Saying "I like it" in Dutch is harder than it should be, for one reason: there is no single verb that maps onto English "to like." Dutch splits the job across half a dozen idioms, each tied to a fixed preposition that you cannot guess from English — you're crazy on something, you have a loathing to something, you have nothing with something. Get the preposition wrong and the phrase collapses. This page lays out the whole toolkit from strong love to strong dislike, drills the prepositions, sorts out the graag vs houden van question, and kills the beginner reflex to say ik like het.
The strong end: houden van and gek/dol zijn op
Houden van is the workhorse — it covers both "to love" and a strong "to like," for people, food, activities, anything. It always takes van. (It has a fuller treatment of its own; here's the core.)
Ik hou van jou.
I love you. ('houden van' — the colloquial 'ik hou' drops the final -d of the written 'ik houd')
Hij houdt van lange wandelingen in het bos.
He loves long walks in the woods. ('houden van' for activities too — with 'van')
For "to be crazy about / mad about" something, Dutch uses gek zijn op or dol zijn op — both literally "to be crazy/mad on." The preposition is op, and getting it wrong (gek van, gek aan) is a classic slip.
Mijn dochter is helemaal gek op paarden.
My daughter is completely crazy about horses. ('gek zijn op' = crazy about — with 'op', never 'van')
Ik ben dol op de kaneelkoekjes van die bakker.
I'm mad about that baker's cinnamon biscuits. ('dol zijn op' = mad about — with 'op')
The neutral middle: graag, leuk vinden, lekker vinden
For everyday liking, two patterns do most of the work. The first is graag ("gladly"), an adverb that attaches to a verb to mean "to like doing something": Ik drink graag koffie = "I like drinking coffee." The second is leuk vinden ("to find nice") for things and people, and lekker vinden ("to find tasty") for food and drink.
Ik lees graag voor het slapengaan.
I like reading before bed. (graag + verb = like doing something)
Vind je deze film leuk?
Do you like this film? ('leuk vinden' = to like / find nice)
Mijn zoon vindt spruitjes niet lekker.
My son doesn't like sprouts. ('lekker vinden' = to like the taste of)
The key split for English speakers: graag is for liking an activity you do (a verb), while houden van / leuk vinden is for liking a thing or person (a noun). "I like coffee" (the drink) → Ik hou van koffie or Ik vind koffie lekker; "I like to drink coffee" (the activity) → Ik drink graag koffie. Don't say Ik hou van koffie drinken — that's overbuilt.
Liking a person: graag mogen
To say you like a person (not romantically), the warm everyday idiom is graag mogen — "to like gladly," roughly "to be fond of." Houden van a person tilts toward love; graag mogen is the safe "I like them."
Ik mag haar heel graag, ze is altijd zo behulpzaam.
I like her a lot, she's always so helpful. ('graag mogen' = to be fond of a person)
De kinderen mogen de nieuwe juf graag.
The children like the new teacher. ('graag mogen' — for liking people)
The strong dislike: een hekel hebben aan
The flagship "dislike" idiom is een hekel hebben aan — literally "to have a loathing to," meaning "to hate, can't stand, loathe." Two things trip people up: it runs on hebben (you have a hekel), and it takes aan (not van, not voor). This is the most-tested preposition on the whole page.
Ik heb een hekel aan vroeg opstaan.
I hate getting up early. ('een hekel hebben aan' = to loathe — with 'hebben' and 'aan')
Ze heeft een gloeiende hekel aan onrecht.
She has a burning hatred of injustice. ('een hekel hebben aan' intensified)
Heb jij ook zo'n hekel aan files?
Do you hate traffic jams as much as I do? (with 'aan')
The mild dislike: niets hebben met, niet zien zitten
Milder than hatred is simple indifference. Niets hebben met — "to have nothing with" — means "not to be into something, not feel any connection to it." It takes met.
Ik heb echt niets met voetbal, sorry.
I'm honestly not into football at all, sorry. ('niets hebben met' = not be into — with 'met')
Hij heeft iets met oude auto's — daar kan hij uren over praten.
He's really into old cars — he can talk about them for hours. (positive flip: 'iets hebben met' = to be into)
To say you don't fancy a plan or don't see it working, the idiom is niet zien zitten — literally "not see (it) sitting," meaning "to not fancy / not see the point of / not be up for." The positive wel zien zitten means you are up for it.
Een vakantie in de regen zie ik niet zo zitten.
A holiday in the rain doesn't appeal to me. ('niet zien zitten' = not fancy / not be up for)
Zie je het zitten om volgende week te verhuizen?
Are you up for moving next week? ('het zien zitten' = to feel up to it)
Appreciating: iets kunnen waarderen
A measured, slightly formal "I appreciate / value that" is iets kunnen waarderen ("to be able to appreciate something"). It's a polite way to register liking without gushing — common in work and social settings.
Ik kan jouw eerlijkheid echt waarderen.
I really appreciate your honesty. ('kunnen waarderen' = to value / appreciate)
Een goede grap op zijn tijd kan ik wel waarderen.
I do appreciate a good joke now and then. (measured liking)
The preposition table
This is the table to memorise — the prepositions are the whole game here:
| Idiom | Preposition | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| houden van | van | to love / strongly like |
| gek / dol zijn op | op | to be crazy about |
| een hekel hebben aan | aan | to hate / loathe |
| niets / iets hebben met | met | to (not) be into |
| zin hebben in | in | to fancy / be in the mood for |
| graag mogen | (none) | to be fond of (a person) |
| kunnen waarderen | (none) | to appreciate / value |
| (niet) zien zitten | (none) | to (not) fancy / be up for |
And one more, for completeness — zin hebben in ("to fancy, be in the mood for") takes in with a noun and is the go-to for momentary cravings:
Ik heb zin in een biertje op het terras.
I fancy a beer on the terrace. ('zin hebben in' = to be in the mood for — with 'in')
Common Mistakes
❌ Ik like deze foto.
Incorrect — 'liken' (from English social media) is slang at best; standard Dutch is 'leuk vinden' or 'mooi vinden'.
✅ Ik vind deze foto leuk.
I like this photo.
❌ Ik ben gek van chocolade.
Wrong preposition — 'gek zijn' takes 'op', not 'van'.
✅ Ik ben gek op chocolade.
I'm crazy about chocolate.
❌ Ik heb een hekel van wachten.
Wrong preposition — 'een hekel hebben' takes 'aan', never 'van'.
✅ Ik heb een hekel aan wachten.
I hate waiting.
❌ Ik hou van koffie drinken.
Overbuilt — for liking an activity use 'graag' + verb, not 'houden van' + infinitive.
✅ Ik drink graag koffie.
I like drinking coffee.
❌ Ik heb niets aan voetbal.
Wrong preposition and meaning — 'niets hebben met' (be into) takes 'met'; 'niets hebben aan' means 'to have no use for'.
✅ Ik heb niets met voetbal.
I'm not into football.
Key Takeaways
- There's no single verb for "to like" — Dutch spreads it over houden van, leuk/lekker vinden, graag, graag mogen, gek/dol zijn op.
- Each idiom has a fixed preposition: houden van, gek/dol op, hekel aan, niets met, zin in — none of them follow English.
- graag
- verb = like doing something; houden van / leuk vinden
- noun = like a thing or person.
- verb = like doing something; houden van / leuk vinden
- Like a person → graag mogen; hate something → een hekel hebben aan (with hebben and aan); not fancy a plan → niet zien zitten.
- Don't say ik like — it's not standard Dutch; use leuk vinden or mooi vinden.
Now practice Dutch
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Dutch→Related Topics
- Dutch Expressions and Idioms: OverviewA2 — An orientation to Dutch fixed expressions: uitdrukkingen (idioms), gezegden and spreekwoorden (sayings and proverbs), and vaste verbindingen (fixed collocations). Why they don't translate word for word, the recurring themes Dutch idioms draw on (body parts, animals, food, weather, water and the sea), why their form is frozen and can't be altered, how register varies, and a preview of the idiom pages in this group.
- Graag, Willen, Houden van: Like, Want, LoveB1 — Dutch has no single verb 'to like'. Instead it splits the job three ways: graag (for liking an activity), willen (for wanting), and houden van (for loving a thing or person). This page shows which one each English sentence needs, and why the calque 'ik like' or 'ik hou van koffie drinken' goes wrong.
- Houden van, Denken aan, Wachten op — Fixed Verb+Preposition VerbsB1 — Four high-frequency verbs whose meaning depends on a fixed preposition — houden van (to love/like), denken aan/over (to think of/about), wachten op (to wait for), zorgen voor (to take care of) — with full conjugations and how the preposition turns into er-/waar- with pronouns and questions.
- Expressing Feelings and StatesA2 — From the plain adjectives (blij, boos, verdrietig, bang zijn) to the vivid idioms Dutch speakers actually reach for: in de wolken zijn (over the moon), in je nopjes zijn (chuffed), balen van (be fed up), de pest in hebben (be annoyed), door het lint gaan (lose it), op je tenen lopen (be on edge), het zit me niet lekker (it bothers me), lekker in je vel zitten (feel good in yourself). The page sorts these by 'zijn' vs 'hebben' vs 'zitten', because picking the wrong support verb — de pest in HEBBEN, not zijn — is the classic error.
- Fixed Verb + Preposition CombinationsB1 — The big list of Dutch verbs that lock onto a fixed preposition you cannot derive from English: wachten op (wait for), denken aan (think of), houden van (love), zoeken naar (look for), luisteren naar (listen to), zorgen voor (take care of), rekenen op (count on) and more. Each pairing is lexical, not logical — plus how the preposition fuses with er into erop, eraan, waarover.