Het Amsterdamse Weer en Klagen

You told me your goal is: 'Ik hoop ik kan sprak Nederlands heel goed,' and since you're living and working right here in Amsterdam, speaking Dutch fluently means you have to master our absolute favorite national hobby.

I'm talking, of course, about complaining about the weather.

As a professional navigating the city, you've probably noticed that the weather here is incredibly wisselvallig.

Wisselvallig means changeable or unpredictable.

One minute the sun is shining beautifully on the Herengracht, and the next minute, out of nowhere, you're caught in a sudden regenbui.

A regenbui is a rain shower.

When that happens on your commute, you usually have two choices.

You can try to schuilen—to take shelter—under a balcony or in a doorway.

Or, you can just keep walking or cycling and arrive at your office completely doorweekt.

Doorweekt means soaked to the bone.

You might think, 'I'll just bring a paraplu,' an umbrella, but we both know the Amsterdam wind will destroy that paraplu in about five minutes.

And when the rain is exceptionally heavy, we don't just call it a regenbui, we call it a plensbui—a massive downpour.

So, naturally, we love to klagen, to complain, about it.

To complain like a true B1-level Dutch speaker, you need to know how to express contrast.

Today, let's look at the difference between hoewel (although) and ondanks (despite).

These are incredibly useful, but they work slightly differently in a sentence.

Hoewel is a conjunction.

It introduces a full clause with a subject and a verb, and because it's a subordinating conjunction, it pushes the verb to the end of that clause.

For example: 'Hoewel het regent, ga ik naar buiten.' (Although it is raining, I am going outside).

Ondanks, on the other hand, is a preposition.

It means 'despite', and it is only followed by a noun, not a full verb clause.

So you would say: 'Ondanks de regen, ga ik naar buiten.' (Despite the rain, I am going outside).

Do you hear the difference?

'Hoewel het regent' versus 'Ondanks de regen'.

The meaning is exactly the same, but the grammar changes based on whether you use an action or just a noun.

Next time you're looking out your office window at a massive plensbui, try to use one of these with a colleague.

You could say: 'Ondanks het wisselvallige weer, vind ik Amsterdam een geweldige stad.' Stay dry out there today, and I'll be right here in your ear tomorrow for your next step toward speaking Dutch perfectly.