Dutch Skilled, Help Me! Please Traslate It For Me To Begin

Home | Classroom | Archive 1 | Archive 2 | Words | Phrases | Countries | Languages

Phrasebase Archive

C_david Monday 09th of May 2005 01:36:56 AM
Skilled, help me! - Hi; Is there any skilled who can help me? Please, do traslate it into Dutch, I'll thank you so much:

I
I am or I'm
glad
sad
a
man and woman

And if You can give me some explanation about "a", the adjectives and the stress. Byen and thanx.

Mathieu Monday 09th of May 2005 04:27:46 AM
- Well, here are the phrases you requested:

Ik
Ik ben
blij (=happy, pleased)
droevig (or verdrietig)
een
man en vrouw

What do you mean with "a"? There is something about the exact inflection of the adjectives in this topic:

http://www.phrasebase.com/forum/read.php?TID=5340

(it's about word gender, the thing that determines what the exact shape of the adjectives is)

Stress is often on the initial syllable (a typical Germanic feature), unless that is a prefix like 'ver-' or 'be-' or 'ge-'. This is somewhat similar to English;
'Ashtray' gets stress on the initial syllable, while 'Betray' gets stress on the second, since the first is a prefix 'be-', which is never stressed.

C_david Monday 09th of May 2005 10:30:56 AM
Explain me - Is "a" and "an" traslate into Dutch like "een"?

Nostromo Monday 09th of May 2005 11:27:13 PM
'a' and 'an' - Here's the simple answer without the attendant drivel:
There is virtually no difference in Dutch where English has 'a' and 'an'.
-A fat man = een dikke man
-An angry man = een boze man

There is also 'een' and 'één', this shows the difference between 'a piece of cake = een stuke taart' and 'One piece of cake = één stukje taart'. You can see this difference in writing and hear it as well because one is long and the is short.
I'm sure someone can add to this...

Gijs Tuesday 10th of May 2005 01:02:32 PM
- [b]één[/b] is the written form of the number [b]1[/b]
so it is probably easier to see it this way:
één = one
een = a/an

Mathieu Tuesday 10th of May 2005 04:51:04 PM
- it's not really longer, één is just pronounced with a dutch ee sound (english 'eigh' as in 'eight'), whereas 'een' (meaning 'a') is pronounced like uhn, with a 'uh' sound (as in english 'world').

So really you say "un man"

Nostromo Wednesday 11th of May 2005 06:30:45 PM
Ã©Ã©n and een - Don't be silly now! Of course it's longer, there is an audiable difference between 'één uur' and 'een uur'. It's hard to put oneself into the shoes of a complete beginner in Dutch so it's best not to point out actual differences, even if later on the fine details become apparent...

Mathieu Thursday 12th of May 2005 02:15:31 PM
- Well ok, if you really want to know, yes, it is 120 millisec longer (3 times as long), but I don't think that's all that important. This is because 1. it's a long vowel (ee) instead of a short (uh) and 2. because één is stressed while een isn't. But it happens automatically (so don't sit there with your stopwatch and practise :D). The point is that één has an /e/, which is the 'eigh' sound, and een as an /@/, which is an uh sound - these are completely different vowels, and pronouncing them both with the same length will not cause confusion or anything, als long as you get the type of vowel right.
Admittingly, the 'e's in Dutch are the least transparant of all Dutch writing, they can be 'eigh' or 'eh' or 'uh', and it is important to get them right, because using the wrong one may cause confusion.

Phrasebase Archive
	C_david	Monday 09th of May 2005 01:36:56 AM
	Skilled, help me! - Hi; Is there any skilled who can help me? Please, do traslate it into Dutch, I'll thank you so much: I I am or I'm glad sad a man and woman And if You can give me some explanation about "a", the adjectives and the stress. Byen and thanx.
	Mathieu	Monday 09th of May 2005 04:27:46 AM
	- Well, here are the phrases you requested: Ik Ik ben blij (=happy, pleased) droevig (or verdrietig) een man en vrouw What do you mean with "a"? There is something about the exact inflection of the adjectives in this topic: http://www.phrasebase.com/forum/read.php?TID=5340 (it's about word gender, the thing that determines what the exact shape of the adjectives is) Stress is often on the initial syllable (a typical Germanic feature), unless that is a prefix like 'ver-' or 'be-' or 'ge-'. This is somewhat similar to English; 'Ashtray' gets stress on the initial syllable, while 'Betray' gets stress on the second, since the first is a prefix 'be-', which is never stressed.
	C_david	Monday 09th of May 2005 10:30:56 AM
	Explain me - Is "a" and "an" traslate into Dutch like "een"?
	Nostromo	Monday 09th of May 2005 11:27:13 PM
	'a' and 'an' - Here's the simple answer without the attendant drivel: There is virtually no difference in Dutch where English has 'a' and 'an'. -A fat man = een dikke man -An angry man = een boze man There is also 'een' and 'één', this shows the difference between 'a piece of cake = een stuke taart' and 'One piece of cake = één stukje taart'. You can see this difference in writing and hear it as well because one is long and the is short. I'm sure someone can add to this...
	Gijs	Tuesday 10th of May 2005 01:02:32 PM
	- [b]één[/b] is the written form of the number [b]1[/b] so it is probably easier to see it this way: één = one een = a/an
	Mathieu	Tuesday 10th of May 2005 04:51:04 PM
	- it's not really longer, één is just pronounced with a dutch ee sound (english 'eigh' as in 'eight'), whereas 'een' (meaning 'a') is pronounced like uhn, with a 'uh' sound (as in english 'world'). So really you say "un man"
	Nostromo	Wednesday 11th of May 2005 06:30:45 PM
	Ã©Ã©n and een - Don't be silly now! Of course it's longer, there is an audiable difference between 'één uur' and 'een uur'. It's hard to put oneself into the shoes of a complete beginner in Dutch so it's best not to point out actual differences, even if later on the fine details become apparent...
	Mathieu	Thursday 12th of May 2005 02:15:31 PM
	- Well ok, if you really want to know, yes, it is 120 millisec longer (3 times as long), but I don't think that's all that important. This is because 1. it's a long vowel (ee) instead of a short (uh) and 2. because één is stressed while een isn't. But it happens automatically (so don't sit there with your stopwatch and practise :D). The point is that één has an /e/, which is the 'eigh' sound, and een as an /@/, which is an uh sound - these are completely different vowels, and pronouncing them both with the same length will not cause confusion or anything, als long as you get the type of vowel right. Admittingly, the 'e's in Dutch are the least transparant of all Dutch writing, they can be 'eigh' or 'eh' or 'uh', and it is important to get them right, because using the wrong one may cause confusion.