Idioms with Doen | Dutch Grammar

Doen is the plainest verb in Dutch — "to do" — and exactly because it's so colourless, it has been recruited into dozens of fixed expressions where the real meaning lives in the noun beside it, not in doen itself. You already met a few of these under maken vs doen: de afwas doen, zijn best doen, pijn doen. This page collects the whole family of doen-idioms, gives each one a literal gloss so you can see the seam between the words, and then the idiomatic meaning a Dutch speaker actually hears. The recurring trap for English speakers is twofold: choosing doen where Dutch wants maken (huiswerk maken, not doen), and the pijn doen construction, which assigns its parts differently from English "to hurt."

The chore-and-errand cluster: boodschappen, de was, de afwas

The most frequent doen-idioms are household ones. Dutch treats a chore as an activity you perform, so it reaches for doen — the same instinct as English "do the dishes," "do the shopping." The nouns, though, are not always what English would pick.

Dutch	Literal	English
boodschappen doen	to do errands/messages	to do the (grocery) shopping
de afwas doen	to do the wash-off	to do the dishes / washing-up
de was doen	to do the wash	to do the laundry
het huishouden doen	to do the household	to do the housework

Ik moet straks nog even boodschappen doen, anders hebben we niks voor het avondeten.

I still need to do the grocery shopping later, otherwise we've got nothing for dinner. ('boodschappen doen' = do the shopping; 'boodschappen' literally = messages/errands)

Jij hebt gekookt, dan doe ik wel de afwas.

You cooked, so I'll do the washing-up. ('de afwas doen' — note: NOT 'maken')

Mijn moeder doet op zaterdag altijd de was.

My mother always does the laundry on Saturdays. ('de was' = the laundry, the load of washing)

Watch de was versus de afwas: de was is your clothes/laundry, de afwas is the dirty dishes. They differ by one syllable and a world of meaning, and both run on doen.

Pijn doen: the construction that flips

Pijn doen means "to hurt," and it's worth slowing down on, because the grammar doesn't map onto English. Literally it's "to do pain." The part of the body (or the thing) that hurts is the subject, and pijn is a bare object — so my back hurts becomes mijn rug doet pijn ("my back does pain").

Mijn rug doet pijn als ik te lang sta.

My back hurts when I stand too long. (the body part is the SUBJECT: 'mijn rug doet pijn')

Doet het nog pijn waar je je gestoten hebt?

Does it still hurt where you bumped yourself? (impersonal 'het doet pijn')

When someone else causes the pain, the construction takes an object pronoun for the person hurt — iemand pijn doen, "to hurt someone":

Sorry, ik wilde je geen pijn doen.

Sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you. ('iemand pijn doen' = to hurt someone — emotionally or physically)

Pas op met dat mes, straks doe je jezelf nog pijn.

Careful with that knife, you'll end up hurting yourself. ('jezelf pijn doen' = to hurt oneself)

So pijn doen has two frames: the body part hurts (mijn rug doet pijn), or you hurt a person (ik doe je pijn). Both are everyday; neither lines up with the English verb "to hurt," which can be used either way without changing shape.

Je best doen: effort and trying

Je best doen is "to do one's best." The possessive flexes with the subject: ik doe mijn best, jij doet je best, zij doet haar best. Closely related is een poging doen ("to make an attempt"), covered more fully under light-verb collocations.

Ik doe echt mijn best, maar dit vak is gewoon lastig.

I really am doing my best, but this subject is just hard. (possessive agrees: 'mijn best')

Doe je best op je examen!

Do your best on your exam! ('je best doen' = to do one's best)

Meedoen: joining in

Meedoen is a separable verb — mee ("along/with") + doen — meaning "to join in, take part, participate." The particle mee splits off in main clauses and goes to the end: Doe je mee? ("Are you joining in?"). What you join takes the preposition aan or met.

We gaan straks voetballen — doe je mee?

We're going to play football in a bit — are you joining in? (separable: 'Doe je mee?')

Bijna de hele klas deed mee aan de wedstrijd.

Almost the whole class took part in the competition. ('meedoen aan' = take part in)

Hij wilde niet meedoen met dat spelletje.

He didn't want to join in that game. ('meedoen met' = join in with)

The emotional cluster: te doen hebben met, het doet me niets

Two doen idioms describe how something lands on you emotionally, and they're opposites.

Te doen hebben met iemand means "to feel sorry for someone, to pity them." Literally it's something like "to have it to-do with someone" — an old fixed phrase you simply learn whole.

Ik heb echt te doen met haar, ze heeft het de laatste tijd zwaar.

I really feel sorry for her, she's been having a hard time lately. ('te doen hebben met' = to feel sorry for)

Je hoeft geen medelijden te hebben, maar ik heb wel een beetje te doen met die jongen.

You don't have to pity him, but I do feel a bit sorry for that boy. (softer than 'medelijden hebben')

Het doet me niets is the cold opposite: literally "it does me nothing," meaning "it leaves me cold, I don't care, it has no effect on me." You can swap niets for iets (het doet me iets = "it moves me") or veel (het doet me veel = "it means a lot to me").

Die film is heel populair, maar mij doet hij echt niets.

That film is very popular, but it genuinely does nothing for me. ('het doet me niets' = it leaves me cold)

Dat liedje doet me echt iets — mijn oma zong het vroeger altijd.

That song really moves me — my grandma always used to sing it. ('het doet me iets' = it touches me)

Mattering: iets aan iets doen and ertoe doen

Iets aan iets doen means "to do something about something" — to take action on a problem. The thing you act on takes the preposition aan.

We moeten echt iets aan die rommel in de gang doen.

We really have to do something about that mess in the hallway. ('iets aan ... doen' = do something about)

Er is helaas niks aan te doen.

Unfortunately there's nothing to be done about it. (fixed phrase: 'er is niks aan te doen' = it can't be helped)

Ertoe doen means "to matter, to count." It's built on doen plus the pronominal ertoe ("to it"). The negative — het doet er niet toe — is one of the most common ways to say "it doesn't matter" in spoken Dutch. Note how er and toe split around the rest of the clause.

Het maakt niet uit hoe oud je bent — alleen je inzet doet ertoe.

It doesn't matter how old you are — only your effort counts. ('ertoe doen' = to matter)

Of we nu om zes of zeven uur gaan, dat doet er niet toe.

Whether we go at six or seven, that doesn't matter. (split: 'doet er niet toe')

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Two near-synonyms for "it doesn't matter" sit side by side: het doet er niet toe (it doesn't count / isn't relevant) and het maakt niet uit (it makes no difference). Both are everyday; maakt niet uit is slightly more casual.

The maken trap: huiswerk MAKEN

The single biggest doen error for English speakers isn't a doen idiom at all — it's reaching for doen where Dutch insists on maken. Because you "do homework" in English, the hand wants huiswerk doen. Dutch says huiswerk maken — you make (produce) the finished work. Same with een fout maken ("make a mistake") and een afspraak maken ("make an appointment"), all on the maken side.

Heb je je huiswerk al gemaakt?

Have you done your homework yet? (Dutch 'maakt' homework — the classic English calque error)

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Quick test for doen vs maken: if a finished thing results (homework pages, a photo, a meal, a repaired car), Dutch uses maken. If you're just performing an activity with no product (the dishes, the shopping, your best), it's doen.

Common Mistakes

❌ Ik moet mijn huiswerk doen.

Incorrect calque from English 'do homework'. Dutch produces the finished work, so it uses 'maken'.

✅ Ik moet mijn huiswerk maken.

I have to do my homework.

❌ Mijn rug heeft pijn.

Incorrect — Dutch doesn't 'have' pain in this construction; the body part 'does' pain: 'doet pijn'.

✅ Mijn rug doet pijn.

My back hurts.

❌ Ik wilde je niet pijnen / hurten.

Incorrect — there's no single verb; 'to hurt someone' is the idiom 'iemand pijn doen'.

✅ Ik wilde je geen pijn doen.

I didn't mean to hurt you.

❌ Het doet me niet.

Incorrect — the idiom needs the object 'niets' (nothing): 'het doet me niets'.

✅ Het doet me niets.

It does nothing for me / leaves me cold.

❌ Doe je mee aan voetballen vanavond?

Awkward — 'meedoen' here just needs the particle and an object, and the split is 'Doe je mee?'; better to keep it simple.

✅ Doe je vanavond mee met voetballen?

Are you joining in football tonight?

Key Takeaways

Chores and errands run on doen: boodschappen doen (shopping), de afwas doen (dishes), de was doen (laundry) — but de was (clothes) ≠ de afwas (dishes).
pijn doen has two frames: a body part does pain (mijn rug doet pijn), or you do someone pain (ik doe je pijn).
te doen hebben met = feel sorry for; het doet me niets = it leaves me cold — emotional opposites.
iets aan iets doen (with aan) = do something about it; ertoe doen = to matter, with the negative het doet er niet toe.
The big trap is huiswerk maken, not doen — if a finished thing results, Dutch uses maken.

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