When you’ve spent some time in a Dutch speaking region, odds are you’ve heard the word helemaal being thrown around a few times. It makes sense, because it’s a rather versatile word, but it can be difficult to pinpoint its exact meaning. But that’s never stopped us, so let’s try anyway, in this post that’s helemaal about the word helemaal.
Let’s start with a brief history lesson. Helemaal arrives in Dutch in the 1600s, in its older form heeltemael, in which heel means whole, and the temael part is a strengthening element that doesn’t really mean anything on its own. The same thing occurs in the word allemaal, meaning all, in the sense of every person involved, without exceptions.
With that etymological roadtrip out of the way, let’s look at all the different ways in which helemaal can be used in Dutch.
Helemaal – totally, entirely
Most of the time, when helemaal is used, it means something along the lines of totally or entirely, a slightly unnecessary but powerful way to stress you’re talking about something utterly complete:
Ik ben helemaal klaar (I’m entirely done/finished)
De straat stond helemaal onder water (The street was completely submerged)
Helemaal – all the way
A similar thing happens when distances are involved. In this case, it means something like all the way, as in from one point all the way to another, without falling short, often to stress length or distance:
We reden helemaal naar Londen (We drove all the way to London)
Ajax staat helemaal onderaan (Ajax is all the way at the bottom)
Het water kwam helemaal tot hier (The water came all the up to here)
Helemaal with adjectives
Helemaal can also be used with adjectives, to stress their meaning or the extent to which they apply:
Ik ben helemaal kapot (I’m entirely done, lit.: I’m entirely broken)
De emmer zit helemaal vol (The bucket is filled to the brim)
This doesn’t work with any old adjective, and which ones can be used like this sometimes depends on personal preference. Sometimes they even feel extremely wonky, such as Helemaal leuk (Totally fun), but they have made their way into daily speech, probably because they sound a bit silly.
Helemaal as a comfirmation
Helemaal can also be used on its own, as a confirmation when a question is asked. In these cases, the meaning is more like totally again:
Snap je wat ik bedoel? – Ja, helemaal.
Do you get what I’m saying? – Yes, totally.
Helemaal niet / niets
Helemaal can also be used to strenghten the meaning of a negation. It can be used with the word nothing, or with adjectives that have been turned into negative adjectives. In this case, it can sometimes be translated to not even or whatsoever in English:
Ik ben helemaal niet moe (I’m not even tired)
Ik vind het helemaal niet leuk (I don’t like it one bit)
Er is helemaal niets te zien (There’s nothing whatsoever to see)
One of the most famous examples of this is the version used by fans of the football club Feyenoord, from Rotterdam, especially in 2017, when they used it in a chant against their rival Ajax, from Amsterdam:
Helemaal niets in Amsterdam (Nothing whatsoever in Amsterdam)
Helemaal niet – part 2
Another way to use helemaal niet is when you want to point out that someone is quite wrong in assuming or saying something. In this case, it means something along the lines of “not at all” or, more informally, “nuh uh!”:
Je bent moe, hè? – Helemaal niet!
You’re tired, aren’t you? – Not at all!
While the emphasis is usually on the first syllable of helemaal, in this case, it’s on the last syllable: Helemaal niet!
Long story helemaal short
Helemaal is a very versatile word, and it’s thrown around quite a bit in Dutch. It can be used to stress the meaning of a part of a sentence, throw some extra emphasis on an adjective, or add vigor to a negation. It can often be translated into words like totally, entirely, or whatsoever in English, but sometimes, it’s more difficult to come up with a direct translation.
I hope you’ve read this article helemaal (all the way to the end), that you understand it helemaal (entirely), and that there’s helemaal niets (nothing whatsoever) to keep you from reading some of the other posts about the Dutch language.
