School is one of the first worlds you talk about in a new language — what grade you're in, what subjects you take, whether you passed the test. Dutch school vocabulary is mostly straightforward, but it's riddled with fixed collocations that don't translate word-for-word: you make homework, you succeed for an exam (not "pass" it), and you fall for an exam when you fail. Get these verb-and-preposition pairings right and you instantly sound like someone who actually went to a Dutch school. This page walks through the core phrases and a handful of genuine school idioms.
Going to school: naar school gaan
The basic frame is naar school gaan ("to go to school"). Note two things English speakers stumble on. First, the preposition is naar ("to / towards"), not aan or op. Second — and this is the surprising one — there's no article: it's naar school, not naar de school. Like English "go to school" (the institution/activity), Dutch drops the article when school means the activity rather than a specific building.
Mijn dochter gaat sinds september naar school.
My daughter has been going to school since September. (naar school — no article, like 'to school')
Ik moet morgen vroeg op; ik heb om half negen al les.
I have to get up early tomorrow; I've got class at half past eight already. ('les hebben' = to have class)
Hij zit in groep 6 van de basisschool.
He's in year 6 of primary school. (Dutch primary school years are 'groep 1' through 'groep 8'; you 'zit in' a group)
Note in een klas / groep zitten — you sit in a class. Dutch uses zitten ("to sit") for being enrolled in a year or class: Ik zit in de derde ("I'm in the third year"). And the building/level word matters: basisschool (primary), middelbare school (secondary), hogeschool / universiteit (higher education).
Homework: huiswerk MAKEN, not "doen"
Here is the single most important collocation on this page. In Dutch you make your homework — huiswerk maken — you do not do it.
Heb je je huiswerk al gemaakt?
Have you done your homework yet? (Dutch 'makes' homework — huiswerk MAKEN, never 'doen')
Ik moet nog een opdracht voor Engels maken.
I still have to do an assignment for English. ('een opdracht maken' = to do/complete an assignment)
The logic: Dutch treats homework, exercises, tests and assignments as things you produce (you make the answers, you make the work), so the verb is maken, the same verb you'd use for making a sandwich or making a plan. English "do your homework" is the odd one out. This maken pattern extends across school work: een toets maken (to take/sit a test), een oefening maken (to do an exercise), een som maken (to do a sum), een proefwerk maken.
Tests and exams: toets, proefwerk, examen
There's a small ladder of words for assessments, and they're not interchangeable:
| Dutch | What it is | Register |
|---|---|---|
| een toets | a test (any subject test during the year) | neutral, most common |
| een proefwerk | a test (slightly more formal/old-school word for the same thing) | neutral, somewhat traditional |
| een overhoring / een s.o. | a short quiz (schriftelijke overhoring) | (informal, school slang) |
| een examen | an exam (the big final one, or a formal qualifying exam) | neutral/formal |
| een tentamen | a university exam | (academic) |
We hebben morgen een toets aardrijkskunde.
We've got a geography test tomorrow. (een toets + the subject)
Het examen Nederlands viel me reuze mee.
The Dutch exam was much easier than I'd expected. ('meevallen' = to turn out better than feared)
Passing and failing: slagen VOOR, zakken VOOR
This is the second collocation trap, and it's a big one. To pass an exam is slagen voor (literally "to succeed for"); to fail it is zakken voor (literally "to sink/drop for"). Both take the preposition voor, and crucially, neither uses the verb you'd reach for from English. There is no een examen passen — that's not Dutch.
Ik ben geslaagd voor mijn rijexamen!
I passed my driving test! ('slagen voor' = to pass — note 'voor' and the verb 'zijn' in the perfect: ben geslaagd)
Helaas is hij gezakt voor wiskunde.
Unfortunately he failed maths. ('zakken voor' = to fail — also takes 'zijn': is gezakt)
Als je voor dit vak zakt, mag je het volgend jaar overdoen.
If you fail this subject, you can redo it next year. ('zakken voor' + subject)
Two details. Both slagen and zakken are zijn-verbs in the perfect tense (ik ben geslaagd, ik ben gezakt), because they describe a change of state. And the related noun phrase is een diploma halen — "to get a diploma," where the verb is halen ("to fetch/obtain"), again not the English "get/earn" verb you might guess.
Ze heeft haar diploma gehaald en gaat nu studeren.
She got her diploma and is now going to study at university. ('een diploma halen' = to obtain a diploma)
Subjects, skipping, and dropping out
A school subject is een vak (plural vakken) — the same word as for a trade/profession, the idea being a "field" you specialise in. To skip class / play truant is spijbelen, a single everyday verb with no real one-word English equivalent in standard register.
Mijn lievelingsvak was altijd geschiedenis.
My favourite subject was always history. ('een vak' = a school subject)
Hij is vorige week drie keer gaan spijbelen.
He skipped school three times last week. ('spijbelen' = to play truant / skip class)
To leave school in the sense of dropping out or finishing is van school gaan — literally "to go from school." Used neutrally it means "to leave (this) school"; in context it often implies dropping out before finishing.
Hij is op zijn zestiende van school gegaan om te werken.
He left school at sixteen to work. ('van school gaan' = to leave school / drop out)
A few real school idioms
| Idiom | Literal | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| er een puinhoop van maken | to make a rubble-heap of it | to make a complete mess of it |
| een onvoldoende halen | to fetch an insufficient | to get a failing grade |
| blijven zitten | to remain sitting | to repeat a year / be held back |
| het schoolvoorbeeld van iets zijn | to be the school-example of something | to be the textbook/classic example |
Hij heeft er een puinhoop van gemaakt; zijn hele werkstuk moet over.
He made a complete mess of it; his whole project has to be redone. ('er een puinhoop van maken' = to mess it up badly)
Als je twee onvoldoendes haalt, blijf je misschien zitten.
If you get two failing grades, you might have to repeat the year. ('blijven zitten' = to be held back a year)
Note blijven zitten — "to stay seated" — meaning to repeat a school year, because you literally don't move up to the next class. It's an idiom every Dutch pupil knows and dreads. (The same phrase also colloquially means "to be left on the shelf / not get married," from a different image — context disambiguates.)
Common Mistakes
❌ Ik moet mijn huiswerk doen.
Incorrect — Dutch 'makes' homework, it doesn't 'do' it. Use maken.
✅ Ik moet mijn huiswerk maken.
I have to do my homework.
❌ Ik ben geslaagd mijn examen.
Incorrect — 'slagen' needs the preposition 'voor': you succeed FOR an exam.
✅ Ik ben geslaagd voor mijn examen.
I passed my exam.
❌ Hij heeft gezakt voor het examen.
Incorrect auxiliary — 'zakken' takes 'zijn', not 'hebben': it's a change-of-state verb.
✅ Hij is gezakt voor het examen.
He failed the exam.
❌ Mijn zoon gaat naar de school.
Incorrect for the activity 'going to school' — drop the article: naar school.
✅ Mijn zoon gaat naar school.
My son goes to school.
❌ Ik heb mijn diploma gekregen na drie jaar.
Understandable but not idiomatic — Dutch 'fetches/obtains' a diploma: een diploma halen.
✅ Ik heb mijn diploma gehaald na drie jaar.
I got my diploma after three years.
Key Takeaways
- naar school gaan — go to school (no article); you zit in a class or groep.
- School work runs on maken: huiswerk maken, een toets maken, een opdracht maken — never doen.
- To pass = slagen voor, to fail = zakken voor (both with voor, both zijn-verbs in the perfect); to get a diploma = een diploma halen.
- spijbelen = skip class; van school gaan = leave/drop out of school.
- Idioms: blijven zitten (repeat a year), er een puinhoop van maken (make a mess of it), een onvoldoende halen (get a failing grade).
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.
- Leren vs Studeren: Learn, Study, TeachA2 — Dutch leren and studeren both touch on English 'learn' and 'study', but they divide the work in a way English doesn't. Leren covers learning a skill or subject, studying for a test — and even teaching someone. Studeren is narrower: it means studying at university, being a tertiary student, or one's degree subject. This page gives the clear rule, head-to-head pairs, and the errors English speakers make most.
- Idioms with DoenB1 — Doen ('to do') anchors a family of everyday Dutch expressions: pijn doen (to hurt), je best doen (to do one's best), boodschappen doen (do the shopping), de was/afwas doen (do the laundry/dishes), meedoen (join in), te doen hebben met (feel sorry for), het doet me niets (it does nothing for me), iets aan iets doen (do something about), and ertoe doen (to matter). The page gives each idiom a literal gloss, its real meaning, and a natural example — plus the maken/doen line that catches English speakers (huiswerk MAKEN, not doen).
- Work and Jobs ExpressionsB1 — The Dutch of working life — aan het werk, een baan versus werk versus functie, solliciteren naar a job, the crucial difference between ontslag nemen (you quit) and ontslagen worden (you're fired), overwerken, fulltime/parttime, collega, de baas, plus work idioms de handen uit de mouwen steken, het werk neerleggen (go on strike) and met de gebakken peren zitten.