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### Short Responses: *van wel* and *van niet*

When someone asks for your opinion or prediction, you rarely repeat their entire sentence back to them. In English, you use short responses like "I think so" or "I hope not." In Dutch, you achieve this using **van wel** (for a positive response) and **van niet** (for a negative response).

You use these phrases directly after verbs of thought, feeling, or communication—such as *denken* (to think), *hopen* (to hope), *verwachten* (to expect), and *vermoeden* (to suspect).

#### Positive Responses with *van wel*

To agree with a premise or predict a positive outcome, use **van wel**. It stands in for the rest of the sentence, meaning "so" or "that it is".

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#### Negative Responses with *van niet*

To disagree or predict a negative outcome, use **van niet**. This replaces a negative clause, meaning "not" or "that it isn't". 

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#### Contrasting and Assessing

These short responses are perfect for strategy games where you have to assess (*inschatten*) situations, predict moves, or contradict your opponent. They pair naturally with verbs of communication like *zeggen* (to say) or *beweren* (to claim), especially when highlighting a contrast.

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Short responses (van wel, van niet)

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)

Asking which (welke, welk)

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)

Question	Answer
the move (in a game or strategy)	de zet
so / that it is	van wel
Is this the best move? I think so.	Is dit de beste zet? Ik denk van wel.
to bluff	bluffen
not / that it isn't (e.g. I think not)	van niet
Maybe my opponent is bluffing. I hope not.	Misschien bluft mijn tegenstander. Ik hoop van niet.
He claims that he is not bluffing, but I suspect he is.	Hij beweert dat hij niet bluft, maar ik vermoed van wel.
the lead	de voorsprong
Do you think we will keep the lead? I hope so.	Denk jij dat we de voorsprong houden? Ik hoop van wel.
to cheat (in a game or play unfairly)	valsspelen
Do you think he wants to cheat? I expect not.	Denk jij dat hij wil valsspelen? Ik verwacht van niet.
That move is against the rules, so he is cheating.	Die zet is tegen de regels, dus hij speelt vals.
to think ahead	vooruitdenken
to risk	riskeren
You must think ahead, otherwise you risk your lead.	Je moet vooruitdenken, anders riskeer je je voorsprong.
to draw (to tie a game or match)	gelijkspelen
Are we going to draw? I believe so.	Gaan we gelijkspelen? Ik geloof van wel.
I say yes, but he says no.	Ik zeg van wel, maar hij zegt van niet.
I risk my lead because I do not think ahead.	Ik riskeer mijn voorsprong omdat ik niet vooruitdenk.
I must think ahead to protect myself.	Ik moet vooruitdenken om mezelf te beschermen.
Did you defend yourself? I hope so.	Heb jij jezelf verdedigd? Ik hoop van wel.
to assess	inschatten
Will we tie? I think so, I can estimate that well.	Zullen wij gelijkspelen? Ik denk van wel, ik kan dat goed inschatten.
Do you estimate that he will win? I think not.	Schat jij in dat hij zal winnen? Ik denk van niet.
how so? / why?	hoezo
How so, is he bluffing now?	Hoezo, bluft hij nu?
Why do you risk that move?	Hoezo riskeer jij die zet?
yes (contradicting a negative)	jawel
Yes indeed, I think so.	Jawel, ik denk van wel.
Yes we do have the lead.	Jawel, wij hebben de voorsprong.

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