Hello and goodbye

This is the first lesson. You may already know a few Dutch words from a visit, from colleagues or from television. Try first, then open the answer.

1. How do you say "hello" to a friend?
   Answer

   Hallo or Hoi. Both are very common.
2. How do you say "thank you"?
   Answer

   Dank je wel. To someone you call u: Dank u wel. You learn when in this lesson.
3. What does doei mean?
   Answer

   "bye". It is friendly and informal. You hear it everywhere, from shops to offices.

You arrive in Utrecht. You are renting a flat here for a few months. You ring the bell, and the landlord opens the door: Peter Visser. He gives you the key.

On the stairs you meet your neighbour, Ans de Wit. She is older than you. In the evening, when you go out, you see her again.

In the conversation you are called Sam. When you practise, use your own name, of course.

Mr Visser asks: Bent u Sam? You answer: Ik ben Sam. Ans says: Ik ben je buurvrouw. This is the verb zijn, "to be".

Je and jij mean the same. Use jij when you want to stress it: Dank je, jij ook! In other sentences, je is the usual form. You will often hear ze for "she" too: ze is and zij is are the same.

When do you say u, when je?

In the Netherlands je is very common: with friends, colleagues, neighbours, in most shops, and with strangers of about your own age. U is for distance or respect: someone much older, a landlord, a person at a desk, a formal letter.

Not sure? Start with u. Many Dutch people will soon say Zeg maar je: "you can call me je". Then you switch, like Sam with Ans. Someone who says u is not being cold, and someone who says je is not being rude.

Watch out: no "am" in Hoe gaat het?

Hoe gaat het? is the normal way to ask "How are you?". Word for word it is "How goes it?". Do not translate "How are you?" with zijn.

How it sounds

• The g in goedemorgen and goedemiddag is a rough sound at the back of the throat, like the ch in Scottish loch. It is never the g of English go.
• oe in goed and doei sounds like oo in English food.
• The ij in zijn and jij is close to the vowel in English bay.
• At the end of a word, d sounds like t: goed ends with a t sound.

Choose what you say.

• In lesson 1.2, "Where are you from?", you meet Sanne in a café. You say je to each other from the start: hoi, doei and Ik ben Sam come back.
• In lesson 1.4 you visit Ans for coffee, and you meet her family on her phone.
• After a week you get three quick questions: about the evening greeting, about u and je, and about the forms of zijn.