Word formation in Dutch: the pieces behind the words

A long Dutch word is rarely a new word. A bakery is the shop of the baker, and the baker is the one who bakes: bakken, de bakker, de bakkerij. Prefixes give a verb a direction and say whether it comes apart: bellen, opbellen, terugbellen. Suffixes say whether a word means a person, a place, a quality or something small — and often the article too. If you know the 39 pieces on this page, you can read many words without having learnt them.

Read a verb from the front: the prefix gives the direction and says whether it comes apart. op-, af-, uit-, mee- wander to the end of the clause, as “up”, “off”, “out” and “along” do in a phrasal verb; be-, ver-, ont- stay put and take the ge- from the participle. Read a noun from the back: the suffix says what it is, and often the article. -heid, -ing and -te are de words, -je is always het.

Separable prefixes on the verb

Up, off, on, out, along, back, away: prefixes that give a verb a direction and wander to the end of the main clause — much as “up” does in “ring up”.

Building block	Meaning	Examples
op-	up; on; to the end	opbellen, opstaan, opeten, opschrijven, ophalen
Often op- means “completely, to the end”: opetenis “eat up”opmaken“use up”
af-	off, away; finished	afwassen, afmaken, afspreken, afhalen, afrekenen
Afmaken means “finish off”, not “kill” — though in the right context it can be that, too.
aan-	on, towards	aankomen, aantrekken, aanzetten, aanbieden
uit-	out	uitgaan, uitleggen, uitzetten, uittrekken, uitstappen
Uitleggen is “lay out” and means “explain”, as in “set out an argument”.
in-	in, into	instappen, invullen, inpakken, inleveren
In Dutch you fill a form in, not out: invullen.
mee-	along, with	meenemen, meegaan, meedoen, meekomen
With te the te comes between prefix and verb, written apart: mee te nemen.
terug-	back	terugkomen, teruggeven, terugbellen, terugbrengen
weg-	away	weggaan, weggooien, weglopen, wegbrengen
door-	on, further; through	doorgaan, doorsturen, doorgeven, doorlopen
Mostly “on”: doorgaan is “carry on”. With the stress on the stem it is inseparable and means “through”: doorlópen, “walk through”.
na-	after, over	nadenken, nakijken, nabellen
toe-	to, in addition	toevoegen, toegeven, toestaan, toekijken
voor-	before, forth	voorstellen, voorlezen, voorkomen
With the stress on the stem it is inseparable: voorkómenis “prevent”vóórkomen“occur”

Inseparable prefixes on the verb

Prefixes that stay on the verb and take the ge- away from the participle. Many of them you will recognise from English words like “behave”, “forgive” and “understand”.

Building block	Meaning	Examples
be-	makes a verb aim at an object, like English be-	bespreken, beschrijven, bekijken, beantwoorden
As with English “bewitch” or “befriend”, it turns a verb into one that takes an object: antwoorden op een vraag, but een vraag beantwoorden. The participle has no ge-: besproken.
ver-	like English for- or mis-: changes, strengthens or twists	verkopen, verhuren, verdelen, verbouwen
Kopen and verkopen, huren and verhuren: buy and sell, rent and let — the prefix turns the direction round.
ont-	like English dis- or un-: away, loose, undone	ontdekken, ontkoppelen, ontladen, ontdooien
Like English “un-” or “dis-”: ontdekken is “dis-cover”, literally “un-cover”.
her-	again, once more	herhalen, herkennen, herstarten
her- has nothing to do with English “her”; it is “re-”: herkennen, recognise.

Negating

English un- is on- here, and does the same job.

Building block	Meaning	Examples
on-	un-, not	onmogelijk, ongezond, onbekend, onrustig, onvriendelijk, ongelukkig
The stress is usually on the prefix: óngezond.

People: who does it, who is it

The suffixes that turn an activity into a person — and the one that turns the man into the woman.

Building block	Meaning	Examples
-er	who does it (from a verb)	bakker, speler, schrijver, lezer, bezoeker, verkoper
Just as in English “-er”, and always a de word. The woman often ends in -ster: schrijfster.
-aar	who does it (verbs in -elen, -enen, -eren)	leraar, wandelaar, tekenaar
-aar instead of -er where the stem already ends in -el, -en or -er.
-in	turns the man into the woman, like English -ess	vriendin, koningin, boerin, buurvrouw
Many jobs have one form for both (de arts, de docent), as more and more English ones do.

Places and rooms

Where something happens: shops, workshops, rooms.

Building block	Meaning	Examples
-ij	the shop or workshop, like English -ery	bakkerij, slagerij, drukkerij
Always a de word, and stressed on the ending: bakkeríj.
-kamer	the room for …	slaapkamer, woonkamer, badkamer, wachtkamer
De kamer is any room. The first part is often a verb stem: slaap-, woon-, wacht-.
-winkel	the shop for …	schoenenwinkel, boekwinkel, kledingwinkel

Qualities and activities

From an adjective a quality, from a verb an activity: the suffixes for -ness, -ing and -ship.

Building block	Meaning	Examples
-heid	-hood, -ness: the quality	vrijheid, gezondheid, waarheid, veiligheid, snelheid, mogelijkheid
Always de; the plural is -heden: mogelijkheden.
-ing	-ing: the activity or its result	woning, verwarming, opleiding, wandeling, vergadering, betaling
Always a de word. The plural is -en.
-te	-th: turns an adjective into the measure or state	warmte, drukte, hoogte, diepte, grootte, ziekte
Just as English makes “warm” into “warmth”, “high” into “height” and “deep” into “depth”: warmte, hoogte, diepte, always de.
-schap	-ship: what lies between people; a state	vriendschap, zwangerschap, landschap, wetenschap
For relationships and states de (de vriendschap), for regions and offices often het (het landschap, “landscape”).
-dom	-dom: state, possession	rijkdom, eigendom, ouderdom
-atie	-ation: the noun for a verb in -eren	informatie, organisatie, reparatie, situatie
Informatie is usually singular, as “information” is in English.

The diminutive

Small, dear, casual: the ending -je in its five spellings. Every word in -je is a het word.

Building block	Meaning	Examples
-je	small, dear, casual	huisje, kopje, broodje, biertje, boompje, bloemetje
Five spellings, after the sound: -je (huisje), -tje after a vowel, or after l, n, r following a long vowel (biertje), -pje after m (boompje), -etje after a short vowel and l, m, n, r (balletje, and also bloemetje), -kje after -ing (koninkje). Always het.

Adjectives from nouns and verbs

With, without, full of, like: the suffixes that turn a noun or a verb into an adjective — most of them cousins of English -y, -less, -ful, -able and -ly.

Building block	Meaning	Examples
-ig	-y: with, full of	zonnig, machtig, lastig, bloedig, winderig
As in English; the consonant doubles after a short vowel: zon becomes zonnig.
-lijk	-ly: like, in the manner of	vriendelijk, gevaarlijk, natuurlijk, persoonlijk
In English “-ly” is mostly an adverb ending, but in “friendly” and “lovely” it is the adjective; Dutch -lijk is the adjective ending. Spoken it sounds like “-lek”, with a short, dull vowel.
-loos	-less: without	werkloos, dakloos, zinloos, draadloos
-vol	-ful: with a lot of it	hoopvol, zinvol, respectvol
The -vol takes an -le when the adjective is inflected: een zinvolle dag.
-baar	-able: can be …-ed	drinkbaar, betaalbaar, eetbaar, leesbaar, haalbaar
The stem comes in front, as after ik: betalen, betaal, betaalbaar.
-achtig	-ish: a bit like	groenachtig, roodachtig, bergachtig

Verbs from nouns

A thing becomes an activity — often with nothing more than an -en.

Building block	Meaning	Examples
-en	turns a thing into the activity	fietsen, mailen, schaatsen, kamperen
De fiets becomes fietsen, de mail becomes mailen. English often needs a second word: “ride a bike”.

Compounds

Two words, one word, written together as in English “bedroom”. The article comes from the last part.

Building block	Meaning	Examples
huis-	belonging to the house, the family	huiswerk, huisarts, huisdier, huiskamer
De huisarts is the family doctor (GP), and in the Netherlands you usually need a referral from your GP to see a specialist.
fiets-	belonging to the bicycle	fietspad, fietsenstalling, fietstocht, fietsband
Sometimes the plural stands as a joint: fietsenstalling, the bicycle shed.