Making Plans & Invitations
Making Plans & Invitations
Inviting someone in Dutch runs through a noun English lacks: zin, roughly 'appetite' or 'inclination'. Heb je zin om mee te gaan? is the standard invitation, and there is no way to translate zin on its own.
Grammar Comparison
Grammar Comparison
zin hebben om te for activities, zin hebben in for things
Heb je zin om te gaan? Heb je zin in koffie?
Do you feel like going? Do you fancy a coffee?
The noun zin combines with hebben to mean 'to feel like'. Which preposition follows depends on what comes next: an activity takes om ... te plus an infinitive, a noun takes in. English covers both with 'feel like' or 'fancy', so the split is something you have to add rather than translate. The negative Ik heb geen zin is a complete and very common sentence on its own.
afspreken and de afspraak: arranging to meet
We hebben om acht uur afgesproken. Ik heb een afspraak.
We arranged to meet at eight. I have an appointment.
afspreken is a separable verb meaning 'to agree on a time to meet', covering everything from a casual meet-up to a formal arrangement. Its noun de afspraak means both 'appointment' and 'agreement'. English needs different words for the social and the official senses; Dutch uses one word and lets the context decide, so a Dutch speaker's 'appointment' with a friend is not as formal as it sounds in translation.
Reacting to a proposal: lijken and vinden, not 'sound'
Dat lijkt me leuk. Wat vind je ervan?
That sounds nice to me. What do you think of it?
English reacts with 'that sounds good'. Dutch does not use its verb for hearing this way — the idiomatic reactions are Dat lijkt me leuk ('that seems nice to me'), Dat klinkt goed (which does exist, closer to English) and Dat is goed ('that works'). To ask an opinion, use vinden with the er-construction: Wat vind je ervan?
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
- English
- Do you feel like ... ?
- English
- to fancy (something)
- English
- to arrange to meet
- English
- the appointment
- English
- That sounds nice
- English
- What do you think of it?
- English
- I'm sorry
- English
- I can't
- English
- another time
- English
- See you then!
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