Shopping & Money
Shopping & Money
Dutch shops run on one verb English has no word for: pinnen, to pay by debit card. Alongside it comes a counting habit that surprises English speakers — currency units stay singular after a number.
Grammar Comparison
Grammar Comparison
euro stays singular after a number
twee euro vijftig, tien euro
two euros fifty, ten euros
English adds a plural -s to counted currency: 'ten euros', 'five pounds'. Dutch leaves units of currency and measurement unmarked after a numeral: tien euro, drie kilo, vijf jaar. The plural euro's does exist, but only when you mean coins or notes as physical objects. Prices are also read out without a word for 'and' or a decimal point: 2,50 is twee euro vijftig.
Hoeveel kost ... ? — one word for 'how much'
Hoeveel kost dit? Wat kost het?
How much does this cost? What does it cost?
English splits 'how much' into two words and needs the auxiliary 'does' to form the question. Dutch has a single word hoeveel and no auxiliary at all — the main verb simply moves in front of the subject: Hoeveel kost dit? Wat kost het? is equally common, using wat ('what') where English would find 'what does it cost' slightly formal.
pinnen: paying by card as its own verb
Kan ik pinnen? Ik wil met de pin betalen.
Can I pay by card? I want to pay by card.
English needs a whole phrase — 'pay by debit card' — for what Dutch expresses with the single verb pinnen, derived from the PIN code. It is completely ordinary, everyday vocabulary rather than slang, and the question Kan ik pinnen? is what you ask at a counter. Cash is contant or cash, and small shops still occasionally post alleen contant ('cash only').
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
- English
- the shop
- English
- How much does it cost?
- English
- the euro
- English
- expensive
- English
- cheap
- English
- to pay
- English
- to pay by debit card
- English
- the till / checkout
- English
- the discount
- English
- the receipt
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