Countries, nationalities, languages, and customs

Countries and Nationalities

The Dutch word for countries is landen. For instance, Frankrijk is France, Spanje is Spain and Italië is Italy.
Nationalities are expressed by adding ‘-er’ or ‘-se’ to the country name in most cases. For instance, a person from France would be a Fransman (Frenchman) or Franse (Frenchwoman).
Some exceptions include Belg (Belgian) from België, Duitser (German) from Duitsland.

Languages

The Dutch words for languages incorporate ‘-s’. Hence, French would be Frans, Spanish would be Spaans, and Italian would be Italiaans.
To ask ‘Do you speak…?’, in Dutch one would say Spreek je…? For example, Spreek je Engels? means ‘Do you speak English?’.
Ik spreek een beetje… means ‘I speak a little…’ For instance, Ik spreek een beetje Spaans means ‘I speak a little Spanish’.

Customs and Traditions

The Dutch word for a custom or tradition is a gewoonte. For instance: Het is een gewoonte om handen te schudden (It’s a custom to shake hands).
To express your likes and dislikes about customs, you can use the phrases Ik hou van (I love) or Ik hou niet van (I don’t love). For example, Ik hou van de Nederlandse gewoonten (I love Dutch customs).
The phrase Het is gebruikelijk om… means ‘It is usual to…’. For example, Het is gebruikelijk om cadeaus te geven met Kerstmis (It is usual to give presents at Christmas).

Remember: Practice these key phrases within different contexts to enhance your Dutch language skills. Additionally, learn to use the right articles and prepositions while constructing sentences. This will help you to converse effectively and more naturally in Dutch.