The Most Common Dutch Words!

Looking to learn Dutch? With the most common Dutch words, learning Dutch becomes alot easier. Here are the most common Dutch words, so you can learn Dutch effectively. With their translation and example sentences. For you, for free, by LearnDutchOnline.nl!

The Body of Spoken Dutch

The most common Dutch word is ‘de’, followed by ‘ja’, ‘en’, ‘uh’, ‘een’, ‘ik’, ‘dat’, ‘van’, ‘is’, ‘die’, ‘in’, ‘niet’, ‘maar’, ‘dat’, ‘dan’, ‘je’, ‘ook’, ‘op’, ‘het’ en ‘ze. This is based on the Corpus Spoken Dutch, a collection of 6 million words from daily, oral use of the language.

Some example sentences with their translation:

Uh, ja, ik wil inderdaad één van die broodjes hebben! Uh, yes, I would indeed like to have one of those sandwiches!

Een jas van dat merk is heel goed. – A jacket of that brand is very good.

In de koelkast ligt geen kaas meer. – In the fridge there is no cheese anymore.

Ik hou van pannekoeken, maar ik vind stroopwafels nog lekkerder! – I like pancakes, but I find stroopwafels even more tasty!

Ik heb gezegd dat je dat niet moest doen! – I told you to not do that!

Jij bent langer dan ik, kun jij me dan even optillen? – You are taller than I am, can you lift me then for a moment?

Ook mijn broertje zit met ze op het gymnasium. – My little brother also attends the gymnasium (classical A-level schooltype) with them.

The Top 100 of Most Popular Dutch Words

Conclusion: in this Dutch top 100 you almost only find functional words, words that have no real meaning; articles and conjunction words for example.

Only three proper nouns show up in this Corpus, of which the first, ‘naam’, is on the 85th place. It’s followed by ‘mensen’ (88) and ‘beetje’ (100).

Some examples with their translation:

Een beetje = a little –> Ik heb een beetje geld nodig! – I need a little bit of money!

Er zijn mensen op je aan het wachten. –> There are people waiting for you.

Wat is jouw naam? –> What is your name?

The Most Common Dutch Verbs

The most common verbs are ‘is’, ‘was’ and ‘zijn’ – all variations of the verb ‘zijn’ (to be).

Other than this verb, the other ones are ‘hebben’, ‘gaan’, ‘kunnen’, ‘moeten’ and ‘zeggen’.

Examples with their translation to English:

Ik ben verliefd op Shanti! – I’m in love with Shanti!

Wij hebben 2 auto’s . – We have 2 cars.

Gaan jullie nu weg? – Are you going away now? / Are you leaving now?

Zij kunnen heel goed voetballen. – They can play soccer very well.

Hij moet hard werken. – He has to work hard.

Zij zegt heel vaak zulke dingen. – She very often says stuff like that.

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