Basic movement at home and nearby | Learn Dutch in English

Dutch lesson set in a contemporary Amsterdam everyday setting: A beginner practices six useful English phrases about basic movement, home, and neighborhood..

EN → NL / Level: A1

About This Lesson

Use Basic movement at home and nearby to practice Dutch conversation, pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and quizzes.

Dialogue

A

Ik kom nu.

ick kawm NÜ. I am coming now.
B

Ik ga naar huis.

ick KHAH nar HOYSS. I am going home.
A

Ik ben thuis.

ick ben TOYSS. I am at home.
B

Ik ben nu buiten.

ick ben NÜ BOY-tuhn. I am outside now.
A

Ik kom terug.

ick kawm tuh-RÜKH. I will be back.
B

Ik woon hier vlakbij.

ick VOHN heer vlak-BAY. I live near here.

Word by Word

Ik The exact form Ik means “I” and is the subject referring to the speaker in these sentences. It is reused before a verb, as in Ik kom nu and Ik ben thuis. Use it when talking about yourself.
kom The exact form kom means “come” or “am coming” in Ik kom nu, and it contributes “come” in Ik kom terug. It is the first-person form of komen. A reusable pattern is Ik kom + a time or direction expression; use it when telling someone that you are coming or returning.
nu The exact form nu means “now” and marks the current time in Ik kom nu and Ik ben nu buiten. It can follow the verb in a short update about what is happening at this moment. Use it when giving someone immediate information.
ga The exact form ga means “go” or “am going” in Ik ga naar huis. It is the first-person form of gaan. A reusable pattern is Ik ga naar + a destination; use it when saying where you are going.
naar The exact form naar means “to” and marks the destination in naar huis. It comes before the destination in the pattern naar + destination. Use it when telling someone where you are going.
huis The exact form huis means “home” or “house” here, and in naar huis it names the destination. The complete expression naar huis means “home” as a direction, while naar contributes “to.” Reuse naar huis when saying that you are going home.
ben The exact form ben means “am” in Ik ben thuis and Ik ben nu buiten. It is the first-person form of zijn and is followed here by a location expression. Use the pattern Ik ben + location when telling someone where you are.
thuis The exact form thuis means “at home” in Ik ben thuis and directly describes the speaker’s location. It commonly follows ben in a statement about being at home. Use it when telling someone that you are home.
buiten The exact form buiten means “outside” in Ik ben nu buiten and identifies an outdoor location. It follows ben in this location statement, while nu adds the meaning “now.” Use it when telling someone that you are outside.
terug The exact form terug means “back” in Ik kom terug and adds the idea of returning. The complete expression Ik kom terug communicates “I will be back”; that meaning belongs to the whole expression, not to terug alone. Reuse kom + terug when reassuring someone that you will return.
woon The exact form woon means “live” or “reside” in Ik woon hier vlakbij. It is the first-person form of wonen and is followed by a location expression. Use Ik woon + a place expression when describing where you live.
hier The exact form hier means “here” and gives the reference point in Ik woon hier vlakbij. In this sentence, hier identifies the place and vlakbij adds that the speaker lives nearby. Use hier when pointing to the place connected with the conversation or the speaker’s location.
vlakbij The exact form vlakbij means “nearby” or “very close” in Ik woon hier vlakbij. In hier vlakbij, hier contributes “here” and vlakbij contributes the idea of close distance. Use hier vlakbij when explaining that a place is near the current reference point.

Grammar Points

naar huis

Ik ga nu naar huis.

ick KHAH NÜ nar HOYSS.

I am going home now.

Use naar huis for movement home; Dutch normally omits an article in this fixed expression.

zijn + thuis

Ik ben thuis.

ick ben TOYSS.

I am at home.

Use thuis with zijn to say someone is at home; thuis functions as an adverb, not a noun.

Dutch Vocabulary

buiten adv
BOY-tuhn outside

Ik ben nu buiten.

gaan verb
KHAHN to go ga

Ik ga naar huis.

hier adv
heer here

Ik woon hier vlakbij.

huis noun
HOYSS home; house

Ik ga naar huis.

ik pron
ick I

Ik kom nu.

komen verb
KOH-muhn to come kom

Ik kom nu.

naar prep
nahr to

Ik ga naar huis.

nu adv
NÜ now

Ik kom nu.

terug adv
tuh-RÜKH back

Ik kom terug.

thuis adv
TOYSS at home; home

Ik ben thuis.

wonen verb
VOH-nuhn to live woon

Ik woon hier vlakbij.

zijn verb
zayn to be ben

Ik ben thuis.

Quiz

Word Order

Arrange the words in the correct order.

I am coming now.

Show AnswerIk kom nu.

I am going home.

Show AnswerIk ga naar huis.

I am at home.

Show AnswerIk ben thuis.

Spelling

Tap the letters to spell the word.

home; house

Show Answerhuis

at home; home

Show Answerthuis

outside

Show Answerbuiten

to

Show Answernaar