The supermarket is where your first survival Dutch gets tested: you have to find things, ask how much they cost, and pay. Packed into that are several A1 building blocks — wh-questions with no English-style "do," the way Dutch counts in een kilo / een pak / een fles, the price question Hoeveel kost …?, and the separable verb afrekenen ("to settle up / pay"). Below is a natural exchange between a shopper and a shop assistant. Read it as a scene, then walk through the notes.
The dialogue
— Pardon, waar vind ik de appels?
— Excuse me, where do I find the apples?
— De appels liggen bij het fruit, in gangpad drie.
— The apples are over by the fruit, in aisle three.
— En in welk gangpad staat de melk?
— And which aisle is the milk in?
— De melk staat helemaal achterin, naast de kaas.
— The milk is right at the back, next to the cheese.
— Dank u. Ik wil graag een kilo appels en een pak melk.
— Thank you. I'd like a kilo of apples and a carton of milk.
— Prima. Wilt u verder nog iets?
— Fine. Would you like anything else?
— Nee, dat was het. Hoeveel kost het samen?
— No, that's it. How much does it cost altogether?
— Dat is zeven euro twintig. Wilt u pinnen of contant betalen?
— That's seven euros twenty. Would you like to pay by card or cash?
— Pinnen, graag. En mag ik een tasje?
— By card, please. And could I have a bag?
What's happening grammatically
"Waar vind ik …?" — wh-questions with no 'do'
Waar vind ik de appels? literally reads "where find I the apples?" Dutch has no do-support: the verb vind comes straight after the question word waar, then the subject ik. English forces in "do" (where *do I find…); Dutch never does. The same applies to In welk gangpad **staat de melk? — question phrase first, then the verb *staat, then the subject.
Waar vind ik de melk?
Where do I find the milk? (verb 'vind' straight after 'waar' — no 'do')
In welk gangpad staat de yoghurt?
Which aisle is the yoghurt in? ('welk' = which, before a het-word)
Notice welk vs welke: welk gangpad (the het-word het gangpad takes welk), but welke appels / welke kaas (a de-word or plural takes welke). That's the only fiddly bit in the question.
Quantities: een kilo appels, een pak melk
This is where English speakers most often slip. Dutch states a quantity by putting the measure word directly before the noun, with no "of": een kilo appels (a kilo of apples — but no van!), een pak melk, een fles wijn, een doos eieren. There's simply no word for "of" in these phrases.
| Dutch | English |
|---|---|
| een kilo appels | a kilo of apples |
| een pak melk / een pak rijst | a carton of milk / a packet of rice |
| een fles water | a bottle of water |
| een doos eieren | a box of eggs |
| een zak chips | a bag of crisps |
| een ons kaas | 100 grams of cheese |
Also note that units of measure stay singular after a number: twee kilo appels (not "kilo's"), drie liter water, vijf gram. Ordinary container words, on the other hand, do pluralise: twee pakken melk, drie flessen wijn. The counted noun usually goes plural (appels, eieren) while uncountables stay as they are (melk, kaas).
Ik wil graag een kilo appels en een fles water.
I'd like a kilo of apples and a bottle of water. (no 'of' — measure word straight before the noun)
Doet u mij maar een ons oude kaas.
I'll have a hundred grams of mature cheese, please. ('een ons' = 100 g; classic deli phrasing)
"Hoeveel kost …?" — asking the price
The price question is Hoeveel kost het? ("how much does it cost?") with the verb kosten. Again, no "do": Hoeveel kost het samen? The reply usually opens with Dat is … + the amount. Prices are said as zeven euro twintig — the word euro stays singular after a number, and you don't repeat "cent": 7,20 is simply zeven euro twintig.
Hoeveel kost het samen?
How much does it cost altogether?
Dat is zeven euro twintig.
That's seven euros twenty.
"afrekenen" and "pinnen" — paying, the Dutch way
Afrekenen ("to settle up / pay at the till") is a separable verb: in a main clause the prefix af splits off and goes to the end — Ik wil graag afrekenen (here it stays whole because it follows a modal), but Ik *reken zo af*. To pay by card you say pinnen — a verb in its own right, from the old PIN debit system; it's the default way Dutch people pay. The alternative is contant betalen (to pay cash).
Mag ik hier afrekenen?
Can I pay here? (separable 'afrekenen', whole after the modal 'mag')
Ik reken bij de kassa af.
I'll pay at the checkout. (main clause → prefix 'af' splits to the end)
Vocab and phrase notes
- het gangpad = aisle; de kassa = checkout/till; het fruit = fruit; de kaas = cheese; het tasje = (little plastic/paper) bag — note you now pay for these in the Netherlands, hence asking.
- achterin / voorin = at the back / at the front (of the shop); naast = next to; bij = by/near. These tell you where things are.
- Pardon = "excuse me" (to get attention), interchangeable with Sorry. To squeeze past someone: Mag ik er even langs?
- Dat was het = "that's it / that's everything" — the standard way to signal you're done ordering.
- Doet u mij maar … = "I'll have …, please" — a very common, slightly homely way to order at a counter (literally "do me just …").
Register note
The shopper here uses u to the assistant (Dank u), and the assistant uses u back (Wilt u pinnen?) — this is the normal, neutral register in a shop, where staff and customers don't know each other. With a market trader you might hear and use the friendlier je, but u is always safe and never rude. The vocabulary (pinnen, een tasje, gangpad, kassa) is everyday Netherlands-Dutch; in Belgium you'd more often hear winkelkarretje-era variants and met de kaart betalen rather than pinnen, which is specifically a Netherlands word.
Common Mistakes
❌ Waar doe ik vinden de appels?
Incorrect — no 'do'-support in Dutch, and the verb stays second: 'Waar vind ik de appels?'
✅ Waar vind ik de appels?
Where do I find the apples?
❌ Ik wil graag een kilo van appels.
Incorrect — no 'van/of' in a quantity phrase: 'een kilo appels'.
✅ Ik wil graag een kilo appels.
I'd like a kilo of apples.
❌ In welke gangpad staat de melk?
Incorrect — 'gangpad' is a het-word, so use 'welk', not 'welke'.
✅ In welk gangpad staat de melk?
Which aisle is the milk in?
❌ Hoeveel doet het kosten?
Incorrect — no 'do'; the verb 'kost' follows the question word directly: 'Hoeveel kost het?'
✅ Hoeveel kost het samen?
How much does it cost altogether?
❌ Ik wil hier afrekenen op de kassa.
Word-choice/preposition slip — you pay 'bij de kassa', and a bare main clause splits the verb: 'Ik reken bij de kassa af.'
✅ Mag ik bij de kassa afrekenen?
Can I pay at the checkout?
Now practice Dutch
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