English uses one word, such, for such a nice day, such people, and such cold. Dutch splits this across number: zo'n for singular count nouns, zulke for plurals and mass nouns, with the more formal dergelijke covering both. The choice runs on the same de/het-and-number logic that governs the rest of the determiner system. And zo'n carries a second life as an approximator — zo'n twintig means "about twenty" — a polysemy that trips up learners who only know it as "such a." This page sorts out which form goes where, nails the apostrophe, and disambiguates the two meanings of zo'n.
Zo'n: such a (singular count nouns)
Zo'n is a contraction of zo een — literally "so a" — and it means "such a" before a singular countable noun. The full form zo een still exists and you'll hear it for emphasis, but in normal speech and writing it contracts to zo'n.
Wat een geluk — zo'n mooie dag in november!
What luck — such a beautiful day in November!
Ik wil ook zo'n jas. Waar heb je die gekocht?
I want a coat like that too. Where did you buy it?
Hoe kan iemand nou zo'n stomme fout maken?
How can someone make such a stupid mistake?
Because zo'n already contains een, it occupies the article slot, and any adjective after it inflects exactly as it would after een. After a de-word the adjective takes -e (zo'n mooie dag); after a singular het-word it stays bare (zo'n leuk boek, zo'n groot huis). This is the standard indefinite inflection — see The Adjective Inflection Rule.
Het is zo'n leuk boek dat ik het in één avond uitlas.
It's such a nice book that I finished it in one evening. (het-word boek → bare adjective leuk after zo'n)
The apostrophe is not optional
Zo'n is always written with an apostrophe: zo + 'n, where 'n is the reduced spelling of een. The apostrophe marks the dropped letters of een, exactly as it does in 't (= het) and 's morgens. Writing "zon" without the apostrophe is a spelling error — and a confusing one, because zon is a real, unrelated word meaning "sun." So zon = the sun; zo'n = such a. The apostrophe is the only thing separating them on the page.
Op zo'n zonnige dag schijnt de zon de hele middag.
On such a sunny day, the sun shines all afternoon. (zo'n with apostrophe = 'such a'; zon without = 'the sun')
Zulke: such (plurals and mass nouns)
The moment the noun goes plural — or is an uncountable de-mass noun — zo'n is impossible, because zo'n contains the singular een. You switch to zulke.
- plurals: zulke mensen (such people), zulke dingen (such things), zulke mooie bloemen (such beautiful flowers)
- de-mass nouns: zulke kou (such cold), zulke pech (such bad luck), zulke onzin (such nonsense)
Met zulke mensen wil ik niets te maken hebben.
I want nothing to do with people like that.
Hoe houden ze het uit in zulke kou?
How do they cope in cold like this? (kou is an uncountable de-mass noun → zulke)
Zulke mooie bloemen heb ik nog nooit gezien.
I've never seen such beautiful flowers. (plural → zulke, with -e on the adjective as always in the plural)
Note that zulke always ends in -e; there is no bare "zulk" form in normal modern Dutch (an old neuter zulk survives only in fixed, archaic phrases). So the split is clean: singular count → zo'n; plural or mass → zulke.
| Noun type | Form of "such" | Example |
|---|---|---|
| singular count (de or het) | zo'n | zo'n man, zo'n boek |
| plural | zulke | zulke mannen, zulke boeken |
| de-mass / uncountable | zulke | zulke kou, zulke onzin |
| formal, any of the above | dergelijke | dergelijke gevallen |
Dergelijke and zo'n soort: the formal options
Dergelijke (formal) means "such / suchlike / of that kind" and works for both singular and plural, mostly in writing — reports, journalism, officialese. It feels heavier and more precise than zulke, and it's invariable in form (dergelijke gevallen, een dergelijk geval).
In dergelijke gevallen adviseren wij u contact op te nemen met onze klantenservice.
In such cases we advise you to contact our customer service. (formal/written register — dergelijke)
There's also zo'n soort / dat soort ("that kind of"), a noun-based way of expressing the same idea, useful when you want to foreground the category itself.
Dat soort vragen kan ik helaas niet beantwoorden.
I'm afraid I can't answer that kind of question. (dat soort + plural noun)
Zo + adjective: the intensifier "so"
Don't confuse zo'n (such a) with bare zo in front of an adjective, which simply means "so" — an intensifier, no noun involved. Zo mooi = "so beautiful"; zo duur = "so expensive." The contraction to zo'n only happens when a noun is coming.
Waarom is alles hier toch zo duur?
Why is everything here so expensive? (zo + adjective, no noun → no apostrophe, no een)
Het was zo koud dat de gracht bevroor.
It was so cold that the canal froze over. (zo + adjective)
The rule of thumb: zo + adjective = "so" (intensifier); zo'n + noun = "such a." If a noun follows, you need the 'n.
Zo'n meaning "approximately"
Here is the polysemy most courses skip. Placed directly before a number, zo'n stops meaning "such a" and starts meaning "about / approximately." Zo'n twintig mensen is not "such twenty people" — it's "about twenty people." This is everyday spoken Dutch and you will hear it constantly.
Er stonden zo'n twintig mensen in de rij.
There were about twenty people in the queue. (zo'n + number = approximately)
De reparatie kost zo'n duizend euro, schat ik.
The repair costs about a thousand euros, I'd guess.
Het is zo'n tien minuten lopen naar het station.
It's about a ten-minute walk to the station.
How to tell the two meanings apart
The disambiguation is purely contextual, and it's reliable: what follows zo'n?
- zo'n
- a number → "approximately" (zo'n tien, zo'n duizend euro)
- zo'n
- a noun (with or without adjective) → "such a" (zo'n dag, zo'n leuk boek)
There is essentially never any ambiguity in practice, because numbers and nouns don't overlap. Zo'n duizend (≈ a thousand) vs zo'n man (such a man) — the word right after zo'n tells you instantly which meaning is live.
Common Mistakes
❌ zo'n mensen, zo'n dingen
Wrong — zo'n is singular only (it contains 'een'). For plurals use zulke.
✅ zulke mensen, zulke dingen
such people, such things
❌ Op zon mooie dag... / Wat zon leuk boek!
Wrong — missing apostrophe. 'zon' (no apostrophe) means 'the sun'; 'such a' is zo'n.
✅ Op zo'n mooie dag... / Wat zo'n leuk boek!
On such a beautiful day... / What such a nice book!
❌ Het is zulke koud vandaag.
Wrong — 'cold' here is the adjective, so use the intensifier zo: 'zo koud'. Zulke kou (the noun) is fine, but zulke koud is not.
✅ Het is zo koud vandaag.
It's so cold today.
❌ Er waren zulke twintig mensen.
Wrong — 'about twenty' uses zo'n before a number, never zulke. Zulke is only for plural/mass nouns, not approximations.
✅ Er waren zo'n twintig mensen.
There were about twenty people.
❌ Ik heb zulke een goed idee!
Wrong — singular count noun (idee) needs zo'n, not zulke. And zulke never combines with een.
✅ Ik heb zo'n goed idee!
I have such a good idea!
Key Takeaways
- Zo'n (= zo een) = "such a," before singular count nouns; the adjective after it inflects as after een (zo'n mooie dag, zo'n leuk boek).
- Zulke = "such," before plurals and de-mass nouns (zulke mensen, zulke kou); it always ends in -e.
- Dergelijke (formal) and dat soort cover both numbers, mostly in writing.
- The apostrophe in zo'n is mandatory — it replaces the letters of een; without it you've written zon, "the sun."
- Zo + adjective = "so" (intensifier); only zo'n + noun = "such a."
- Zo'n before a number means "about / approximately" (zo'n twintig = about twenty). Disambiguate by what follows: number → "about," noun → "such a."
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