I can say hello and goodbye in the morning, afternoon, and evening, ask “how are you?” and answer, say thank you, apologize, and say no — and choose je or u depending on who I'm talking to.
Hallo! What to say to whom
Hallo! What to say to whom
The first words of any conversation: hello, “how are you?”, thank you, and goodbye. Learn them as set phrases: what matters is who you say them to, and when.
To friends, coworkers, and people your age you say hoi, doei, dank je, alsjeblieft. Polite forms use u: dank u, alstublieft. The words hallo, dag, goedemorgen, goedemiddag, goedenavond, tot ziens, bedankt, and sorry fit everyone. The word dag means both “hello” and “goodbye”.
Time of day: goedemorgen in the morning, goedemiddag in the afternoon, goedenavond in the evening.
Dutch je covers more people than you might expect: a coworker, someone your age, a young salesclerk, the teacher on a course (by first name). Use u with older people, a doctor, in offices, and with adults you don't know. To switch to je, people say Zeg maar je. The titles meneer and mevrouw go with the last name, and only with u; to a stranger, say just meneer or mevrouw.
Alsjeblieft and alstublieft mean both “please” (asking) and “here you are” (giving). The answer to “thank you” is graag gedaan. A polite no: Nee, dank je or Nee, dank u.
Common mistakes:
• ×Dank je, meneer Jansen → Dank u, meneer Jansen.
• ×Goedemorgen, mevrouw Lotte → Goedemorgen, Lotte.
• דDank je wel!” — “Alsjeblieft.” → “Dank je wel!” — “Graag gedaan.”
• ×Hoi, dokter Jansen! → Goedemorgen, dokter Jansen.
What to say to whom: je and u
On the left, informal; on the right, formal; the bottom row has words for everyone.
| Situation | Informal (je) | Formal (u) |
|---|---|---|
| Greeting | hoi | — |
| How are you: Hoe gaat het … | … met je | … met u |
| Thank you | dank je, bedankt | dank u, bedankt |
| Please; here you are | alsjeblieft | alstublieft |
| Goodbye | doei | — |
| For everyone | hallo, dag, goedemorgen, goedemiddag, goedenavond, hoe gaat het?, tot ziens, tot straks, tot morgen, bedankt, sorry | the same |
| More (to recognize by ear) | dank je wel | dank u wel; het gaat wel — “so-so” |
Lesson notes
Hallo! What to say to whom
The first words of any conversation: hello, “how are you?”, thank you, and goodbye. Learn them as set phrases: what matters is who you say them to, and when.
To friends, coworkers, and people your age you say hoi, doei, dank je, alsjeblieft. Polite forms use u: dank u, alstublieft. The words hallo, dag, goedemorgen, goedemiddag, goedenavond, tot ziens, bedankt, and sorry fit everyone. The word dag means both “hello” and “goodbye”.
Time of day: goedemorgen in the morning, goedemiddag in the afternoon, goedenavond in the evening.
Dutch je covers more people than you might expect: a coworker, someone your age, a young salesclerk, the teacher on a course (by first name). Use u with older people, a doctor, in offices, and with adults you don't know. To switch to je, people say Zeg maar je. The titles meneer and mevrouw go with the last name, and only with u; to a stranger, say just meneer or mevrouw.
Alsjeblieft and alstublieft mean both “please” (asking) and “here you are” (giving). The answer to “thank you” is graag gedaan. A polite no: Nee, dank je or Nee, dank u.
Common mistakes:
• ×Dank je, meneer Jansen → Dank u, meneer Jansen.
• ×Goedemorgen, mevrouw Lotte → Goedemorgen, Lotte.
• דDank je wel!” — “Alsjeblieft.” → “Dank je wel!” — “Graag gedaan.”
• ×Hoi, dokter Jansen! → Goedemorgen, dokter Jansen.