Despite the fact that the Dutch may not be regarded as the most polite people in the world, we still do say thanks and please quite a lot. The Dutch words for these phrases are rather long, and don’t seem to make a lot of sense at first glance – but they do! Here’s how dankjewel and alsjeblieft work, what they mean, and how they’re used.
Before we start: you may want to brush up on your knowledge about the use of the word u, for example by reading this post. tl;dr: u is the formal form of je/jij (Eng: you) and jullie (you, but plural). They’re used interchangeably in these phrases, but I (and most Dutchies with me) prefer the informal approach, so I’ll probably use that one more often – they mean the exact same thing, though.
Origin of alsjeblieft
Alsjeblieft, or alstublieft in the more formal version, hasn’t always been a single word. In fact, it once was split into no less than four of them:
als het u belieft
which literally means if it you pleases, or, due to some inversion in English, if it pleases you.
When the informal version is used, the t (which is short for het) is dropped altogether:
alsjeblieft
This if it pleases you form is still used in other languages, for example French: s’il vous plaît literally means the same thing.
There aren’t a lot of ways to abbreviate this even further. You’ll sometimes hear just alsje, mainly by children, but it’s not official in any form or way. The first l is often skipped in speech, leaving the pronunciation to be asjeblieft, but really, that’s about it.
Origin of dankjewel
Dankjewel, or dankuwel, has a similar origin story, although it’s somewhat different. It consists of three separate words:
dank je wel
which literally means thank you well or thank you in a good, solid, proper way.
While alsjeblieft is now officially one word, and you can’t split them up anymore (at least not without sounding very archaic), with dankjewel, you totally can. The following options are all entirely correct:
dankjewel / dank je wel (Eng: thank you, informal)
dankuwel / dank u wel (Eng: thank you, formal)
When the wel part is dropped, the remainder usually gets a space:
dank je
dank u
but this is not set in stone, and dankje and danku do occur in texts.
The wel part can also be substituted for a handful of other words, all of them sort of meaning well or in a positive manner – note that when this is done, you do need to use spaces:
dank u vriendelijk (Eng: thank you in a friendly way)
dank je hartelijk (Eng: thank you whole-heartedly)
Other uses of alsjeblieft
While dankjewel is pretty much exactly used like its English counterpart, alsjeblieft has a somewhat wider range than its English sibling does. We also use the phrase when you’re handing something over to someone. English speakers might say something like there you go in situations like these, but the Dutch go with alsjeblieft instead. It can also be used as a reply to dankjewel, as in: don’t mention it.
Fun fact: English speakers can use please as a way of saying go ahead, for example when you’re letting someone in line in front of you during grocery shopping. Dutch people usually say Ga je gang (quite literally: go ahead), or Gaat uw gang for the formal version (the possessive pronoun of u is uw).
Another usage for the phrase is much more recognizable in English: it’s the sarcastic version that occurs when something doesn’t go according to plan, or someone says something so outrageous you’re never ever going to believe them: oh, puh-LEASE!
Long story short
While thanks and please seem like strange words in Dutch, as soon as you realize they’re actually a contraction of three or four separate words, they make a lot more sense. They literally mean nothing more than thank you and if you please.
They’re also used in ways very similar to English and other languages, although we do have a few quirks, especially when it comes to alsjeblieft. The more formal versions, the ones you may have been taught when you started Dutch, aren’t used as much in daily life, but they still work just fine. For now, dankjewel for reading this post, and by all means, read another one, als het je belieft.
