Dutch Language/Greetings

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Lesson Overview[edit | edit source]

In this lesson you will learn:

  • How to greet someone in Dutch and to say goodbye

Explanation[edit | edit source]

Greetings are really easy in Dutch. One word will do: "Hoi".

"Hoi" means "Hi". That's easy of course. But you don't greet an elder with "Hi". You will always put the word "sir" in the sentence.
So then we get: "Hoi, meneer."

Another way to greet someone is to say "Good Day, sir." In Dutch we say: "Goedendag, meneer."

All right, so those are basic greetings. But in English you almost always say "How are you?" after a greeting. (American: "How are you doing?" Australian: "How are you going?")
In Dutch it is: "Hoe gaat het?"

If you say "Goodbye" to someone "Hoi" will also do.

You can also say to someone in high regards (teacher, businessman, boss, etc.): "Goedendag meneer", which means "Good Day, sir".

Vocabulary[edit | edit source]

  • Hallo/Hoi = Hi
  • Hoe gaat het? = How are you?
  • Meneer = sir/man
  • Mevrouw = madam/woman
  • Jongen = boy
  • Meisje = girl
  • Doei/Dag = Bye
  • Tot ziens = See you

Notes[edit | edit source]

You can use "Hoi" to say "Bye", but you can't use "Hallo" for that.

See also[edit | edit source]