At the Bakery and Market | Dutch Grammar

The Dutch bakkerij (bakery) and the markt (street market) run on a small set of fixed phrases, and once you know them the whole transaction flows. The trick is that almost none of it is improvised — there's a ritual. The baker asks Wie is er aan de beurt?, you state what you want, they ask Gesneden of heel? and Anders nog iets?, you close with Dat was het. This page gives you every line of that script, the bread-and-cheese vocabulary to fill it, and — crucially — the weight system that confuses every newcomer: a pond is 500 grams and an ons is 100 grams, neither of which matches the English pound or ounce. Get this wrong and you go home with five times too much cheese.

The service ritual: whose turn is it?

Dutch shops with a counter — bakeries, butchers, cheese shops, market stalls — work on turn-taking, often with a number ticket (een nummertje trekken, "to take a number"). The staff member calls the next customer with Wie is er aan de beurt? ("Whose turn is it?"). The key phrase is aan de beurt — "to have one's turn."

Wie is er aan de beurt? — Ik geloof dat ik aan de beurt ben.

Whose turn is it? — I think it's my turn. (aan de beurt zijn = to have one's turn)

Mevrouw, u was eerder; gaat u maar voor.

Madam, you were before me; please go ahead. (a normal politeness at the counter)

When they're ready for you, you might also hear Zegt u het maar ("Go ahead / tell me what you'd like") or simply Wie mag ik helpen? ("Who can I help?").

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Listen for aan de beurt. It's the single most useful counter phrase in the Netherlands — at the bakery, the cheese stall, the deli, the pharmacy. "It's my turn" is ik ben aan de beurt; "you're next" is u bent aan de beurt. Note it's aan, never op.

Ordering bread: bruin, wit, half, heel, gesneden

Dutch bread is ordered by colour and size, then by whether you want it sliced.

bruin (brown / wholemeal) vs wit (white) — the basic colour choice. Note: it's een bruin brood, not een bruine brood — brood is a het-word, so the adjective stays uninflected after een.
heel (whole) vs half (half) — buy a whole loaf or just half.
gesneden (sliced) vs heel/ongesneden (whole / unsliced) — the slicing machine question.

Doe mij maar een half bruin, alstublieft.

I'll have half a brown loaf, please. ('een half bruin [brood]' — the word 'brood' is often dropped)

Een heel wit, en mag het gesneden?

A whole white loaf, and could you slice it? (heel wit = a whole white loaf; gesneden = sliced)

Notice that brood is routinely left out: een half bruin and een heel wit are complete, natural orders. The baker knows you mean bread. The famous counter question is:

Gesneden of heel? — Gesneden graag.

Sliced or whole? — Sliced, please. (the standard bakery question)

Vers, belegd, and the filled roll

Vers means "fresh" — the word on every bakery's lips and signs. Vers gebakken = "freshly baked."

A broodje is a bread roll, and a belegd broodje is a filled roll — belegd is the past participle of beleggen ("to top / fill"). The filling itself is het beleg (cheese, ham, etc.). Ordering een broodje kaas or een broodje gezond (a "healthy" roll, with salad) is everyday lunch Dutch.

Zijn de croissants nog warm? — Ja, vers uit de oven.

Are the croissants still warm? — Yes, fresh out of the oven. (vers = fresh)

Doe mij maar een belegd broodje met oude kaas.

I'll have a filled roll with mature cheese, please. (belegd broodje = a filled roll; 'oude kaas' = mature/aged cheese)

Twee broodjes gezond om mee te nemen, graag.

Two 'gezond' rolls to take away, please. (broodje gezond = roll with salad/egg; 'om mee te nemen' = to take away)

The weight system: pond and ons

This is the part to take seriously, because the Dutch pond and ons are metric, not imperial, and do not match the English words they resemble:

Dutch	Equals	English word it is NOT
een ons	100 grams	not the English ounce (~28 g)
een pond	500 grams (half a kilo)	not the English pound (~454 g)
een half pond	250 grams	—
een kilo	1000 grams	—

So when you ask for een ons kaas, you get 100 grams — a small amount, enough for a few sandwiches. Een pond is 500 grams. Crucially, you can also just ask in grams: drie ons = 300 grams, twee ons ham = 200 grams of ham.

Mag ik twee ons jonge kaas? — Het is iets meer, mag dat ook?

Can I have 200 grams of young cheese? — It's slightly over, is that okay too? ('twee ons' = 200 g; the 'iets meer, mag dat ook?' question is standard at the cheese counter)

Doe maar een pond gehakt voor de gehaktballen.

Half a kilo of mince, please, for the meatballs. ('een pond' = 500 g)

That Het is iets meer, mag dat ook? ("It's a bit over, is that all right?") is a near-guaranteed line at any cheese or meat counter — the assistant cuts a piece, it's never exactly the weight, and they check before charging you. Just say ja hoor ("sure").

Closing the order: anders nog iets and dat was het

Once you've said what you want, the assistant asks Anders nog iets? ("Anything else?") — sometimes shortened to Anders nog? or expanded to Was er verder nog iets?. When you're done, you say Dat was het ("That was it / that's all").

Anders nog iets? — Nee, dat was het, dank u wel.

Anything else? — No, that's all, thank you. (the standard close)

Anders nog iets? — Ja, doe er ook nog vier krentenbollen bij.

Anything else? — Yes, add four currant buns as well. ('doe er ... bij' = add ... to it)

At the market: haggling and drie voor een euro

The open-air markt is louder and cheaper than a shop, and vendors shout offers in a fixed pattern: a quantity voor a price. Drie voor een euro means "three for one euro," twee bossen voor een vijfje means "two bunches for a fiver" (een vijfje = a five-euro note, informal).

You don't really haggle hard in the Netherlands — it's not a bazaar — but at the end of market day vendors slash prices and you can ask Kan er nog wat van af? ("Can you knock a bit off?").

Tomaten! Drie pond voor twee euro! Wie maakt me los?

Tomatoes! Three pounds [1.5 kg] for two euros! Who'll be first? ('Wie maakt me los?' = a vendor's call for the first buyer)

Hoeveel kosten de aardbeien? — Twee bakjes voor een vijfje.

How much are the strawberries? — Two punnets for a fiver. ('een vijfje' = a five-euro note, informal)

Het is bijna sluitingstijd — kan er nog wat van af?

It's almost closing time — can you knock a bit off? (the polite end-of-day ask)

Common Mistakes

❌ Wie is er op de beurt?

Incorrect — the fixed phrase is 'aan de beurt', not 'op de beurt'.

✅ Wie is er aan de beurt?

Whose turn is it? (aan de beurt)

❌ Mag ik een pond kaas? (expecting ~450 g like an English pound)

Risky — a Dutch 'pond' is 500 g, and for cheese you usually want far less; 'een ons' (100 g) is the everyday amount.

✅ Mag ik een ons kaas?

Can I have 100 grams of cheese? (een ons = 100 g)

❌ Anders iets nog?

Incorrect word order — the fixed phrase is 'Anders nog iets?'.

✅ Anders nog iets?

Anything else?

❌ Een bruine brood, alstublieft.

Incorrect — 'brood' is a het-word, so after 'een' the adjective is uninflected: 'een bruin brood'.

✅ Een bruin brood, alstublieft.

A brown loaf, please.

❌ Dat is het.

Understandable, but the fixed closing phrase is the past tense 'Dat was het'.

✅ Dat was het, dank u wel.

That's all, thank you. (Dat was het)

Key Takeaways

The counter runs on a script: Wie is er aan de beurt? → your order → Gesneden of heel? → Anders nog iets? → Dat was het.
Order bread by colour and size: een (half) bruin/wit (brood), often dropping brood entirely; gesneden = sliced.
vers = fresh; a belegd broodje is a filled roll.
The weights are metric and treacherous: een ons = 100 g, een pond = 500 g. Ask in ons or grams, not imperial. Expect Het is iets meer, mag dat ook?
At the market, prices come as a quantity voor a price — drie voor een euro — and a vijfje is a five-euro note.

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