Dutch A1
CEFR A1 · Beginner
At A1 Dutch gives you the present tense of the verbs every conversation runs on - zijn, hebben, gaan, komen, willen, kunnen - and the two articles de and het, which you learn word by word because nothing in a noun tells you which one it takes. You put the second verb at the end (Ik wil koffie drinken), meet the informal jij against the polite u, and learn the numbers, the days and clock times with half (half drie is 2:30, not 3:30), plus enough food and shop vocabulary to order and pay. Spelling is regular, but the vowels are not English: ui, eu, and the long-short pairs in man and maan, bom and boom.
135 words · 3 units · 12 grammar points
What you learn at Dutch A1
Greetings & introductions
Say hello, give your name, ask someone else's, and where they're from.
- Greet at different times of day
- Say goodbye politely
- Introduce yourself by name
- Use 'ik heet' and 'ik ben'
- Ask formally and informally
- Recognize 'hoe heet je?' vs 'hoe heet u?'
- Say where you're from with 'ik kom uit'
- Ask 'where are you from?'
Numbers, days, time
Count, talk about days and months, give the time, and handle numbers in real situations.
- Count 0-10
- Use numbers for age and quantities
- Use numbers up to 100
- Give your age and phone number
- Name the days and months
- Say what day it is
- Ask and give the time
- Use 'het is'
Food & ordering
Order at a café or restaurant, ask for the bill, and talk about basic food and drink.
- Name common drinks
- Order a drink politely
- Name common foods
- Say what you want to eat
- Read a menu
- Ask the waiter for things
- Ask for the bill
- Ask for items by quantity
A1 grammar points
- Present tense verb endings
- The verb comes second
- Asking a question: verb first
- Where you are from, and the adjective -e
- Telling the time with half
- Plural nouns: -en and -s
- Days and months take op and in
- Saying no: niet and geen
- Willen / mogen + infinitive at the end
- De or het: two words for "the"
- Hebben and zijn
- This and that, and asking the price
Dutch A1 vocabulary
The first 40 of 135, in frequency order.
| Dutch | English | Example |
|---|---|---|
| de | the (common gender) | de man |
| het | the (neuter) | het kind |
| een | a, an | een boek |
| ik | I | Ik heet Anna. |
| jij | you (informal sg., stressed) | Wat doe jij? |
| je | you (informal sg., unstressed); your | Hoe heet je? |
| u | you (formal) | Hoe heet u? |
| hij | he | Hij is mijn broer. |
| zij | she; they (stressed) | Zij is mijn moeder. |
| ze | she; they (unstressed) | Ze komt morgen. |
| wij | we (stressed) | Wij wonen in Amsterdam. |
| we | we (unstressed) | We gaan naar huis. |
| jullie | you (pl.) | Waar wonen jullie? |
| mijn | my | Mijn naam is Tom. |
| jouw | your (informal sg.) | Is dat jouw boek? |
| uw | your (formal) | Wat is uw adres? |
| haar | her | Haar moeder werkt hier. |
| ons | our (before het-words) | Ons huis is klein. |
| onze | our (before de-words/plurals) | Onze buren zijn aardig. |
| hun | their | Hun kinderen spelen buiten. |
| zijn | to be; his / its | Ik wil vandaag thuis zijn. |
| hebben | to have | Ik wil een hond hebben. |
| worden | to become | Hij wordt leraar. |
| kunnen | can, to be able to | We kunnen morgen komen. |
| moeten | must, to have to | Ik moet werken. |
| willen | to want | Ze willen koffie. |
| mogen | to be allowed to, may | We mogen hier niet roken. |
| zullen | shall, will (future aux.) | We zullen zien. |
| doen | to do | Wat ga je vandaag doen? |
| gaan | to go | We gaan naar huis. |
| komen | to come | Ze komen uit Nederland. |
| zien | to see | Ik wil die film zien. |
| horen | to hear | Ik kan je niet goed horen. |
| eten | to eat | Wil je iets eten? |
| drinken | to drink | Ik drink water. |
| slapen | to sleep | Ik ga nu slapen. |
| werken | to work | Ik werk op kantoor. |
| wonen | to live, to reside | Ik wil in Utrecht wonen. |
| leven | to live, to be alive | Wij leven in Nederland. |
| spreken | to speak | Ik wil Nederlands spreken. |