Lesson 2: BeHave

This local copy which is for quick reference only doesn't contain sound files. If you want listen pronouncuiation of all listed words you should access original page at http://www.blue.demon.nl/dutch/l02.htm

In this lesson we'll finish off the verb "zijn" {to be} with the plural personal pronouns. We'll introduce the verb "hebben" {to have} and a regular verb "werken" {to work} (yeah, I know, work work work).
Some more vowel sounds and difficult consonants will be handled.
Some diphthongs are given.
And finally some abusive language..

Spelling
Pronunciation
Grammar
Vocabulary
Sentences
Bad language

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Spelling

The Dutch language has many diphthongs (two or more vowels forming one sound together). We already had the "ie" diphthong. We'll introduce some more:
"aa", "ee", "oo", "ei"
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Dutch also has some sorta consonant diphthong: one of them is "ch", it usually sounds just like "g" (see below). Why have two things for the same sound? In the old times (before 1920) the "g" and the "ch" sounded different, this also is valid for other letters and diphthong, like "ij" and "ei" which have the same sound.

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Pronunciation

In this text and following lessons we'll use /Word/ to give an example of an English word which contains one more (capitalized) letters which have an approximate pronunciation as the Dutch letters, syllable or word. We'll use (and already have) {word} to denote the English translation of a Dutch word.
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The less common (with English) consonants are:

G as in "god" (sounds somewhat like the "ch" in /loCH ness/, very throaty,

CH as in "lach" (same sound as "G")

Some weirder sounding vowels and diphthongs:

E as in "gokken", this is another sound for the single E, it sound like the mute "e" in English, like in {givEn}, it is used mostly when the syllable with the "e" doesn't have the emphasis (stress handled in further lesson)
U as in "put" (sounds a bit like /wOrd} or {bIrd}, say the "i" sound and round your lips to a small circle)
AA as in "daar" (a bit like /jA/ or /fAther/, but not really)
EE as in " reet" /rAte/, sounds different before an "R", more like a long "i", like as in "meer" /gEAr/
OO as in "hoop" /hOpe/, sounds different before an "R", more like a long "o", like as in "door" /dOOr/
EI as in "zeik" /dIke/, sounds like the "ij"

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Grammar

The multiple personal pronouns are (we'll skip one for now, which is used in the form of etiquette):

"wij" {we}
"jullie" {you}
"zij" {they}

There are also other forms of "wij" and "zij", which we'll tell in another lesson.
As you may have noticed, "zij" is used for both {they} and {she}. You must determine from the context or the verbs used which form is meant.
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Let's finish "zijn" {to be}:

ik ben
jij bent
hij/zij/het is
wij zijn
jullie zijn
zij zijn

The forms for all the plurals are the same, so in future we'll only show "wij" form.
The Dutch word for {to have} is "hebben":

ik heb
jij hebt
hij heeft
wij hebben

The first regular verb we'll introduce is "werken" {to work}:

ik werk
jij werkt
zij werkt
wij werken

The more general form of the present tense of a regular verb is:

ik STEM
jij STEMt
hij STEMt
wij STEMen

Where STEM is the stem of the verb, the stem for "werken" would be "werk". When the stem ends with a single consonant, this consonant is usually doubled, like in "hebben" where the stem is "heb".
In future new regular verbs, we'll just list the "ik" and "wij" form of the verb, so you'll know when to double the last consonant. For irregular verbs we'll list the "ik", "jij" and "wij" form, because in general
the forms of "jij" and "hij"/"zij" are the same, except for some cases in which we'll mention this.

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Vocabulary

arm	poor (also the noun arm)
dun	thin
gek	crazy, weird, mad, silly, silly, nuts (also the noun madman)
geld	money
gokken	to gamble [gok gokken]
groot	big
hebben	to have [heb hebt (hij heeft) hebben]
jullie	you (plural)
klein	small
werken	to work [werk werken]
wij	we
zij	they
zijn	to be [ben bent (hij is) zijn]

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Sentences

Wij hebben geld.	- We have money.
Jullie zijn arm.	- You (multiple) are poor.
Zij zijn niet gek.	- They aren't crazy.
Hij gokt niet.	- He doesn't gamble.
Zij is niet klein.	- She isn't small.
Ik ben dun.	- I am thin.

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Bad language

We will only list and translate the words below, not try to pronounce them, since we haven't had most of the vowel and consonant sounds yet. Also don't use them in a sentence yet, just shout them: "Eikel!!!"

kankerlijer	{cancer sufferer}
jezus!	{jesus!}
hoer	{whore}
slet	{slut}
klerehoer	cholera suffering whore}"klere" can be placed before almost each noun, just like {fucking})