Dutch Gender

Welcome to the fifth Dutch lesson about gender. This time we will view a list of people, feminine and masculine, followed by grammar rules, finally a list of expressions in Dutch to help you practice your daily phrases.

man man

woman vrouw

husband man

wife vrouw

boy jongen

girl meisje

father vader

mother moeder

Gender Grammar Rules

In general, gender is used to distinguish between male and female, sometimes referred to as masculine and feminine. For example: my son and daughter are students the noun [son] is masculine, while [daughter] is feminine. The following examples use gender in different ways and places to demonstrate their behavior.

Grammar + Rules - Dutch
my son is a student [masculine + noun] mijn zoon is een student
her daughter is a student [feminine + noun] haar dochter is een student
he has a tall brother [adjective + masculine] hij heeft een grote broer
she has a tall sister [adjective + feminine] ze heeft een grote zus
his brothers are young [plural masculine + adjective] zijn broers zijn jong
his sisters are young [plural feminine + adjective] zijn zussen zijn jong

The list below will probably provide more clarification. These are family members (males and females). I think it would be wise to memorize them as part of your important vocabulary list.

son zoon

daughter dochter

brother broer

sister zus

grandfather grootvader/opa

grandmother grootmoeder/oma

child kind

children kinderen

Expressions in Dutch

Now it's time to practice expressions used in daily conversations. If you're a beginner in learning Dutch, then the phrases below are something you would want to know.

English - Dutch
What do you mean? wat bedoel je?
I don't understand ik begrijp het niet!
I don't know ik weet het niet!
What is that called in Dutch? hoe noem je dat in het nederlands?
What is this? wat is dit?
What does that word mean in English? wat betekent dat woord in het engels?
Sorry (if you made a mistake) sorry!

I hope you enjoyed this lesson about the gender in Dutch. Please check out our main menu here for more lessons: homepage. To see the full menu, you can also click on the "Menu" icon on the left side.