Dutch sayings and idioms you will hear, with their meaning

Dutch idioms, sayings and proverbs: the words

Dutch has three words for these expressions, and people mix them up. An uitdrukking (expression, idiom) is any fixed combination of words with a figurative meaning: de kat uit de boom kijken is not about a cat. A spreekwoord (proverb, saying) is a whole sentence with a piece of wisdom in it, always in the same words: Na regen komt zonneschijn. A gezegde is a fixed phrase without a verb, such as een appeltje voor de dorst. For a learner the difference does not matter much; what matters is to recognize them when they come past.

Most of the words in them are ordinary: boom, water, deur, hand, all among the 1,000 most common Dutch words, and kat is in the everyday words on the same page. The meaning is what you cannot guess, so each row below gives it next to the literal words. Learn to understand all 50 first, then pick five to use.

Water and weather

A country of dikes and rain talks in water. These seven come up in the news, at work and in the weather chat at the coffee machine.

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The weather itself is a greeting. The A2 text Het weer in Nederland puts it this way: Nederlanders praten veel over het weer. In de lift, bij de bakker, op het werk. ‘Wat een weer, hè?’ Dat is een vraag, maar ook een begroeting. (The Dutch talk about the weather a lot. In the elevator, at the bakery, at work. "What weather, huh?" That is a question, but also a greeting.) And a dry day is a good day: ‘In Nederland is droog weer al goed weer.’ How to answer such a greeting is on Dutch greetings.

The body

Knees, backs, eyes, teeth and toes. Four of these are A2. Iets onder de knie hebben, iets achter de rug hebben and iets in de gaten houden are so common that they hardly feel like idioms anymore, and het puntje van mijn tong you will need in every lesson.

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Animals

Cats, monkeys, mosquitoes and ducks. Een ezelsbruggetje is the one you will hear in every Dutch class, because the best-known one, ’t kofschip, is how Dutch children learn the past tense; it is explained on Dutch verb conjugation.

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Food

Apples, eggs, cheese and cake. Two of these are the first idioms many learners pick up, because they are short and people say them with a smile: Dat is een eitje and Helaas pindakaas.

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Money

Two expressions for having too little of it, and two for spending it faster than it comes in.

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Work, plans and decisions

These are the idioms of meetings, emails and the news: how a decision is made, put off or forced. De knoop doorhakken and een slag om de arm houden are two you will hear in almost every Dutch workplace.

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Dutch sayings you will hear

Proverbs are a smaller part of everyday Dutch than the idioms above, and most of the school list you can leave alone. These six are the ones people really say, five proverbs and one fixed phrase, often with a smile, and the first one tells you more about the Netherlands than any guidebook.

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How to use a Dutch idiom

1. Understand first, use later. You need to recognize all 50 to follow a conversation or a news item. You need to say only a handful. At A2, the useful ones are the plain fixed phrases: in de gaten houden, achter de rug, de moeite waard, een eitje.
2. Keep the words fixed. An idiom does not take synonyms. It is de kat uit de boom kijken, never a dog or a hedge, and twee vliegen in één klap, not three. Dutch people will understand a changed version, and smile.
3. The verb still changes. The fixed part is the picture; the verb conjugates as always, and a separable verb splits: ze hakte de knoop door, ik heb het onder de knie, hij heeft alles uit de kast gehaald. The forms are on Dutch verb conjugation.
4. Mind the register. Helaas pindakaas, een eitje and koetjes en kalfjes are for friends and colleagues, not for a letter to the gemeente. The sayings in the last table are fine anywhere; Doe maar gewoon can sound like a reproach.
5. Do not translate English idioms. It is raining cats and dogs is het regent pijpenstelen (you may hear het regent katten en honden, a word-for-word translation from English, but pijpenstelen is the Dutch one). A piece of cake is een eitje. Break a leg is simply succes. When in doubt, say it in plain words: the 100 sentences on basic Dutch words and phrases carry you through most of the day without a single idiom.

See it in a text

The free texts on this site are written in plain Dutch, so idioms are rare in them, and that is on purpose. A few fixed expressions do come past, word for word:

• In Friesland meten 22 rayonhoofden het ijs, en elk van hen houdt een stuk van de route in de gaten. In Friesland 22 district heads measure the ice, and each of them keeps an eye on one part of the route. (De Elfstedentocht, B1)
• Ingrid begint elke vergadering met dezelfde woorden: ‘Kort en krachtig, mensen!’ Ingrid starts every meeting with the same words: "Short and to the point, people!" (Een gedicht voor de baas, A2)
• Toch is inleveren de moeite waard. Still, handing them in is worth the effort. (Statiegeld, B1)
• Toen stak Linda haar hoofd om de deur. Then Linda put her head around the door. (Trakteren, B1)
• Om tien uur komt de buurvrouw op de koffie. At ten the neighbor is coming over for coffee: op de koffie komen is the fixed phrase for a visit. (Melk op zondag, A1)

Read next

Idioms stick when you meet them in a story, not in a list. The free B1 texts on Dutch reading practice B1 are where the fixed expressions start to appear in the dialogue, with a glossary that explains each one on first use; Dutch reading practice A2 has the shorter stories about daily life, where plain fixed phrases such as op tijd come first.

For a longer read at A2, Dracula is out as a paperback and on Kindle, retold in easy Dutch with an English glossary. The first B1 volume of the series, Frankenstein, is out now in paperback.