Chinese (Mandarin)

Spanish

English

Hindi

Arabic (Modern Standard)

Portuguese

Bengali

Russian

Japanese

Punjabi

German

Javanese

Malay

Telugu

Vietnamese

Korean

French

Marathi

Tamil

Urdu

Turkish

Italian

Chinese, Yue / Cantonese

Thai

Gujarati

Chinese, Jin

Chinese, Min Nan

Dari

Farsi

Polish

Pashto

Kannada

Chinese, Xiang

Malayalam

Sundanese

Hausa

Odia

Burmese

Chinese, Hakka

Ukrainian

Bihari, Bhojpuri

Tagalog

Yoruba

Bihari, Maithili

Uzbek

Sindhi

Amharic

Fula

Romanian

Oromo

Igbo

Azerbaijani

Chinese, Gan

Dutch

Kurdish, Central

Kurdish, Northern

Kurdish, Southern

Malagasy

Lahnda, Saraiki

Nepali

Sinhalese

Chittagonian

Zhuang

Khmer

Turkmen

Assamese

Madurese

Somali

Marwari

Bihari, Magahi

Haryanvi

Hungarian

Chhattisgarhi

Greek

Chewa

Dakhini

Akan, Twi

Akan, Fante

Kazakh

Chinese, Min Bei

Sylheti

Zulu

Czech

Kinyarwanda

Marwari, Dhundhari

Haitian Creole

Chinese, Min Dong

Ilocano

Quechua

Kirundi

Swedish

Hmong

Shona

Uyghur

Hiligaynon

Mossi

Xhosa

Belarusian

Balochi

### Asking "which" (welke, welk)

When you want to ask for a specific choice (meaning "which"), Dutch uses either **welke** or **welk**. Just like the words for *this* and *that*, your choice depends on the gender of the noun you are asking about.

### Welke

Use **welke** for all singular **de**-words, and for *all* plural nouns.

{{item:787218}}

{{item:787222}}

{{item:787225}}

### Welk

Use **welk** for singular **het**-words.

{{item:787228}}

{{item:787229}}

{{item:787234}}

### Choosing and Preferences

When asking someone to make a choice, you will often use the verb **kiezen** (to choose).

{{item:787237}}

To express that you "prefer" something, Dutch generally doesn't use a dedicated verb. Instead, you use the adverb **liever** (rather) alongside a regular verb. Think of it as saying you would "rather" have or do something.

{{item:787244}}

{{item:787243}}

### Precies (exactly)

When you need specific details to narrow down a choice or understand a situation, you can add **precies** (exactly) to your questions. It often sits toward the end of the sentence.

{{item:787240}}

{{item:787241}}

Asking which (welke, welk)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

determiner

determiner/pronoun

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Singular pronouns and 'to be' (ik ben, hij is)

The formal 'you' (u bent)

Definite articles (de, het)

Plural pronouns and 'to be' (wij zijn)

The verb 'to have' (hebben)

Basic word order

Numbers 1 to 10 (een, twee, drie)

Verb stems and the 'I' form (ik werk)

Long vowels in verb stems (maken, ik maak)

Short vowels in verb stems (zitten, ik zit)

Present tense singular (-t)

Present tense plural (-en)

Yes/no questions

Question words (wie, wat, waar)

Noun negation (geen)

Plural nouns (-en)

Plural nouns (-s)

Diminutives (-je)

Adjective modifiers (heel, erg, te)

Verb negation (niet)

Singular possessives (mijn, jouw, zijn, haar)

Plural and formal possessives (ons/onze, jullie, hun, uw)

This and these (deze, dit)

That and those (die, dat)

Numbers 11 to 20 (elf, twaalf, dertien...)

Tens and compound numbers (dertig, veertig...)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 10th (eerste, tweede...)

Telling time: hours and half hours (uur, half)

Telling time: quarters (kwart over, kwart voor)

Question words (hoeveel, waarom)

Irregular verbs (doen, gaan, staan, zien, komen)

Adjective endings (+e)

Adjectives with 'het' words

Prepositions of place (uit, bij)

Subject-verb inversion

Time before place

Modal verbs (willen, kunnen)

Modal verbs (moeten, mogen)

The verb bracket

Separable prefix verbs

The imperative mood (kom, luister)

Singular object pronouns (mij, jou, hem, haar)

Plural and formal object pronouns (ons, jullie, hen, u)

Reflexive verbs and pronouns (zich, me, je)

Position of negation (niet)

The present perfect tense with regular verbs (hebben gewerkt)

The present perfect tense with motion verbs (zijn gegaan)

Irregular past participles (gezien, gedaan)

The present continuous (zijn aan het)

There is / there are (er is, er zijn)

Unstressed there (er)

And, but, or (en, maar, of)

Because (want)

Months of the year

Prepositions of time (om, van ... tot)

Greetings and politeness

Conversational glue

Prepositions with days (op)

Prepositions with seasons (in)

Genitive of time ('s morgens, 's nachts)

Adverbs of frequency (altijd, vaak)

The future tense (gaan)

The future tense (zullen)

Separable verbs with auxiliary verbs

Apostrophe plurals ('-s)

Irregular plurals (-eren)

Complex diminutives (-pje, -etje, -kje)

Possessive 's (Jan's, vaders)

Indefinite pronouns (iets, niemand, alles)

Indefinite subject pronoun (je)

Reciprocal pronoun (elkaar)

Comparative adjectives (-er dan)

Comparatives with spelling change (-der)

Superlative adjectives (-st)

Irregular comparisons (beter, meer, minder)

Expressing preference (graag, liever, het liefst)

Equality comparisons (even ... als)

Fixed prepositions

That clauses (dat)

Because clauses (omdat)

If and when clauses (als)

Inversion after clauses

Separable verbs in clauses

Negation in clauses (niet)

Past tense of to be (was / waren)

Past tense of to have (had / hadden)

Past tense of modal verbs (wilde, kon, moest, mocht)

Question	Answer
which (for de-words and plural)	welke
the bus	de bus
to take (general, abstract, e.g., transport, medicine)	nemen
Which bus are you taking?	Welke bus neem je?
the station	het station
That bus goes to the station.	Die bus gaat naar het station.
the color	de kleur
Which color do you want?	Welke kleur wilt u?
That color is very beautiful.	Die kleur is heel mooi.
the size	de maat
Which size are you looking for?	Welke maat zoeken jullie?
This size is too small.	Deze maat is te klein.
which (for het-words)	welk
Which book are you taking?	Welk boek neem je?
Which station is this?	Welk station is dit?
the platform	het perron
Which platform are we standing on?	Op welk perron staan we?
We are waiting on the platform.	We wachten op het perron.
the ticket	het kaartje
Which ticket are you buying?	Welk kaartje koop je?
We don't have a ticket.	We hebben geen kaartje.
to choose	kiezen
Which restaurant are you choosing?	Welk restaurant kiezen jullie?
I choose that watch.	Ik kies dat horloge.
exactly	precies
What are you looking for exactly?	Wat zoeken jullie precies?
Which problem do they have exactly?	Welk probleem hebben ze precies?
rather (prefer)	liever
Which coat do you prefer?	Welke jas heb je liever?
I prefer to drink coffee.	Ik drink liever koffie.
the language	de taal
Which language is this?	Welke taal is dit?
That language is beautiful.	Die taal is mooi.
to speak (a language) / to speak (give a statement / speak for someone)	spreken
Which language do you speak?	Welke taal spreekt u?
English	Engels
I speak Dutch and English.	Ik spreek Nederlands en Engels.
Do you speak English?	Spreek jij Engels?
the Dutch person	de Nederlander
The Dutch person takes the bicycle.	De Nederlander neemt de fiets.
That Dutch person talks a lot.	Die Nederlander praat veel.
German	Duits
I speak English and German.	Ik spreek Engels en Duits.
My friend speaks German.	Mijn vriend spreekt Duits.
French	Frans
She speaks French and Dutch.	Zij spreekt Frans en Nederlands.
I am learning French.	Ik leer Frans.

Contributors