Netwerken in Amsterdam en 'Die' of 'Dat'

You told me your ultimate goal is to speak Dutch "heel goed", especially since you are navigating professional life right here in Amsterdam.

As a professional working in the Netherlands, you have probably already realized that the Dutch love to blend work and socializing.

So today, let's prepare you for something you will definitely encounter: networking in Dutch.

Imagine you are at de netwerkborrel.

That’s the networking drinks event, often held on a Thursday or Friday afternoon.

It’s the perfect place to practice speaking Dutch because the atmosphere is a bit more relaxed than in a boardroom.

When you introduce yourself, people will ask about your functie.

De functie is your role or position.

You might say, "Mijn functie is projectmanager." Then, they might ask about de branche, which is the industry or sector you work in.

For example, "Ik werk in de financiële branche."

A borrel is also a great time to bijpraten.

Bijpraten is a lovely verb that means to catch up.

You can bijpraten with a colleague you haven't seen in a while, sharing updates about your loopbaan.

De loopbaan is your career or career path.

And at the end of a good conversation, you might still exchange het visitekaartje – the business card – although these days, asking "Zullen we connecten op LinkedIn?" is just as common!

Now, to really sound like a B1 speaker and achieve your goal of speaking "heel goed", you need to link your ideas smoothly.

This brings us to today's grammar: relative pronouns, or in Dutch, betrekkelijke voornaamwoorden.

We use them to give more information about a noun, just like "who", "which", or "that" in English.

In Dutch, the rule is actually quite simple, but it requires you to know your 'de' and 'het' words.

If the noun is a 'de' word, you use 'die'.

If the noun is a 'het' word, you use 'dat'.

Let's look at 'de' words first.

Take de collega.

If you want to say "The colleague who works in Amsterdam," you say: "De collega die in Amsterdam werkt." Because it's de collega, you use die.

The same goes for de functie: "De functie die ik heb, is erg leuk." (The role that I have is very nice).

Now for 'het' words.

Take het bedrijf (the company).

If you want to say "The company that I work for," you use dat: "Het bedrijf dat in Amsterdam zit." Or take het visitekaartje: "Het visitekaartje dat je me gaf, ziet er goed uit." (The business card that you gave me looks good).

Notice one more thing: the relative pronoun always kicks the verb to the end of the clause.

"De collega die in Amsterdam werkt," not "De collega die werkt in Amsterdam."

The next time you are at a netwerkborrel in Amsterdam, try to use die or dat just once when talking about your functie or your loopbaan.

It’s a small step, but it makes your Dutch flow so much better.

Have a great day at work, and I'll speak to you tomorrow.