Every Latin and Germanic language out there (and many others, too) comes with a ton of tiny little words that describe a relationship to an object or to a period of time. These are called prepositions, or voorzetsels in Dutch, and even though the Dutch ones are often used in the same way as their English counterparts, that’s not always the case. Here’s how to use Dutch prepositions.
When I was a kid, I was taught prepositions – or voorzetsels, literally: things that are put in front – were these small words that you can use in front of either het kooitje (Eng: the small (bird) cage) (more about Dutch diminutives here) or de vakantie (Eng: the vacation)(actually, it was the war, but let’s use vacation instead, shall we?). I still find that quite useful, although it doesn’t always work.
Let’s start with a list of Dutch prepositions and their English counterparts. Note how some are only used in relation to objects, others only in relation to time periods, and some can play double roles – which is also the case in English and many other languages.
Dutch vs. English prepositions
Dutch | English (most used translation) |
aan | at |
achter | behind |
bij / dichtbij | near / close to |
binnen | in(side of) |
boven | above |
buiten | outside |
door | through |
in | in |
langs | along |
met | with |
na | after |
naar | to(wards) |
naast | next to |
om | around |
onder | under(neath) |
op | on (top of) |
over | over / across |
per | per |
sinds | since |
te | at |
tegen | against |
tijdens | during |
tot | to / until |
tussen | between |
uit | out of / outside of |
van | of / from |
via | via |
volgens | according to |
voor | in front of / before / for |
zonder | without |
Many of these, in many situations, are used in the same way as their English counterparts – or counterparts from other languages, for that matter. Just like one could in English, a Dutch speaker can sit naast je on the couch, look in the mirror, walk op the sidewalk, or go door a door (wow, that’s an odd one).
The strange ones
Some, however, are used rather differently. This is one of the trickiest things when you’re learning any new language, and to this day, it remains one of the things I find most difficult about English, too: sometimes, a language uses a different preposition than you would use in your own language, and the one used really doesn’t make sense.
Some notable examples in Dutch, with their (wrong but literal) English translations:
Dutch | English (literal translation) | English (actual translation) |
aan de horizon | at the horizon | on the horizon |
onder de douche | under the shower | in the shower |
op school | on school | at school / in school |
aan de muur | at the wall | on the wall |
bij de bushalte | near/by the bus stop | at the bus stop |
met de trein | with the train | by train |
tegen iemand praten | to talk against someone | to talk to someone |
over een uur | over an hour | in an hour |
kijken naar | to look to(wards) | to look at |
As you can see, there isn’t much method to this madness, either. There isn’t a set of rules to determine which odd-looking preposition to use, you’re just going to have to learn them by heart, which you can pretty much only do by speaking the language a lot.
Oddities
One thing that English does and Dutch doesn’t, is the use of extra words to describe the relation – like to and of. Sometimes, they’re even attached to the preposition itself, like into and onto. Dutch prepositions are enough on their own, which, I suppose, is a good thing.
On a few occasions, Dutch doesn’t even require the use of an object for the preposition to relate to – it’s either implied, or simply left out as a means of abbreviation. These are a form of ellipses, and they exist in many other languages, too. Some notable Dutch examples:
ik ben voor / ik ben tegen (Eng: I’m in favor of / I’m against [the posed motion])
patatje met / patatje zonder (Eng: fries with / without [mayo])
hij schoot over (Eng: he shot [the ball] over [the goal])
In these cases, they are more adverbs than prepositions, but it looks strange enough either way.
Sometimes, English uses a preposition where Dutch doesn’t use one at all. This is the case, seemingly at least, for timestamps like at noon / in the evening. I’ve done an entire post about this particularly odd one, for there’s a lot more to it than just the lack of a recognizable preposition.
Long story at its shortest
Prepositions exist in many languages. They’re quite helpful to explain a relationship to an object or a period of time, and most of the time, similar ones are used for similar purposes in many of these languages. This is not always the case, though, and it can be very tricky to pick the right one, especially if your own language uses a totally different one in a given situation.
There aren’t any rules of thumb to help you out with this either, so it’s just a matter of learning all of them by heart. Don’t worry: I still make mistakes in this when I speak English. It’s just very, very hard sometimes. With that, I strongly urge you to go back to the DutchDabbles homepage, look at some of the other articles, and bear with me if things got a bit out of hand.
