Getting Ready for Cold Weather | Learn Dutch in English

About This Lesson

Use Getting Ready for Cold Weather to practice Dutch conversation, pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and quizzes.

Dialogue

Het is koud buiten.

hut iss KOWT BOW-tuhn It feels cold outside.

Doe je sjaal om.

DOO yuh SHAHL om Wear your scarf.

Heb ik ook handschoenen nodig?

hep ik OHK HAHNT-soo-nuhn NOH-dikh Do I need gloves too?

Ze houden je handen warm.

zuh HOW-duhn yuh HAHN-duhn wahrm They'll keep your hands warm.

Waar zijn mijn handschoenen?

vahr ZINE mine HAHNT-soo-nuhn Where are my gloves?

Ze liggen naast je jas.

zuh LIKH-uhn nahst yuh yahs They're next to your coat.

Ik trek ze aan voordat ik ga.

ik TREK zuh AHN VOO-duhr ik KHAHN I'll put them on before I go.

Dan ben je klaar voor de kou.

dahn ben yuh KLAHR vohr duh KOW Then you'll be ready for the cold.

Word by Word

Het In “Het is koud buiten.”, “Het” is the impersonal “it” used in a statement about the weather. It fills the subject position while the sentence describes the conditions outside.

is In “Het is koud buiten.”, “is” links the weather subject with the condition “koud”. It is used in simple statements describing a current state, such as weather.

koud In “Het is koud buiten.”, “koud” describes the outside temperature as cold. It follows “is” in this kind of description and is useful when talking about how the weather feels.

buiten “buiten” means outside and specifies where the cold condition applies in “Het is koud buiten.”. Use it when describing conditions or activities outdoors.

Doe In the command “Doe je sjaal om.”, “Doe” tells the listener to put the scarf on. It is used at the beginning of a direct instruction about an action.

je In “Doe je sjaal om.”, “je” means your and identifies the scarf as belonging to the person being addressed. It comes before the noun in a possessive phrase such as “je sjaal”.

sjaal “sjaal” means scarf, the item the listener is told to put on in “Doe je sjaal om.”. This word is useful when talking about clothing worn around the neck in cold weather.

om In “Doe je sjaal om.”, “om” is the particle that completes the expression for putting a scarf on. It works together with “Doe ... om”, rather than expressing a separate location here.

Heb In “Heb ik ook handschoenen nodig?”, “Heb” is the form of hebben used at the start of a question about personal need. The reusable question pattern asks whether someone needs a particular item.

ik “ik” means I and is the person asking about the gloves in “Heb ik ook handschoenen nodig?”. It identifies the speaker as the subject of the question.

ook In “Heb ik ook handschoenen nodig?”, “ook” means also or too and adds gloves to the scarf already mentioned. It is useful when adding another item or requirement to a situation.

handschoenen “handschoenen” means gloves, the additional cold-weather item asked about in “Heb ik ook handschoenen nodig?”. The same word is later referred to by “Ze” in “Ze houden je handen warm.”.

nodig In “Heb ik ook handschoenen nodig?”, “nodig” expresses that the gloves may be necessary. In the exact phrase “handschoenen nodig”, it follows the item being asked about.

Ze At the start of “Ze houden je handen warm.”, “Ze” means they and refers to the gloves. The same pronoun appears as “ze” in “Ze liggen naast je jas.” when the gloves are located.

houden In “Ze houden je handen warm.”, “houden” expresses that the gloves keep the hands in a warm condition. It is useful when describing something that maintains another thing’s condition.

handen “handen” means hands, the body parts that the gloves keep warm in “Ze houden je handen warm.”. The possessive phrase “je handen” identifies whose hands are meant.

warm In “Ze houden je handen warm.”, “warm” describes the condition of the hands after the gloves protect them. It appears after the object in this expression about keeping something warm.

Waar “Waar” means where and begins the location question “Waar zijn mijn handschoenen?”. Use it when asking for the place of an object or person.

zijn In “Waar zijn mijn handschoenen?”, “zijn” indicates the location of the gloves. It is used with the plural subject “mijn handschoenen” in a question about where something is.

mijn “mijn” means my and shows that the gloves belong to the speaker in “Waar zijn mijn handschoenen?”. It comes directly before the noun in a possessive phrase.

liggen In “Ze liggen naast je jas.”, “liggen” says that the gloves are lying or located in a particular place. It is useful for describing the position of objects.

naast “naast” means next to or beside and shows the relationship between the gloves and the coat in “Ze liggen naast je jas.”. Use it to describe one object’s position beside another.

jas “jas” means coat, the object beside which the gloves are located in “Ze liggen naast je jas.”. The phrase “je jas” identifies the listener’s coat.

trek In “Ik trek ze aan voordat ik ga.”, “trek” is used for putting clothing on when combined with “aan”. The reusable pattern keeps the clothing object between “trek” and “aan”, as in “trek ze aan”.

aan In “Ik trek ze aan voordat ik ga.”, “aan” completes the clothing expression meaning put them on. It works together with “trek ... aan” and refers here to putting on the gloves.

voordat “voordat” means before and connects putting on the gloves with the later action in “voordat ik ga”. Use it to place one action earlier than another.

ga In “voordat ik ga”, “ga” means go and refers to the speaker leaving or going outside. The phrase is useful when saying that something happens before one goes somewhere.

Dan In “Dan ben je klaar voor de kou.”, “Dan” means then and marks the result that follows the preparation. It is useful for introducing what will be true after an earlier action.

ben In “Dan ben je klaar voor de kou.”, “ben” connects the person addressed with the state “klaar”. It appears before the description of someone’s state in this sentence.

klaar “klaar” means ready or prepared in “Dan ben je klaar voor de kou.”. The phrase “klaar voor de kou” describes being prepared for a particular condition.

voor In “klaar voor de kou”, “voor” connects the state of being ready with what the person is prepared to face. The pattern “klaar voor” is useful before a noun naming a situation or task.

de “de” is the definite article before “kou” in “Dan ben je klaar voor de kou.”. It forms the noun phrase referring to the cold as a specific weather condition.

kou “kou” means the cold or cold weather in “Dan ben je klaar voor de kou.”. Unlike “koud”, which describes something as cold in “Het is koud buiten.”, “kou” names the cold condition itself.

Grammar Points

trek ... aan

trek ... aan

TREK ... AHN

put ... on

Aantrekken is a separable verb: in a main clause, trek comes first and aan moves to the end.

voordat ... ga

voordat ... ga

VOO-duhr ... KHAH

before ... go

After voordat, the verb moves to the end of the subordinate clause.

Dutch Vocabulary

buiten adv

BOW-tuhn outside

Het is koud buiten.

doen verb

DOON to put on; to do Doe

Doe je sjaal om.

hand noun

HAHNT hand handen

Ze houden je handen warm.

handschoen noun

HAHNT-soon glove handschoenen

Heb ik ook handschoenen nodig?

houden verb

HOW-duhn to keep

Ze houden je handen warm.

koud adj

KOWT cold

Het is koud buiten.

nodig adj

NOH-dikh needed; necessary

Heb ik ook handschoenen nodig?

ook adv

OHK also; too

Heb ik ook handschoenen nodig?

sjaal noun

SHAHL scarf

Doe je sjaal om.

waar adv

vahr where

Waar zijn mijn handschoenen?

warm adj

wahrm warm

Ze houden je handen warm.

zijn verb

ZINE to be

Waar zijn mijn handschoenen?

Quiz

Word Order

Arrange the words in the correct order.

It feels cold outside.

Show Answer

Het is koud buiten.

Wear your scarf.

Show Answer

Doe je sjaal om.

Do I need gloves too?

Show Answer

Heb ik ook handschoenen nodig?

Spelling

Tap the letters to spell the word.

scarf

Show Answer

sjaal

glove

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handschoenen

needed; necessary

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nodig

outside

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buiten