Learn how to ask, "Can you speak English?"
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Hallo! Hello and welcome to Dutch Survival Phrases brought to you by DutchPod101.com, this course is designed to equip you with the language skills and knowledge to enable you to get the most out of your visit to the Netherlands. You will be surprised at how far a little Dutch will go. |
| Now, before we jump in, remember to stop by DutchPod101.com and there, you will find the accompanying PDF and additional info in the post. If you stop by, be sure to leave us a comment. |
Lesson focus |
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| In this lesson, we'll cover another extremely important phrase, "Do you speak English?" Using this phrase, as opposed to speaking English to someone, is important for many reasons. For one, if the party you're speaking to doesn't understand English, at least they'll be able to understand what you're asking. Furthermore, it shows a lot of respect on your part that you've made an effort to learn a little bit of the language. For these reasons and many more, we're going to cover this important phrase. |
| In Dutch, "Do you speak English?" is Spreekt u Engels? |
| Let's break it down by syllable: Spreekt u Eng-els? |
| The first two words, Spreekt u, mean, "Do you speak?" |
| Spreekt means, "speaks." |
| Spreekt comes from the verb spreken, meaning, "to speak." |
| The last component of our phrase is Engels, meaning literally, "in English." |
| Let's break it down by syllable: Eng-els. |
| To recap, the whole phrase is Spreekt u Engels? "Do you speak English?" |
| Although it's not really needed, you can add "sir" or "ma'am" at the end of the sentence. |
| "Sir" in Dutch is meneer. |
| "Ma'am" in Dutch is mevrouw. |
| The phrase we just learned is perfect in a formal setting. You should always use the above phrase with people you don't know or elders. |
| When speaking to someone we know or people our age, we will say in Dutch, Spreek je Engels? |
| Now we'll break it down by syllable. Spreek je Eng-els? |
| Here it is once again. Spreek je Engels? |
| Now for a change, let's try a different language. |
| Let's try Spanish. "Do you speak Spanish?" is Spreek je Spaans? This is the informal way. |
| The word for "Spanish" is Spaans. |
| In this example, you need to change the word for the language only. |
| The rest stays the same. |
| The same rule applies to formal questions. |
| For example, "Do you speak Spanish?" will be: Spreekt u Spaans? |
Outro |
| Okay, to close out this lesson, we'd like you to practice what you've just learned. I'll provide you with the English equivalent of the phrase and you're responsible for saying it aloud. You have a few seconds before I give you the answer, so good luck, that also means “good luck” in Dutch. |
| "Do you speak English, sir? (formal)" - Spreekt u Engels, meneer? |
| Spreekt u Engels, meneer? |
| Spreekt u Engels, meneer? |
| "Do you speak English, ma'am? (formal)" - Spreekt u Engels, mevrouw? |
| Spreekt u Engels, mevrouw? |
| Spreekt u Engels, mevrouw? |
| "Do you speak Spanish? (informal)" - Spreek je Spaans? |
| Spreek je Spaans? |
| Spreek je Spaans? |
| All right, that's going to do it for today. Remember to stop by DutchPod101.com and pick up the accompanying PDF and additional info in the post. If you stop by, be sure to leave us a comment. Tot ziens! |
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