---
title: "Building words with prefixes: on-, her-, mis-, oud-"
level: B2
chapter: "Style and register"
canonical: https://www.dutchfluency.com/grammar/prefixes
updated: 2026-10-09
author: Dutch Fluency
license: CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)
---

# Building words with prefixes: on-, her-, mis-, oud-

Dutch often changes the meaning of a word you already know by putting a prefix (a short piece glued to the front of a word) before it. Four of the most useful ones: _on-_ usually means not, _her-_ means again, _mis-_ means wrongly and _oud-_ means former. So _onmogelijk_ is impossible, _herschrijven_ is to rewrite, a _misverstand_ is a misunderstanding and an _oud-collega_ is a former colleague.

## The pattern

> Put the prefix in front of a word you know: _on-_ makes it negative, _her-_ repeats it, _mis-_ makes it go wrong and _oud-_ puts a person's role in the past.

- _on-_ goes mostly with adjectives (though not with every adjective), sometimes with nouns: _duidelijk_ becomes _onduidelijk_ (unclear), _bekend_ becomes _onbekend_ (unknown), _zin_ becomes _onzin_ (nonsense).
- _her-_ goes with verbs and the nouns made from them: _herhalen_ (repeat), _heropenen_ (reopen), _de herkansing_ (the resit). The prefix stays attached ([inseparable verbs](https://www.dutchfluency.com/grammar/inseparable-verbs)) and the past participle (the form after _heb_ or _is_) has no _ge-_: _herschreven_, _heropend_.
- _mis-_ goes with verbs and nouns: _misbruik_ (misuse, abuse), _mislukken_ (to fail), _misleiden_ (to mislead). Most _mis-_ verbs also drop _ge-_: _mislukt_ ([participles without ge-](https://www.dutchfluency.com/grammar/participles-without-ge)). A few, with the stress on _mis_, are separable: _misgaan_ (go wrong) gives _Het gaat mis_ and _Het is misgegaan_.
- _oud-_ goes before a person or a role: _oud-collega_, _oud-leerling_, _oud-burgemeester_. Write it with a [hyphen](https://www.dutchfluency.com/grammar/trema-and-hyphen).

## Examples

| Het is **onmogelijk** om dat vandaag nog af te krijgen. | It is impossible to get that done today. |
| De brief van de gemeente was nogal **onduidelijk**, dus Priya heeft gebeld. | The letter from the municipality was rather unclear, so Priya called. |
| Huizen in Utrecht zijn voor starters bijna **onbetaalbaar** geworden. | Houses in Utrecht have become almost unaffordable for first-time buyers. |
| Daan moet zijn motivatiebrief **herschrijven** voordat hij hem verstuurt. | Daan has to rewrite his cover letter before he sends it. |
| Kunt u de vraag even **herhalen**? De verbinding was slecht. | Could you repeat the question? The connection was bad. |
| Na de verbouwing wordt de bibliotheek in maart **heropend**. | After the renovation, the library will be reopened in March. |
| Door een **misverstand** over de tijd stond Mei een uur te vroeg op het perron. | Because of a misunderstanding about the time, Mei was on the platform an hour early. |
| De politie onderzoekt **misbruik** van persoonsgegevens bij een webwinkel. | The police are investigating misuse of personal data at an online shop. |
| Mijn eerste poging om stroopwafels te bakken is compleet **mislukt**. | My first attempt to bake stroopwafels failed completely. |
| Op de verjaardag van Sanne kwam Ahmed zijn **oud-collega** Joris tegen. | At Sanne's birthday, Ahmed ran into his former colleague Joris. |

## Why it works this way

Think of a prefix as a button on a remote control. The word underneath stays the same; the button changes what happens to it. Put pairs side by side and you can hear the switch:

- _Het rooster is duidelijk._ / _Het rooster is onduidelijk._ (clear / unclear)
- _Ik schrijf de mail._ / _Ik herschrijf de mail._ (I write / I rewrite)
- _Hij gebruikt de gegevens._ / _Hij misbruikt de gegevens._ (he uses / he misuses)
- _Joris is een oude collega van me._ / _Joris is een oud-collega van me._ (old, or from years ago / former: he and I are no longer colleagues)

English spreads not over un-, in-, im-, il- and dis-. Dutch mostly uses _on-_: _oneerlijk_ (unfair, dishonest), _ongeduldig_ (impatient), _onzeker_ (uncertain, insecure). Loanwords tend to keep their own prefix: _illegaal_, _inactief_. And English un- can also undo an action (unpack, unlock); Dutch _on-_ cannot do that.

Register matters too. _Her-_ words often sound written and official: a letter from the gemeente announces that your street will be _heringericht_, while at home you would more likely say _opnieuw ingericht_. For many verbs, _opnieuw_ or _nog een keer_ sounds more natural in conversation.

This is also why prefixes help you read. Cover the prefix, read the word you know, then add the meaning back: _onbereikbaar_ is _bereikbaar_ (reachable) switched off. A _herkansing_ is a _kans_ (chance) again: a resit. Treat this as a strong first guess, not a guarantee. An _onweer_ is a thunderstorm, and _onkosten_ are expenses. _Ontvangen_ (receive) has a different prefix, _ont-_. And _herfst_ (autumn) and _mist_ (fog) have no prefix at all. You will meet the endings that build words in [suffixes](https://www.dutchfluency.com/grammar/suffixes).

Remember: _on-_ says no, _her-_ says again, _mis-_ says oops, _oud-_ says used to.

## Watch out

- Not: _Lotte moet haar koffer nog onpakken._ Say: _Lotte moet haar koffer nog uitpakken._ (_on-_ does not undo an action the way English un- does)
- Not: _Ik schrijf de offerte morgen her._ Say: _Ik herschrijf de offerte morgen._ (_her-_ stays attached to the verb)
- Not: _Mijn eerste poging is helemaal gemislukt._ Say: _Mijn eerste poging is helemaal mislukt._ (_mislukken_ takes no _ge-_)
- Not: _Ik kwam in de supermarkt mijn oud collega Bas tegen._ Say: _Ik kwam in de supermarkt mijn oud-collega Bas tegen._ (write _oud-_ for former with a hyphen)
- Not: _Mijn oud-huis stond in Zwolle._ Say: _Mijn vorige huis stond in Zwolle._ (_oud-_ meaning former goes with people and their roles, not with things)

## Quick check

1. Choose the right prefix: _De uitleg in de mail was ...duidelijk, dus Yara heeft de klantenservice gebeld._ (_on_, _her_ or _mis_)
2. Fix the sentence: _Bas heeft zijn cv gisteren geherschreven._
3. Choose: _Carlos dacht dat de vergadering om tien uur begon, maar die begon om negen uur. Dat was een ..._ (_misbruik_ or _misverstand_)
4. Choose the correct spelling: _In de trein kwam Emma haar ... tegen._ (_oud collega_, _oud-collega_ or _oudcollega_)

## Answers

1. _on_: _onduidelijk_ means unclear; _herduidelijk_ and _misduidelijk_ do not exist.
2. _Bas heeft zijn cv gisteren herschreven._ Verbs with _her-_ take no _ge-_.
3. _misverstand_: Carlos understood the time wrongly; _misbruik_ means misuse.
4. _oud-collega_: _oud-_ meaning former is written with a hyphen.

## Use it today

Open the last letter or email from your gemeente, bank or employer and circle every word that starts with _on-_, _her-_ or _mis-_. Cover the prefix, guess the meaning from the word underneath, and only then look it up.

## Questions learners ask

**What does the prefix on- mean in Dutch?**

On- usually turns a word into its opposite, like English un- or in-: onmogelijk means impossible and onduidelijk means unclear. It does not fit every adjective, it cannot undo an action like English unpack, and a few words such as onweer (thunderstorm) have a different meaning.

**Is it oud-collega or oud collega in Dutch?**

Write oud-collega with a hyphen when you mean a former colleague. Without the hyphen you need the adjective form, mijn oude collega, which can also mean a colleague who is old.

**What is the difference between her- and opnieuw in Dutch?**

Both express doing something again: herschrijven and opnieuw schrijven both mean to rewrite. Her- words often sound more formal and exist only for certain verbs, such as herhalen, heropenen and herzien, while opnieuw works with almost any verb in everyday speech.

From the Dutch Fluency Grammar: https://www.dutchfluency.com/grammar. Shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.