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First 50 Dutch Words Every Beginner Should Learn

Lalo Team·Updated April 17, 2026·3 min read

Start your Dutch journey with the 50 most essential high-frequency words. These cover roughly 40% of everyday conversation.

These 50 words cover ~40% of everyday Dutch

Pronouns(9)

hij

he

/hɛɪ/

die

that, which, who (common gender)

/di/

ik

I

/ɪk/

ze

she, they, them

/zə/

dit

this (neuter)

/dɪt/

we

we

/ʋə/

wat

what, some

/ʋɑt/

hem

him

/ɦɛm/

je

you, your (informal)

/jə/

Determiners(1)

geen

no, not any

/ɣeːn/

Articles(3)

de

the (common gender)

/də/

het

the (neuter), it

/ɦɛt/

een

a, an, one

/eːn/

Core Verbs(10)

is

is

/ɪs/

zijn

to be, his

/zɛɪn/

was

was

/ʋɑs/

worden

to become, to be (passive)

/ˈʋɔrdə(n)/

heeft

has

/ɦeːft/

hebben

to have

/ˈɦɛbə(n)/

kan

can, is able to

/kɑn/

zou

would

/zɑu/

had

had

/ɦɑt/

werd

became, was (passive)

/ʋɛrt/

Adverbs(11)

te

to, at, too

/tə/

niet

not

/nit/

er

there

/ɛr/

ook

also, too

/oːk/

nog

still, yet, another

/nɔx/

wel

indeed, certainly, well

/ʋɛl/

dan

then, than

/dɑn/

daar

there

/daːr/

zo

so, like this

/zoː/

al

already, all

/ɑl/

meer

more, lake

/meːr/

Prepositions(12)

van

of, from

/vɑn/

in

in, into

/ɪn/

op

on, upon, at

/ɔp/

voor

for, before, in front of

/voːr/

met

with

/mɛt/

aan

on, to, at

/aːn/

over

about, over, across

/ˈoːvər/

naar

to, toward

/naːr/

om

around, at, in order to

/ɔm/

tot

until, to, up to

/tɔt/

bij

at, near, with

/bɛɪ/

uit

out, from, off

/œyt/

Connectors(4)

en

and

/ɛn/

dat

that

/dɑt/

maar

but, only

/maːr/

als

if, when, as

/ɑls/

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