# ..., hoor



## Diablo919

My friend sent me this message after I sent her a few sentences in Dutch:

"Jij kan echt al goed Nederlands hoor!"

Does "horen" have a different use in this sentence other than "to hear, to belong, or should?"

Thanks


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## elroy

This _hoor_ is an extremely idiomatic "flavoring particle," so thinking of the verb _horen_ and its usual meanings will not help you understand it. 

I firmly believe that the only way to truly understand it is exposure to many, many examples.  In fact, I've never had its meaning explained to me, but I've sort of picked up on the "flavor" it adds to a sentence by being exposed to it, although I still can't claim that I always "get it."

In this particular case,

Jij kan echt al goed Nederlands hoor! ~ Man, your Dutch is already really good!

So it's intensifying the compliment.


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## dre-day

What elroy says is very true.

My best translation for it is:

'Your Dutch is already really good you know!'


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## HKK

Elroy is absolutely right about this. So I'll try to provide some examples for this very frequent and useful little word.

In a shop, you're buying a lot of stuff and the old lady after you in the line has only a bottle of milk. So you let her go first.
-U mag voorgaan hoor.

You think you're going to fail your exam but the teacher says it wasn't so bad at all.
-Het viel goed mee hoor.

Someone admires your rendition of Bach's Prelude nr. 2 in C minor, but you react in a humble way.
-Dat was eigenlijk niet zo goed hoor.

If you say this without 'hoor', your listener will think you're actually in a bad mood about failing to play the piece well. With it, he'll know you're just being modest.

Your friend wants to play rugby with some tough guys.
-Doe jij maar, ik ga niet mee hoor.

In this case, omitting 'hoor' would make it seem like you're angry with your friend.

You say you're feeling a bit down and you think the person you said it to overreacts.
-He, ik kan het wel aan hoor. Hey, I can take this, you know.

I think in the end 'hoor' makes a sentence more relative/casual and may even out things that are considered too positive* or too negative to say just like that. It also serves to convince people or make something clear to them in a gentle manner. It has a comforting sound to it. Similar to English words that also meanings connected to the senses: ...see / ...you hear / ...you know / feel me? / ...


*I'm not saying your Dutch friend would have been afraid of sounding too positive about your skills! Saying "Je kan echt al goed Nederlands" just sounds less lively than with 'hoor' at the end.


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## Diablo919

Ok, thanks. It's just a way of adding playfulness/friendliness/casualness to a sentence.


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## Frank06

Hi,


Diablo919 said:


> Ok, thanks. It's just a way of adding playfulness/friendliness/casualness to a sentence.


Oh no, not necesarily. It strongly depends upon the context and the interlocutor (and hence the intonation). It adds something, most of the time some sort of emotion, but it can range from playfulness to sheer arrogance.

Groetjes,

Frank


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## Lopes

Diablo919 said:


> "Jij kan echt al goed Nederlands hoor!"


 
To me this is suggesting that you told this person before that your Dutch is not so good, and are now suprising him/her with it.


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## Diablo919

That is exactly right Lopes.


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## elroy

In that case, I think one way to render the feeling in English would be to start the sentence with "hey":

_Hey, your Dutch is already really good! _


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## Frank06

Hi,


elroy said:


> In that case, I think one way to render the feeling in English would be to start the sentence with "hey":
> _Hey, your Dutch is already really good! _



I am not sure... I can think of quite some ways to make it sound either very friendly and encouraging or very very sarcastic, paternalising, demeaning...
Context and hence *intonation *are crucial factors with things like '..., hoor'.

Groetjes,

Frank


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## elroy

Of course.   My suggestion was based on the information we were given and meant only as a translation in _this_ context.  I assumed that the speaker was expressing pleasant surprise at Diablo's impressive Dutch skills.


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