1000 Words

The 100 most important Dutch words

These are the 100 most useful Dutch words from our 1000-word beginner course - the vocabulary you will hear and use most often. Learn them first and you will understand a surprising amount of everyday Dutch.

← Learn Dutch – start with the 1000 most important words

#WordDutch
1the applede appel
2the bookhet boek
3the catde kat
4the dogde hond
5the carde auto
6the househet huis
7the chairde stoel
8the tablede tafel
9the windowhet raam
10the doorde deur
11the pencilhet potlood
12the paperhet papier
13the schoolde school
14the teacherde leraar
15the studentde student
16the boyde jongen
17the girlhet meisje
18the adultde volwassene
19the friendde vriend
20the treede boom
21the flowerde bloem
22the riverde rivier
23the mountainde berg
24the beachhet strand
25the sunde zon
26the moonde maan
27the starde ster
28the cloudde wolk
29the rainde regen
30the snowde sneeuw
31the windde wind
32the firehet vuur
33the waterhet water
34the foodhet eten
35the drinkhet drankje
36the cuphet kopje
37the bottlede fles
38the platehet bord
39the spoonde lepel
40the forkde vork
41the knifehet mes
42the breakfasthet ontbijt
43the lunchde lunch
44the dinnerhet avondeten
45the fruithet fruit
46the vegetablede groente
47the breadhet brood
48the butterde boter
49the cheesede kaas
50the milkde melk
51the coffeede koffie
52the teade thee
53the juicehet sap
54the sodade frisdrank
55the chocolatede chocolade
56the candyhet snoep
57the cookiehet koekje
58the cakede taart
59the ricede rijst
60the pastade pasta
61the fishde vis
62the chickende kip
63the beefhet rundvlees
64the egghet ei
65the soupde soep
66the saladde salade
67the sandwichhet broodje
68the pizzade pizza
69the ice creamhet ijs
70the cerealde muesli
71the honeyde honing
72the sugarde suiker
73the salthet zout
74the pepperde peper
75the tomatode tomaat
76the potatode aardappel
77the onionde ui
78the carrotde wortel
79the lettucede sla
80the cucumberde komkommer
81the bananade banaan
82the orangede sinaasappel
83the grapefruitde grapefruit
84the strawberryde aardbei
85the grapede druif
86the lemonde citroen
87the limede limoen
88the cherryde kers
89the watermelonde watermeloen
90the pineapplede ananas
91the mangode mango
92the kiwide kiwi
93the peachde perzik
94the pearde peer
95the plumde pruim
96the berryde bes
97the melonde meloen
98the phonede telefoon
99the computerde computer
100the televisionde televisie

Frequently asked questions

How many words do I need for everyday conversations in Dutch?

The 100 most frequent words cover about half of everyday spoken language. With the full 1000-word core vocabulary you understand around 85% of typical conversations in Dutch - enough to follow along and make yourself understood.

Why should I learn exactly these 100 Dutch words first?

They are the most frequently used words of the language, selected by word frequency. Every one of them will appear again and again in real sentences, so each learned word immediately pays off.

How can I memorise these Dutch words fastest?

Listen and repeat: every word in the 1000 Words course comes with native-speaker audio and an example sentence. Combined with spaced repetition in the free vocabulary trainer, most learners master the first 100 words within one to two weeks.

Start learning Dutch for free

Learn in the browser

App Store · Google Play