This one’s going to confuse English speakers quite a bit, I reckon, but it will be entirely worth it: even is one of the most convenient words in the entire Dutch language, even in it’s most meaningless of meanings. Let’s see what it actually means, why that often doesn’t really matter, and why it comes in so handy on so many occasions.
Odd and even
Before we dive into the particular meanings of even (pronounced: ay-vun) this post is all about, let’s quickly glide over the other common meaning: even numbers are, as they are in English, numbers divisible by two, as opposed to odd numbers (Dutch: oneven, literally: uneven). We don’t use the word even to mean flat or fair, like English does, so try to forget about those, at least for the remainder of this post – I’m not even going to mention them again!
Uses of even
What does even even mean, then? In its most-used version, it means for a short while. This is why you’ll often hear Dutchies say things like Ik ga even naar buiten (Eng: I’m going outside for a bit). It’s often used in the present tense, but it can also be used in the past: Ik was even naar de winkel means I went to the store for a bit. How long even is, is entirely ambiguous, but it’s surely not going to take forever.
Similarly, even can be used to describe not a moment in time, but a place in the world. Hij woont even buiten Amsterdam means He lives just outside of Amsterdam. This isn’t as common a use as the timestamp version of even (more often, net is used instead, or juist, in Belgium), but it’s perfectly accepted, and it’s entirely grammatically correct. Again, just how far outside of Amsterdam is up for debate, but it’s close, at least.
The third common-ish usage of even that differs from English (albeit slightly, in this case) appears in a sentence like Ze zijn even groot (Eng: They are just as tall). It’s a means of comparison, but it’s only used when the compared items are in fact similar in whichever measurement you happen to be using. It means equally as […], basically. This does lean towards the English meaning of even a bit more, as it’s about two things being on the same level in a certain way.
Effe and eventjes
With the definitions and usages out of the way, we can jump to the odd ways in which the Dutch tend to say or write even. While even is the only officially accepted formal way of saying it, in everyday speech, and everyday writing and texting, many different versions come peeking around the corner, the most notable of which are:
effe (this is actually in our dictionaries, but it always says “informal”)
effies
eventjes
effetjes
efkes (mostly used in Belgium)
Fun fact: effen, which looks like it could easily be on this list but really never is, means smooth or plain: something can either be of a single color, or have very few bumps on it – not entirely unlike the English even.
Dutch people don’t necessarily pick one and stick with it, by the way: I personally use at least three of these on a regular basis, and I even throw in an efkes every now and then to spice things up a little, even though I live nowhere near Belgium.
Het even
There’s one more use of even I deliberately haven’t mentioned yet, because it’s a bit of a strange one, and it’s pretty much only used in a single expression, which is:
het is me om het even
In this phrase, even means something like the English even, but as in: either/or. It literally means: I don’t really care which one. German has a similar expression: es ist mir egal means pretty much the exact same thing: both options provided are equally satisfactory – you choose.
Long story short
While even isn’t one of those words that basically don’t have any meaning at all, like nou or hè or even hoor, it isn’t all too easy to explain what it actually means. We don’t use it in the same way as English speakers do, at least not always, and not exactly in that way: it’s often used as an ambiguous timestamp or to tell the listener something is near something else without having to set anything in stone.
Still, because these ambiguous meanings can be so convenient in speech, you’ll hear even around a lot, in all of its different variations and pronunciations. Try to listen for it, and you’ll soon figure out which version is meant. For now, I wish you a good day. Ik ga effe iets anders doen.
