Learn how to use the Dutch modal verb willen, which means "to want"
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Gabriella:Hi everyone, Gabriella here! Welcome to DutchPod101.com. This is Lower Beginner Season 1, Lesson 20 – Visiting Your Dutch Friend’s New Baby. We’ll be talking about a maternity visit. |
| Jacob:Hallo! I'm Jacob. There’s a short dialogue between the new mother, Mieke, and her friend Sandra. They are good friends so it’s an informal conversation. |
| Gabriella:From this lesson’s conversation, you'll learn about the use of modal auxiliary verbs in Dutch. |
| Jacob:Yes, as in many other European languages, Dutch has many auxiliary verbs. |
| Gabriella:Yes, imagine what we’d do without these auxiliary verbs! You couldn’t make a normal sentence. |
| Jacob:By the way, the conversation takes place at the new mother’s house. |
| Gabriella:OK. Let’s listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Sandra: Gefeliciteerd met de geboorte van jullie dochter! Hoe voel je je? |
| Mieke: Dank je, ik voel mij prima. Wil je beschuit met muisjes? |
| Sandra: Ja, lekker. |
| Mieke: Wil je de baby even vasthouden? Ze is net wakker. |
| Sandra: Graag. Ben je thuis bevallen, of in het ziekenhuis? |
| Mieke: Ik wilde graag in het ziekenhuis bevallen. |
| Gabriella: Let's hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| Sandra: Gefeliciteerd met de geboorte van jullie dochter! Hoe voel je je? |
| Mieke: Dank je, ik voel mij prima. Wil je beschuit met muisjes? |
| Sandra: Ja, lekker. |
| Mieke: Wil je de baby even vasthouden? Ze is net wakker. |
| Sandra: Graag. Ben je thuis bevallen, of in het ziekenhuis? |
| Mieke: Ik wilde graag in het ziekenhuis bevallen. |
| Gabriella: Now let's hear it with the English translation. |
| Sandra: Gefeliciteerd met de geboorte van jullie dochter! Hoe voel je je? |
| Gabriella: Congratulations on the birth of your daughter. How are you feeling? |
| Mieke: Dank je, ik voel mij prima. Wil je beschuit met muisjes? |
| Gabriella: Thank you, I'm feeling fine. Would you like to have "beschuit met muisjes" (Dutch rusks and a sprinkling of sugar-coated aniseed)? |
| Sandra: Ja, lekker. |
| Gabriella: Sounds good. |
| Mieke: Wil je de baby even vasthouden? Ze is net wakker. |
| Gabriella: Would you like to hold the baby? She just woke up. |
| Sandra: Graag. Ben je thuis bevallen, of in het ziekenhuis? |
| Gabriella: I'd love to. Did you give birth at home, or in a hospital? |
| Mieke: Ik wilde graag in het ziekenhuis bevallen. |
| Gabriella: I wanted to have a hospital birth. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Gabriella:Well Jacob, this is a much happier subject than in the last lesson isn’t it? |
| Jacob:Definitely. New life is a beautiful thing. |
| Gabriella:What is this beschuit met muisjes thing? I thought muisjes were little mice. |
| Jacob:Yes, that’s correct, but that’s the literal meaning of it. I don’t know how they got their name, but they’re tiny lumps of sugar covered with aniseed. There are also other types of muisjes that people put in their sandwiches, like bruine muisjes, which means “little brown mice,” is chocolate that you sprinkle on the top of your bread. It’s a popular breakfast item for both young and old. |
| Gabriella:And what about the beschuit? |
| Jacob:Beschuit is a rusk; a very crispy, savory cracker, similar to a light bread. The ones in Holland are round, about ten centimeters in diameter and one centimeter thick. Some people eat them for breakfast. Cheese is also popular on a beschuit. |
| Gabriella:So is it a Dutch tradition to eat these during a maternity visit? |
| Jacob:Yes exactly, and here’s what’s fun about it: When the baby is a girl the muisjes will be pink and when it’s a boy they’ll be light blue. |
| Gabriella:That’s nice! Okay, now let’s take a look at the vocabulary and phrases. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Jacob: ziekenhuis [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: hospital |
| Jacob: ziekenhuis [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jacob: ziekenhuis [natural native speed] |
| Jacob: baby [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: baby |
| Jacob: baby [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jacob: baby [natural native speed] |
| Jacob: voelen [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: to feel |
| Jacob: voelen [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jacob: voelen [natural native speed] |
| Jacob: beschuit [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: Dutch rusk |
| Jacob: beschuit [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jacob: beschuit [natural native speed] |
| Jacob: vasthouden [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: to hold |
| Jacob: vasthouden [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jacob: vasthouden [natural native speed] |
| Jacob: geboorte [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: birth |
| Jacob: geboorte [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jacob: geboorte [natural native speed] |
| Jacob: wakker [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: awake |
| Jacob: wakker [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jacob: wakker [natural native speed] |
| Jacob: bevallen [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: to give birth |
| Jacob: bevallen [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jacob: bevallen [natural native speed] |
| Jacob: net [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: just |
| Jacob: net [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jacob: net [natural native speed] |
| Jacob: prima [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: fine |
| Jacob: prima [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jacob: prima [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Gabriella:Let’s take a closer look at some of the words and phrases from this lesson. In the English translation of the dialogue we listened to, both in the first and in the last sentence we hear the English word “birth”, but in the original Dutch dialogue there are two different words. How come? |
| Jacob:Well, in the first line Sandra says “Congratulations on the birth of your daughter.” So here, the noun “birth” is used. In Dutch that’s Geboorte. However, in the last sentence she says that she wanted a hospital birth. But the Dutch literally say “I wanted to give birth in a hospital.” And here the phrase “to give birth” is used, which in Dutch is bevallen. |
| Gabriella:Aa! So “birth” is geboorte, but for the verb “to give birth”, in Dutch you say the verb bevallen. |
| Jacob:Yes, that’s it. |
| Gabriella:What about the answer Dank je, ik voel mij prima, when Sandra asks her how she’s feeling? |
| Jacob:Dank je is “Thank you”, of course, and ik voel me prima means “I feel fine”. The word prima can also have stronger meanings than “fine”. For example, when you say Een prima kerel, it means “a great guy,” and it also means you really like him. |
| Gabriella:And can it also be used for other things? |
| Jacob:Yes. For example, to say that you agree with something as in Ik vind het prima, which means “That’s all right with me.” |
| Gabriella:We talked about these muisjes before. When Mieke asks her friend if she’d like some, Sandra answers with Ja, lekker’. What’s the exact meaning of lekker? |
| Jacob:The exact meaning is “nice”, “good” or “tasty”, usually when you talk about food or drinks. But in this case it is used to say “yes, thank you, I’d love some.” |
| Gabriella:OK dankjewel Jacob! |
| Jacob:Graag gedaan! You’re welcome! Okay, now onto the grammar. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Gabriella:In this lesson, we’re going to learn about modal auxiliary verbs, with a focus on the verb willen. |
| Jacob:Yes, the verb literally means “to want”, but is not often used without another verb. And when it is, it’s usually because people shorten the sentence. For example, the sentence “I want to drink a beer” becomes “I want a beer”. In Dutch, this is Ik wil een biertje. So, it’s used to express a wish. |
| Gabriella:But it’s also used in some of the questions in the dialogue, like when Mieke asks Wil je de baby even vasthouden? |
| Jacob:In this case it’s used to ask if somebody wants or wishes something. So the verb willen is used to ask if someone has the wish or the desire to do something. For example, the English sentence “Would you like a drink?” in Dutch is Wil je wat drinken? |
| Gabriella:I see, and does it have any other meanings or uses? |
| Jacob:Yes, it can also be used to say that there is something you want to do or plan to do; so, to express an intention. For example, if you want to tell someone that you have the intention of going to France in the coming summer, you can say Ik wil deze zomer naar Frankrijk or Ik wil de aankomende zomer naar Frankrijk. |
| Gabriella:So the modal auxiliary verb willen can be used for talking about a wish, an intention or a desire, and also to ask someone if he or she would like something. |
| Jacob:Yes, but there’s even more. It can also be used when you are making a request. Let’s say you need some help. In English you would say “Could you help me, please?” In Dutch, you would say Wil je me even helpen? |
| Gabriella:So, it has a lot of uses, in combination with other verbs. |
| Jacob:Yes, in Dutch an auxiliary verb is called a “helping verb”, which is a good name I think, because you use it to help the main verb to say what you want. |
| Gabriella:Good. We learned a lot in this lesson. |
Outro |
| Gabriella:Okay listeners, thank you for your attention and see you next lesson. |
| Jacob:Tot de volgende les! |
| Gabriella:Tot ziens! |
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