, bij, over, met, tot
 * 3) conjunctions (including subjunctions)
 * 4) modal adverbs (particles) like wel, maar, eens, ...
 * 5) adverbs of place and time, like nu, toen, dan or daar, waar
 * 6) interjections, like oh, hoi, ach, dag, nou

Prepositions and prepositional adverbs
Prepositions are often hard to translate exactly because which one is used in which case often differs between the languages.

Historically, prepositions developed from adverbs that were put before an object to clarify the meaning of a case ending. Later they supplanted the use of the case endings completely.

In Dutch many prepositions have an—often identical—adverbial form, the prepositional adverb, that occurs either as part of a separable verb or as the prepositional part of the pronominal adverb or simply by itself. As we have seen both of those compounds play a considerable role in Dutch grammar. Thus the separation between prepositions and adverbs is not as sharp in Dutch as it is in some other languages. In a sense Dutch is a rather adverbial language: adverbs play a major role.

Another role that prepositional adverbs sometimes play is that of complement of a copula (predicate):


 * De licht is aan en blijft aan
 * De bal is uit.

However, there are also prepositions that are just that: prepositions and not adverbs. They are historically from a later date and have often resulted from nouns or participles that got used as prepositions. They cannot be used to form pronominal adverbs, separable verbs or predicates.

Conversely, there are adverbs that never became prepositions, but they do get used to form compound verbs, pronominal adverbs and predicates, e.g. af:


 * pronominal adverb: eraf - er niet af
 * separable verb: afschieten - hij schoot af
 * predicate: het is nog niet af

Below is a list of the most common prepositions and prepositional adverbs to give an idea how they are used. The table gives an overview of the various roles that prepositions and their adverbs can play.

There is a number of forms that were formed by prefixing be- and often end in -(e)n, cf.


 * in - binnen
 * uit - buiten
 * over - boven
 * ne(d)er - beneden

English has a few comparable forms like before, between, beside, below and behind

IN, BINNEN
In translates mostly as its cognate in


 * hij woont in dat huis - he lives in that house
 * hij gelooft in spoken - he believes in ghosts

Its identical adverb in often occurs pronominal replacement: erin, daarin (in it, in there) etc. as well as in separable verbs as will be shown below.

Notice that Dutch does not have an equivalent of into but uses in as prepositional adverb to express the concept of movement 'into' something.

An alternative is to use binnen which often translates into inside


 * hij is binnen - he is inside
 * binnenlopen:
 * e.g. Hij liep het huis binnen. ‘’He entered the house.’’
 * binnen twee minuten - within two minutes

To emphasize movement naar can be added:


 * hij liep naar binnen - he walked in
 * hij liep er naar binnen - he entered it

Notice that Dutch grammar has no hangups about ending sentences in 'prepositions'. A word like binnen is not considered a preposition unless it actually precedes a noun. Otherwise it is an adverb and there is no law against ending a sentence in an adverb...

UIT, BUITEN
uit is represented by out of or from


 * uit dit erts wordt goud gewonnen - out of this ore gold is produced
 * hij komt uit Utrecht - he is from Utrecht

buiten usually means outside


 * buiten de stad - outside the city
 * hij is buiten - he is outside
 * hij ging naar buiten - he went ouside'

DOOR
door is a cognate of through and often corresponds to it:


 * Het licht valt door het raam. The light shines through the window.

In many cases the correct translation is by particularly when it is used with the passive voice:


 * Hij is door de wol geverfd. lit. He has been dyed by the wool. (He is a veteran, old hand.)

Together with heen the meaning is through and through or passage through:


 * Hij stak de naald door het vel heen. He stuck the needle (all the way) through the skin.

BIJ
Although the word is cognate of by it often is used rather differently. It indicates a location slightly to the side of something.


 * Schiphol ligt bij Amsterdam - Schiphol is near Amsterdam
 * bij de les blijven - stay with the lesson
 * bij slecht weer - in the case of bad weather
 * het is bij vijven - it is around five o'clock
 * hij bleef erbij - he stuck to it

OP
Although cognate of up it usually translates as on or upon


 * hij is op vakantie - he is on vacation
 * het boek ligt op de tafel - the book lies on the table.
 * op je gezondheid - a toast to you health (not : up your .. etc.)

NAAST
naast translates mostly into next to, beside


 * Jan en Elly wonen naast John en Heleen. Jan and Elly are the neighbors of John and Heleen.
 * Zij wonen ernaast.

OVER
over translates mostly as it identical cognate:


 * hij vloog over het koekoeksnest - he flew over the cuckoo's nest

It can also translate as about
 * hij praat veel over auto's. He talks a lot about cars.

BOVEN
boven translates as its cognate above


 * hij zette er een punt boven: he put a dot above it.

Its identical adverb usually means up, upstairs


 * hij is boven : he is upstairs

To indicate movement Dutch uses naar


 * hij liep naar boven - he went upstairs, he went up the hill etc.

TEGEN
tegen usually translates as against


 * hij was tegen dit wetsvoorstel - he opposed this proposition
 * de fiets stond tegen de muur - the bike stood against the wall

but:


 * hij zei tegen haar - he said to her

ZONDER
zonder means without


 * hij drinkt koffie zonder suiker

TEGENOVER
tegenover means on the opposite side of.


 * Het hotel staat tegenover het conferentiecentrum. The hotel is opposite the conference center.

VOOR
This preposition has two meanings, one corresponds to English for


 * Dat is voor jóú. That is for you

But with a different stress pattern is means before either in place or time or in favor of


 * Hij is vóór jou. He is before you (in line e.g.)
 * Hij stemde vóór de motie. He voted in favor of the motion

Used as an adverb, it often gets an ending -en:


 * Hij liep naar voren. He walked to the front.

ACHTER
Achter is mostly translated as behind. Some dialects, e.g. in Zeeland and West Flanders have a form bachten in the meaning of behind but it is not considered part of standard Dutch.


 * Hij stond achter de tafel. He stood behind the table.

As adverb it can also translate into back:


 * Hij keek naar achter. He looked back

In that meaning it often gets an ending -en:


 * Hij liep naar achteren. He walked to the back.

ACHTERIN
achterin translate mostly into in the back of


 * Achterin de auto liggen nog wat boodschappen - In the trunk of the car there a still a few groceries

It is often used as an adverb together with in:


 * Het lag achterin in de auto

ACHTEROP
achterop is mostly used to indicate the passenger seat of a bike and is used as an adverb. As a preposition it falls apart. (See lesson 23.)


 * achter op de fiets - on de back of the bike
 * met z'n meisie achterop - with his girl on the back

NE(D)ER, BENEDEN
The form beneden can be used as preposition in the meaning of below, under underneath, south of


 * beneden de rivieren - south of the rivers (i.e. Rhine, Meuse etc.)
 * beneden de Iridiumlaag vind je dinosaurusbotten - below the Iridium layer you find dinosaur bones

With naar it indicates downward movement:


 * hij viel naar beneden - he fell down

The form neer (<neder) is not used as a preposition but occurs as an adverb with the meaning of down in separable verbs.

BEZIJDEN
bezijden is comparable to besides but occurs mostly in the expression.


 * bezijden de waarheid - aside of the truth (i.e. not true)

BENEVENS
benevens is a rather formal alternative to naast (besides, next to).


 * benevens de aandelen is er het huizenbezit - besides the stocks is there the real estate

ONDER
onder is the cognate of under and has similar applications:


 * de hond ligt onder de tafel - het dog lies under the table

It can also be used in the meaning of among:


 * onder professoren - in the circle of professors

Used as adverb it can get an ending -en


 * Het is van onderen wit. It is white on the bottom side.

MET/ME(D)E


met usually means with.


 * hij gaat met zijn vrouw naar Canada - he goes to Canada with his wife

Its adverbial form is mee (or originally: mede).

NAAR, TOT, TOE, HEEN, WEER
naar translates mostly as to or at:


 * hij kijkt naar het schilderij - he looks at the painting
 * hij kijkt ernaar - he looks at it.
 * hij gaat naar Kaapstad - he is going to Cape Town

In the sense of to rather than at naar is often reinforced by adding the adverb toe:


 * hij gaat naar Kaapstad toe

In pronominal replacement the addition is mandatory:


 * hij gaat ernaartoe

Alternatively, however, one can say:


 * hij gaat erheen - he is going there

heen is an adverb that indicates movement. It does not occur as preposition but there are separable verbs:


 * heengaan - to leave (usually permanently)


 * hij ging heen - he left

Its opposite is weer (from: we(d)er- that means back or again)


 * heen en weer - back and forth

It occurs in separables like:


 * weerkeren
 * hij keerde weer - he came back
 * de wederkomst - the second coming

It is related to with as in withstand and forms inseparable verbs as in English:


 * weerstaan - withstand

toe is the adverbial form of the preposition tot that mostly means until or to:


 * dit is geldig tot het eind van de maand - this is valid until the end of the month
 * dit dient tot versterking van de dijk - this serves to reinforce the dyke
 * dit is waartoe het dient - this is the purpose it serves

Another meaning of toe is closing, narrowing. Somewhat archaic is:
 * doe dat eens toe - please would you close that

It also occurs in expressions like:
 * af en toe - occasionally, now and then

and it occurs in a separable verb like:


 * zich toespitsen - become more acute - coming to climax
 * e.g. Het geweld spitst zich toe. The violence is exacerbating.

A leftover of the old case system are expressions like


 * tot bloedens toe -- until blood was flowing
 * tot vervelens toe -- ad nauseam

Notice that the verb appears as a genitive case: bloedens, vervelens. Although uncommon this genitive is still somewhat productive.

TUSSEN
tussen means mostly between


 * tussen Maryland en Noord-Carolina ligt Virginia. Between Maryland and North Carolina lies Virginia

VAN, AF
van translates mostly into of and from:


 * van verse tomaten is een heerlijke soep te bereiden - a delicious soup can be made of fresh tomatoes
 * het westen van het land - the west of the country
 * hij komt van ver - he comes from far
 * hij viel van zijn stoel - he fell off his chair

When a downwards motion or fall is implied as in the latter case, the adverb af (cognate of off) can be added:


 * hij viel van de trap - he fell off the stairs
 * hij viel eraf - he fell off
 * het water komt van die berg af - the water comes from that mountain
 * het komt ervanaf - it comes off of it

af does not occur as proposition, but is part of separable verbs:

AAN
aan has various translations such as to, at, on or is implied in an English verb. It typically implies a touching or reaching until contact is made.


 * Zij plakten een affiche aan de muur - They stuck a poster on the wall
 * Hier komt deze laag aan de oppervlakte - Here this layer reaches the surface
 * Aan deze feiten valt niet te twijfelen - These facts can not be doubted
 * Er valt weinig aan te doen - There is little we can do about it
 * Wat is er aan de hand? - What is at hand? What is happening?
 * Hij zit aan het schilderij - He is touching the painting
 * Hij zit eraan - He is touching it
 * Nergens aan zitten! - Hands off!

A prepositional object with aan replaces an indirect object:
 * Hij gaf hem een book - He gave him the book
 * Hij gaf een boek aan hem - He gave a book to him

af is the opposite of aan in:
 * af en aan - off and on

But uit can also be the opposite:


 * Is het licht aan of uit? - Is the light on or off?

OM
om can mean around:


 * hij deed een nieuwe band om de velg - he put a new tire around the rim
 * om de burcht ligt een gracht - there is a moat around the castle

In this meaning it is often reinforced with heen:


 * er ligt een gracht om de stad heen
 * er ligt een gracht omheen

It can also have less literal meaning of about, because of, for:


 * dit werd om onduidelijke redenen afgelast - this was cancelled for unclear reasons

There are separable verbs:


 * omdoen - wrap around
 * e.g. Zij deed een sjaal om. She put a shawl around her neck.

Under German influence om can also imply change, inversion.


 * hij liet zich ompraten - he allowed himself to be persuaded to change his mind
 * wegomlegging - detour

LANGS
langs evokes a parallel position or motion and is mostly translated by along.


 * langs de rivier loopt een weg - there is a road along the river
 * hij liep erlangs - he passed by it

MIS
As in English this adverb conveys the meaning of 'wrong', 'flawed'. It is not used as a preposition. Its antonym is raak.