Dutch text — especially official letters, signs, schedules, and everyday chat — is dense with abbreviations, and they don't always work the way English ones do. Some are spelled out letter by letter, some are pronounced as words, and a whole family of them are written with periods because they stand for a multi-word phrase. The rules about when to use periods, what the common ones mean (a few are genuine false friends), and how to make them plural are exactly the things that trip up English speakers. This page gives you the system plus the everyday inventory you'll actually meet.
Three kinds of abbreviation
It helps to sort Dutch abbreviations into three groups, because each behaves differently with periods and pronunciation.
1. Initialisms (letterwoorden spelled out)
These are read letter by letter, and in modern spelling they take no periods:
- NS (Nederlandse Spoorwegen) — the railways
- OV / ov-chipkaart — public transport / the transit card
- tv (televisie), pc (personal computer), wc (water closet, toilet)
- btw (belasting over de toegevoegde waarde) — VAT
- vwo, havo, vmbo, mbo, hbo — the tiers of Dutch education
Ik heb mijn ov-chipkaart thuis laten liggen, dus ik moest een kaartje kopen.
I left my transit card at home, so I had to buy a ticket.
Op de tv is vanavond niets leuks, zullen we een film opzetten?
There's nothing good on TV tonight, shall we put on a film?
2. Acronyms read as a word
A smaller set is pronounced as an ordinary word rather than letter by letter. Names among these are capitalized; common nouns are not:
- Cito (the national testing institute) — said "see-toh"
- aids, laser, radar — fully lexicalized loan-acronyms, lowercase
Mijn dochter doet volgende week de Cito-toets.
My daughter is taking the Cito test next week.
3. Dotted phrase-abbreviations
This is the group English speakers underuse. When an abbreviation stands for several words, Dutch writes it with periods (and the phrase is read out in full when spoken). These are everywhere in writing:
| Abbreviation | Full phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| a.u.b. | alstublieft | please |
| z.o.z. | zie ommezijde | see overleaf (P.T.O.) |
| d.w.z. | dat wil zeggen | that is to say, i.e. |
| bijv. / bv. | bijvoorbeeld | for example |
| enz. | enzovoort | etc. |
| ca. | circa | approximately |
| i.v.m. | in verband met | in connection with, due to |
| n.v.t. | niet van toepassing | not applicable (N/A) |
| o.a. | onder andere | among other things |
| m.b.t. | met betrekking tot | with regard to |
Wilt u hier tekenen, a.u.b.?
Would you sign here, please?
De afspraak gaat niet door i.v.m. ziekte.
The appointment is cancelled due to illness.
We verkopen veel soorten fruit, o.a. appels, peren en druiven.
We sell many kinds of fruit, among others apples, pears and grapes.
The slash abbreviation: t/m
One special form uses a slash instead of periods: t/m (tot en met), meaning "up to and including." It's the standard way to write inclusive ranges on dates, opening hours, and page numbers — and it's important because English "to" is often exclusive, while t/m is explicitly inclusive.
De winkel is open van maandag t/m vrijdag.
The shop is open Monday to Friday (inclusive).
Lees de hoofdstukken 3 t/m 7 voor het tentamen.
Read chapters 3 to 7 (inclusive) for the exam.
The period rule, stated simply
Watch out: btw is not "by the way"
A genuine false friend for English speakers and internet users: written Dutch btw almost always means VAT (the tax), belasting over de toegevoegde waarde — not the English chat abbreviation "by the way." On a Dutch invoice, prijzen zijn inclusief btw means "prices include VAT."
De prijzen op de website zijn inclusief btw.
The prices on the website include VAT.
Plurals: the apostrophe
To pluralize an abbreviation that ends in a written vowel letter (or a letter pronounced with a final vowel sound, like the names of consonant letters), Dutch adds 's — an apostrophe plus s — exactly as it does after a stem-final long vowel in ordinary nouns (foto's, taxi's):
- cd → cd's, pc → pc's, tv → tv's, cao → cao's
- The rule keys on the last sounded letter: you write bv's (the letter v's plural sound), azc's
Abbreviations whose final letter is pronounced as a hissing s/x sound take 'en instead: gps → gps'en, bmx → BMX'en.
We hebben nog een doos vol oude cd's op zolder staan.
We've still got a box full of old CDs in the attic.
In het bedrijf staan tientallen pc's die vervangen moeten worden.
In the company there are dozens of PCs that need replacing.
Common Mistakes
❌ aub / AUB → ✅ a.u.b.
Please. As a phrase-abbreviation (alstublieft), it takes periods and stays lowercase.
❌ De prijs is inclusief b.t.w. → ✅ De prijs is inclusief btw.
The price includes VAT. 'Btw' is read letter by letter, so NO periods.
❌ Trouwens, btw, ik kom wat later. → ✅ Trouwens, ik kom wat later.
By the way, I'll be a bit late. Dutch 'btw' means VAT, not 'by the way' — use 'trouwens'.
❌ open van maandag tot vrijdag (bedoeld: incl. vrijdag) → ✅ open van maandag t/m vrijdag
Open Monday through Friday inclusive. Use 't/m' to make the range inclusive; plain 'tot' can read as exclusive.
❌ twee cds → ✅ twee cd's
Two CDs. The plural of an abbreviation ending in a vowel-sounded letter takes an apostrophe: cd's.
Key Takeaways
- No periods for letter-by-letter initialisms and word-acronyms: tv, btw, NS, Cito, ov-chipkaart.
- Periods for phrase-abbreviations you'd read out in full: a.u.b., d.w.z., i.v.m., enz., o.a.
- t/m (slash) means "up to and including" — an inclusive range.
- btw in Dutch means VAT, not "by the way" (that's trouwens).
- Plural of vowel-ending abbreviations uses 's: cd's, pc's, tv's.
Now practice Dutch
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