Breakdown of Enerzijds houd ik van de herfst, anderzijds geniet ik ook van de winter.
ik
I
ook
also
genieten van
to enjoy
houden van
to love
enerzijds
on the one hand
anderzijds
on the other hand
de herfst
the autumn
de winter
the winter
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Questions & Answers about Enerzijds houd ik van de herfst, anderzijds geniet ik ook van de winter.
What does Enerzijds … anderzijds mean in English, and how is it used?
It corresponds to “on the one hand … on the other hand.” You use these fixed adverbial phrases to present two contrasting points. Each one usually begins its clause, and you separate the clauses with a comma.
Why is the word order houd ik and geniet ik, instead of ik houd and ik geniet?
In Dutch, when you start a clause with an adverbial (like enerzijds or anderzijds), you must invert subject and verb. So you get: Adverbial – Verb – Subject (…).
Why is it houd and not houdt, and sometimes I see ik hou van – is that correct?
The rule is that first-person singular uses the bare stem. The stem of houden is houd, so ik houd is standard. Informally you may drop the silent d and write ik hou, but both forms are understood. The -t only appears in third-person singular: hij houdt.
What’s the difference in meaning between houden van and genieten van?
Both verbs involve liking or pleasure, but nuance differs:
- houden van = “to love” or “to like very much” (general affection)
- genieten van = “to enjoy” (focus on deriving pleasure in that moment)
Why is there van after houden and genieten?
These verbs govern van as a preposition: you always say houden van X and genieten van X. Think of it like English “enjoy of,” even though English drops the “of.”
Why is ook placed between the verb and van in geniet ik ook van de winter?
The adverb ook (“also/too”) typically follows the subject but precedes the rest of the predicate. After inversion you have geniet (verb) – ik (subject) – ook (adverb) – van ….
Why do we use de herfst and de winter instead of leaving out the article?
Dutch generally uses the definite article with seasons when you talk about them in general: de lente, de zomer, de herfst, de winter. Omitting de here would sound odd or shift the meaning.
Can I replace Enerzijds … anderzijds with Aan de ene kant … aan de andere kant, or use maar instead?
Yes. Aan de ene kant … aan de andere kant is interchangeable. You could also write:
“Enerzijds houd ik van de herfst, maar anderzijds geniet ik ook van de winter.”
Here maar (“but”) explicitly marks the contrast, but the pair enerzijds/anderzijds already implies it.