With more than twenty-two million native speakers, and its status as a common second language in Germany, Dutch is a popular foreign language to learn.
It's not as difficult to get started as you might think. Many Dutch words are similar to English ones, as both language come from the same old Germanic root. This is particularly true of names for everyday things like fruits and vegetables, or colors.
apple
appel
|
banana
banaan
|
blue
blauw
|
green
groen
|
pear
peer
|
red
rood
|
tomato
tomaat
|
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Indeed, Dutch should be one of the easier languages for an English speaker to master.
As we recently wrote, vocabulary - rather than pronunciation or grammar - is probably the most difficult aspect of learning a language.
With that in mind, here are seventy-six common verbs for Dutch learners.
to accept
accepteren
|
to allow
toestaan
|
to answer
antwoorden
|
to ask
vragen
|
to be able to
kunnen
|
to believe
geloven
|
to borrow
lenen
|
to break
breken
|
to bring
brengen
|
to buy
kopen
|
to cancel
annuleren
|
to change
veranderen
|
to clean
schoon te maken
|
to close/ shut
sluiten
|
to comb
kammen
|
to complain
klagen
|
to confirm
bevestigen
|
to cough
hoesten
|
to count
tellen
|
to cut
snijden
|
to dance
dansen
|
to draw
tekenen
|
to drink
drinken
|
to drive
autorijden
|
to eat
eten
|
to explain
uitleggen
|
to fall
vallen
|
to fill
vullen
|
to finish
afwerken
|
to fit
aanpassen
|
to fly
vliegen
|
to forget
vergeten
|
to give
geven
|
to go
gaan
|
to have
hebben
|
to hear
horen
|
to hurt
kwetsen
|
to know
weten
|
to learn
leren
|
to leave
verlaten
|
to listen
luisteren
|
to live
leven
|
to look
kijken
|
to look for
zoeken
|
to lose
verliezen
|
to make/ do
maken
|
to need
nodig hebben
|
to open
open maken
|
to organize
organiseren
|
to pay
betalen
|
to play
spelen
|
to put
neerzetten
|
to rain
regen
|
to read
lezen
|
to run
rennen
|
to say
zeggen
|
to see
zien
|
to sell
verkopen
|
to send
sturen
|
to sign
teken
|
to sing
zingen
|
to sit
zitten
|
to sleep
slapen
|
to smoke
roken
|
to speak
spreken
|
to spell
spellen
|
to budget/ spend
besteden
|
to stand
staan
|
to start/ begin
om te beginnen
|
to study
om te studeren
|
to succeed
slagen
|
to swim
zwemmen
|
to take
nemen
|
to talk
praten
|
to teach
onderwijzen
|
to tell
vertellen
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