Understand spoken Dutch

"to be" in Dutch

zijn
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Summary

The Dutch translation for “to be” is zijn.

Pronounced the same

Recording English Dutch Learn
his zijn
are (plural) zijn
its zijn

Examples of "to be" in use

There are 79 examples of the Dutch word for "to be" being used:
Recording English Dutch Learn
Banking does not have to be difficult and time-consuming. Bankieren hoeft niet lastig en tijdrovend te zijn.
It’ll be difficult to glue the two pieces together. Het zal moeilijk zijn om de twee stukken aan elkaar te lijmen.
No one else could be so sensitive than a true princess. Zo fijngevoelig kon niemand anders zijn dan een echte prinses.
The unions stress that they are not against competition, “but against unfair competition” De bonden benadrukken niet tegen concurrentie te zijn, “maar wel tegen valse concurrentie”.
Line twelve only comes in half an hour, but line five should be here in three minutes. Lijn twaalf komt pas over een half uur, maar lijn vijf zou hier over drie minuten moeten zijn.
But if you insist upon being easy on yourself, life is going to be very hard on you. Maar als je erop staat om het jezelf gemakkelijk te maken, zal het leven heel moeilijk voor je zijn.
The duckling expressed as his opinion, that it could be different, but the chicken was not able to do that. Het eendje gaf als zijn mening te kennen, dat het toch ook wel eens anders zou kunnen zijn maar dat kon de kip niet velen.
But to tell all the distress and misery the duckling had to endure in that harsh winter would be too dire. Maar al de nood en de ellende, welke het eendje in die strenge winter moest doorstaan, te vertellen, zou te akelig zijn.
to be broke blut zijn
they had only the roof to cover them, through which the wind was howling, although the largest holes had been plugged with straw and rags. boven zich hadden zij slechts het dak, waardoor de wind heenfloot, al mochten de grootste reten ook met stro en lompen dichtgestopt zijn.

Practice Lesson

"to be" Practice (46)
Lesson
Lesson words
to be
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Lesson phrases
Although the Netherlands and Germany are very similar, the differences are also very significant.,
But if you insist upon being easy on yourself, life is going to be very hard on you.,
But to tell all the distress and misery the duckling had to endure in that harsh winter would be too dire.,
Could it perhaps be a turkey chick?,
He already would have been happy if the ducks would have accepted him around them,
I don’t know if this will be enough.,
I want to be a cat.,
I would be grateful if you could do that for me.,
If you will be hard on yourself, life will be easy on you.,
It won’t be easy for you.,
It would be premature to set a date for the wedding right now.,
I’d be grateful.,
I’d like to be Picasso.,
I’m scared of being alone.,
Line twelve only comes in half an hour, but line five should be here in three minutes.,
Love can be blind.,
No one else could be so sensitive than a true princess.,
Once upon a time there was a prince who wanted to marry a princess; but it had to be a real princess.,
Some religious people can be very judgemental.,
Surely you don’t want to be wiser than the tomcat and the woman.
etc.

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