Dutch Questions
Learning the Dutch Questions is very important because its structure is used in every day conversation. The more you master it the more you get closer to mastering the Dutch language. But first we need to know what the role of Questions is in the structure of the grammar in Dutch.
Dutch questions may be either a linguistic expression used to make a request for information, or else the request itself made by such an expression. Usually it starts with why, how, where, when ... The normal wordorder in Dutch is s.v.o hij eet brood, this order is changed when it is a question eet hij brood? Here are some examples:
| English Questions | Dutch Questions |
| Questions | Vragen |
| how? | hoe? |
| what? | wat? |
| who? | wie? |
| why? | waarom? |
| where? | waar? |
| |
| where is he? | waar is hij? |
| what is this? | wat is dit? |
| why are you sad? | waarom ben je verdrietig? |
| how do you want to pay? | hoe wil je betalen? |
| |
| can I come? | kan ik komen? |
| is he sleeping? | slaapt hij? |
| do you know me? | Ken je mij? |
| do you have my book? | Heb je mijn boek? |
| how big is it? | hoe groot is het? |
| can I help you? | kan ik u helpen? |
| can you help me? | Kunt u mij helpen? |
| do you speak English? | Spreek je Engels? |
| how far is this? | Hoe ver is dit? |
| what time is it? | hoe laat is het? |
| how much is this? | hoeveel is dit? |
| what is your name? | hoe heet je? |
| where do you live? | Waar woon je? |
As you can see from the example above, the structure of the Questions in Dutch has a logical pattern. Locate the Questions above and see how it works with the rest of the sentence in Nederlands.
Grammar Tips:
In Dutch
there are different ways of asking a question to get a yes or no answer, and they are the
following:
-Verb + pronoun:
Unlike English, the auxiliaries do and does are not used.
Heeft
u vrije tijd ? (Do
you have free time?)
-Pronoun + verb: Only the intonation makes the sentence interrogative: U
heeft vrije tijd ? (Do you have free time?)
-Finally you
can also make a question by adding a tag question to the end of a statement. Ze heeft vrije tijd ? Toch ? (She has
free time. Isn’t it) Of niet soms ? (or is it not the case ?)
List of Questions in Dutch
Below is a list of the Questions and interrogative expressions in Dutch placed in a table. Memorizing this table will help you add very useful and important words to your Dutch vocabulary.
| English Questions | Dutch Questions |
| Vocabulary | Woordenschat |
| Countries | Landen |
| Australia | Australië |
| Cambodia | Cambodja |
| Canada | Canada |
| China | China |
| Egypt | Egypte |
| England | Engeland |
| France | Frankrijk |
| Germany | Duitsland |
| Greece | Griekenland |
| India | India |
| Indonesia | Indonesië |
| Italy | Italië |
| Japan | Japan |
| Mexico | Mexico |
| Morocco | Marokko |
| Peru | Peru |
| Spain | Spanje |
| Thailand | Thailand |
| USA | VS |
| |
| Languages | Talen |
| Arabic | Arabisch |
| Chinese | Chinees |
| English | Engels |
| French | Frans |
| German | Duits |
| Greek | Grieks |
| Hebrew | Hebreeuws |
| Hindi | Hindi |
| Italian | Italiaans |
| Japanese | Japans |
| Korean | Koreaans |
| Latin | Latijn |
| Russian | Russisch |
| Spanish | Spaans |
| Urdu | Urdu |
| |
| Days | (none are capitalized) |
| Monday | Maandag |
| Tuesday | Dinsdag |
| Wednesday | Woensdag |
| Thursday | Donderdag |
| Friday | Vrijdag |
| Saturday | Zaterdag |
| Sunday | Zondag |
| |
| time | tijd |
| hour | uur |
| minute | minuut |
| second | seconde |
Questions and interrogative expressions have a very important role in Dutch, therefore they need very special attention. Once you're done with the Nederlands Questions, you might want to check the rest of our Dutch lessons here: Learn Dutch. Don't forget to bookmark this page.