A casual email to a friend is where written Dutch loosens its tie. You drop into the je/jij register, you sprinkle in the little modal particles (wel, even, gewoon, maar, hoor) that make Dutch sound Dutch, you propose plans with Zullen we …?, and you talk about the future with gaan. This page gives you a complete, natural email to a friend and then shows you exactly which informal machinery is doing the work — and where the word order quietly shifts under the surface.
The text
Hoi Sanne,
Hi Sanne,
Hoe is het met je? Ik heb je al een tijdje niet gesproken, dus ik dacht: ik stuur je even een berichtje.
How are you doing? I haven't spoken to you in a while, so I thought I'd just drop you a message.
Volgende week ben ik vrij, en ik wilde vragen of je zin hebt om iets leuks te doen.
Next week I'm free, and I wanted to ask whether you fancy doing something fun.
Zullen we zaterdag naar dat nieuwe café in de Jordaan gaan? Ze hebben daar volgens mij echt lekkere koffie.
Shall we go to that new café in the Jordaan on Saturday? I think they've got really good coffee there.
Als het mooi weer is, kunnen we daarna gewoon nog een stukje door het park lopen.
If the weather's nice, we can just go for a bit of a walk through the park afterwards.
Ik ga vrijdag trouwens naar de stad om een cadeau voor mijn broer te kopen — heb je zin om mee te gaan?
By the way, I'm going into town on Friday to buy a present for my brother — do you fancy coming along?
Laat maar weten wat je het beste uitkomt. Ik kan me bijna altijd vrijmaken.
Just let me know what suits you best. I can almost always make time.
Ik hoop dat we elkaar snel zien, want ik heb je echt veel te vertellen!
I hope we'll see each other soon, because I really have a lot to tell you!
Groetjes, Tess
Take care, Tess (lit. 'little greetings')
What's happening grammatically
The informal register: je, jij, jou(w)
Everything here runs on je / jij ("you", informal) and its forms jou (object/stressed) and jouw (your). Hoe is het met *je?, Ik stuur **je…, wat **jou het beste uitkomt. With a friend, *u would be almost comically stiff. Note the verb after je: in normal order je hebt, but after inversion the -t drops — heb *je zin?, not *hebt je. That inversion drop is unique to the je/jij second person.
Heb je zin om mee te gaan?
Do you fancy coming along? (inversion → 'heb je', the '-t' drops)
Modal particles: the salt of informal Dutch
Sprinkled through the email are tiny words with no real dictionary translation. The true modal particles — even (just, briefly), gewoon (just, simply), maar (just / go ahead), wel (mild reassurance) — sit unstressed inside the clause and tune the speaker's attitude without changing the facts. Around them cluster other casual flavour words: the discourse marker trouwens (by the way), the intensifier echt (really), and the hedging phrase volgens mij (I reckon). Laat *maar weten is gentler and friendlier than the bare *Laat weten. Daarna *gewoon nog een stukje lopen* makes the plan sound relaxed and low-stakes. Native writers pack informal messages with these; a particle-free email reads cold and textbook-ish.
Ik stuur je even een berichtje.
I'll just drop you a message. ('even' = briefly/just; softens it)
Laat maar weten wat je het beste uitkomt.
Just let me know what suits you best. ('maar' = go ahead, no pressure)
V2 main clauses beside verb-final subordinate clauses
The email constantly switches between two orders. Main clauses are V2 — the finite verb is the second element, so when something other than the subject comes first, subject and verb invert: Volgende week *ben ik vrij (front the time phrase → *ben before ik). Subordinate clauses are verb-final — after dat, of, als, want… wait, want is special (see below) — the finite verb drops to the end: …of je zin hebt, Als het mooi weer *is, …, Ik hoop dat we elkaar snel *zien.
Volgende week ben ik vrij.
Next week I'm free. (time phrase fronted → V2 inversion 'ben ik')
Ik wilde vragen of je zin hebt om iets leuks te doen.
I wanted to ask whether you fancy doing something fun. ('of'-clause → verb 'hebt' at the end)
Als het mooi weer is, kunnen we nog een stukje lopen.
If the weather's nice, we can go for a bit of a walk. (subordinate 'als'-clause first → main clause starts with the verb 'kunnen')
Watch that last one: when the Als…-clause comes first, it fills the "first slot" of the main clause, so the main clause then opens with its verb — …is, *kunnen we…* This "verb-comma-verb" hinge is a hallmark of correct Dutch.
The future with gaan and the proposal with Zullen we …?
Dutch usually expresses the near future with gaan + infinitive (literally "to go" + verb), much like English "going to": Ik *ga vrijdag naar de stad. To propose a joint plan, the idiomatic frame is *Zullen we …? ("Shall we …?") — zullen sends the main verb to the end: Zullen we zaterdag naar dat café *gaan? This is the natural way to suggest doing something together; a flat *Willen we…? sounds wrong.
Ik ga vrijdag naar de stad om een cadeau te kopen.
I'm going into town on Friday to buy a present. (gaan + infinitive 'kopen' at the end; purpose with 'om … te')
Zullen we zaterdag afspreken?
Shall we meet up on Saturday? (proposal frame 'Zullen we …?')
Purpose clauses: om … te
Twice the email uses om … te + infinitive for purpose ("in order to"): …om een cadeau te kopen, …om iets leuks te doen, …om mee te gaan. The te + infinitive go to the end, and with a separable verb the te slots inside: mee *te gaan, vrij **te maken*.
Ik kan me bijna altijd vrijmaken.
I can almost always make time. (reflexive separable 'zich vrijmaken')
Vocabulary and phrase note
Informal email furniture:
- Openers: Hoi [naam], / Hé [naam], / Hoe is het (met je)? — never Geachte for a friend.
- Proposing: Zullen we…? / Heb je zin om…? ("do you fancy…?") / Ik wilde vragen of…
- Easing pressure: Laat maar weten / Het maakt mij niet uit / wat jou uitkomt.
- Sign-offs (informal): Groetjes (most common, friendly), Liefs (love — for close friends/family/partners), X / Xx (kisses), Doei. Reserve Liefs for genuine affection; Groetjes is the safe default with any friend.
Register note
This email is squarely informal: je/jij, contractions of attitude via particles, Groetjes. The same message to a teacher or a landlord would shift to u, lose most particles, and close with Met vriendelijke groet. The single most common register slip is to mix the two — opening Hoi Sanne but then writing Ik zou u graag willen vragen — which sounds like you've forgotten who you're writing to. Pick a register at Hoi / Geachte and hold it to the sign-off.
Common Mistakes
❌ Volgende week ik ben vrij.
Incorrect — main clauses are V2: with the time phrase fronted, subject and verb invert: 'Volgende week ben ik vrij.'
✅ Volgende week ben ik vrij.
Next week I'm free.
❌ Ik wilde vragen of je hebt zin.
Incorrect — in the 'of'-clause the verb goes to the end: 'of je zin hebt'.
✅ Ik wilde vragen of je zin hebt.
I wanted to ask whether you fancy it.
❌ Als het mooi weer is, we kunnen lopen.
Incorrect — when the 'als'-clause comes first it fills slot one, so the main clause must start with the verb: '…is, kunnen we lopen.'
✅ Als het mooi weer is, kunnen we lopen.
If the weather's nice, we can walk.
❌ Hebt je zin om mee te gaan?
Incorrect — after inversion 'je' drops the verb's -t: 'Heb je zin…?'
✅ Heb je zin om mee te gaan?
Do you fancy coming along?
❌ Hoi Sanne, ik zou u graag iets willen vragen.
Register clash — you opened informally ('Hoi'), so don't switch to formal 'u'; keep 'je': '…ik wilde je iets vragen.'
✅ Hoi Sanne, ik wilde je iets vragen.
Hi Sanne, I wanted to ask you something.
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