The pattern
Put heel, erg, echt, best, nogal or vrij directly before an adjective to show how strong it is. In careful writing, they keep this basic form, even before a noun.
- heel and erg: very. heel warm, erg druk. With a verb, use erg or heel erg: Ik mis je erg.
- echt: really. Het is echt koud. It can also stress that something is true: Ik kom echt. Very common in speech.
- best: quite or pretty, often with a hint of "more than you might think". Het is best moeilijk.
- nogal and vrij: rather or fairly. Vrij sounds fairly neutral (vrij rustig). Nogal can suggest a strong degree or more than you would like (nogal duur).
- After is or zijn with no adjective, erg means bad (Dat is niet erg, no problem) and vrij means free or off work.
- Before an adjective plus noun, speech often says een hele mooie dag, while careful writing uses een heel mooie dag.
Examples
| Het is vandaag heel warm. | It is very warm today. |
| Die nieuwe fiets is erg duur. | That new bike is very expensive. |
| Daan is echt blij met zijn nieuwe baan. | Daan is really happy with his new job. |
| Ik mis mijn familie heel erg. | I miss my family very much. |
| Nederlands is best moeilijk. | Dutch is quite difficult. |
| Dit is de beste soep van Amsterdam. | This is the best soup in Amsterdam. |
| De trein was vanochtend nogal vol. | The train was rather full this morning. |
| De huur in Utrecht is vrij hoog. | The rent in Utrecht is fairly high. |
| Lotte is morgen vrij. | Lotte has the day off tomorrow. |
| We hebben een heel mooie dag gehad. | We had a very nice day. |
Why it works this way
Think of each word as a volume knob on the adjective, though not every knob has one fixed setting. Heel and erg usually turn it up high. Best and vrij often set it to a moderate level: clearly more than a little, but less than very. Echt can turn up the degree (echt koud) or stress that something is genuinely true (Ik kom echt.). Nogal means rather, but it can suggest a strong degree, and nogal duur often sounds like a complaint.
The knob is attached to the adjective, not to the noun. In een heel mooie dag, mooie gets an -e because of dag (see adjective endings), but heel only describes mooie. A word that describes an adjective is an adverb (a word that says how or how much), and Dutch adverbs take no -e. In speech, the -e often spreads to heel: een hele mooie dag. That is normal in conversation and chat messages. In a job application or an email to the gemeente, write heel. With an -e, hele usually means whole: de hele dag (see heel, al and alle).
Best is a classic false friend. The English best is de beste or het best in Dutch (see goed, beter, best).
Remember: best is not the best. When Joris calls a party best leuk, the party was quite fun, not the party of the year.
Watch out
نادرستIk mis je heel.
درستIk mis je erg.
as very, heel needs an adjective or adverb after it
نادرستHet is veel duur.
درستHet is erg duur.
veel duur is wrong; use heel or erg. With a comparative, veel works: veel duurder
نادرستBas maakt best koffie van het kantoor.
درستBas maakt de beste koffie van het kantoor.
for the best, say de beste
نادرستIk heb de heel dag gewerkt.
درستIk heb de hele dag gewerkt.
meaning whole, it is an adjective and gets -e after de
Quick check
- Choose heel or erg: Ik mis mijn oma ... .
- Mei says: Het nieuwe kantoor is best groot. What does she mean? (a) It is the biggest office. (b) It is quite big.
- Choose heel or veel: In de supermarkt is het vandaag ... druk.
- In a careful email to the gemeente, choose heel or hele: Ik heb een ... korte vraag over mijn paspoort.
نمایش پاسخها
- erg: with a verb, heel cannot stand alone.
- (b): best before an adjective like groot means quite.
- heel: say heel druk, not veel druk. Veel only works with a comparative here: veel drukker.
- heel: in careful writing, the intensifier keeps its basic form.
Use it today
Next time a colleague asks Hoe was je weekend?, answer with one of these words: Best leuk, Heel rustig or Echt gezellig. Then add one sentence with nogal or vrij, for example De trein was nogal vol.