Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Notes

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Hallo! Hello and welcome to Dutch Survival Phrases brought to you by DutchPod101.com, this course is designed to equip you with the language skills and knowledge to enable you to get the most out of your visit to the Netherlands. You will be surprised at how far a little Dutch will go.
Now, before we jump in, remember to stop by DutchPod101.com and there, you will find the accompanying PDF and additional info in the post. If you stop by, be sure to leave us a comment.

Lesson focus

In the Netherlands, haggling is possible at some informal places like a farmer's market or street market. You can find everything there, from food to clothes.
In these places, you will be able to use the Survival Phrases you will learn in this lesson. Don't be afraid to use your Dutch when speaking to the merchants. Are you ready to have fun at the "market" or markt?
Upon entering a markt, you will find the variety of colorful stalls and something that interests you will immediately attract you.
Normally, if you are interested in buying something, you say, "Excuse me, how much is this?" Pardon, hoeveel kost dit?
As soon as they tell you the price, you can start bargaining to lower the price. We can't guarantee that the seller will lower the price, but it's worth a try.
Kan er iets van de prijs af? ("Can you lower the price?")
Let's repeat the whole phrase once more: Kan er iets van de prijs af?
Let's have a look at this phrase. We start the question with Kan, which we'll get to in a second.
The second word, er, means, "there."
Then we have iets, which means, "something."
The component van means, "from." Next is de prijs and means, "the price."
Let's break it down by syllable: De prijs.
De prijs.
The last word of the sentence is af and can be translated as "off."
It's part of the first word Kan and together they make the verb afkunnnen.
Let's repeat the whole phrase once again: Kan er iets van de prijs af?
If you have a male merchant, ask him, Kan er iets van de prijs af meneer? which is, "Can you lower the price, sir?"
At this point, the merchant will start haggling and the final result is in your hands!
Another way to express the feeling that something is too expensive and you want to start haggling is with Te duur. Te duur means, "too expensive."
Let's break down these words and hear them one more time. Te duur. Te duur.
Let's imagine that you are at a markt, you want to buy a bag, and you want to suggest your price to the merchant straightforward; in other words, you want to establish your own price as the one you will bargain for.
The merchant has just told you that the bag costs forty euro. You desperately want that bag, but it's too expensive and you want to suggest thirty-five euro.
After Te duur, you should say, Ik geef u er vijfendertig euro voor, or "I will give you for this thirty-five euro."
Let's repeat the whole phrase. Ik geef u er vijfendertig euro voor.
Let's break it down by syllable: Ik geef u er vijf-en-der-tig eu-ro voor.
Ik geef u er vijfendertig euro voor.
Let's have a look at the components.
Ik geef er voor means, "I will give."
Ik geef er voor.
Then we have er, meaning, "for this."
Er.
We finish the phrase with the price: Vijfendertig euro.
If the merchant still refuses you, slowly walk away, and in most cases, they will give up.

Outro

Okay, to close out this lesson, we'd like you to practice what you've just learned. I'll provide you with the English equivalent of the phrase and you're responsible for saying it aloud. You have a few seconds before I give you the answer, so good luck, that also means “good luck” in Dutch.
"Excuse me, how much is this?" - Pardon, hoeveel is dit?
Pardon, hoeveel is dit?
Pardon, hoeveel is dit?
"Can you lower the price, ma'am?" - Kan er iets van de prijs af mevrouw?
Kan er iets van de prijs af mevrouw?
Kan er iets van de prijs af mevrouw?
"Too expensive." - Te duur.
Te duur.
Te duur.
"I will give you thirty-five euro for this." - Ik geef u er vijfendertig euro voor.
Ik geef u er vijfendertig euro voor.
Ik geef u er vijfendertig euro voor.
All right, that's going to do it for today. Remember to stop by DutchPod101.com and pick up the accompanying PDF and additional info in the post. If you stop by, be sure to leave us a comment. Tot ziens!

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