Small unstressed words dropped in the middle of a sentence carry the speaker's attitude rather than any meaning of their own: maar and even soften a request, toch appeals to shared knowledge or contradicts gently, nou adds resignation or emphasis, eens makes a suggestion casual. They sit after the verb and pronouns, before the rest.
Examples
- Zeg het maar gewoon eerlijk.
- Just say it honestly (go ahead, no pressure).
- Je weet toch hoe gevoelig hij daarover is?
- You do know how sensitive he is about that, right?
- Laten we daar nou eens rustig over praten.
- Let's just talk about that calmly for once.
The mistake to avoid
Do not translate them literally - toch here is not "still" and maar is not "but"; leaving them out is not wrong, but it makes you sound blunt.
Where this fits in
Expression & nuance, Dutch C1: Master register, idiomatic expression, and emotional nuance.