# "small words" - nou, hoor, dus



## schluckauf

hello again,

I was wondering if somebody could give me explanations/exemples of how to use those idiomatic but "hard to handle" small words like: nou, dus, hoor, wel. 

Can "nou" be used as the English "well" ? When you begin a sentence, for instance? 
I think "dus" is like the English "So," at the beginnning of a sentence.. 
I've heard "hoor" quite a couple of times at the end of a sentence but I cannot find the English equivalent.. 
Thanks for your help!!


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## Joannes

Hi,

I'll give it a try. Please correct me in case I'm mistaken somewhere, Belgians don't generally say *nou* or *hoor*, you see.



schluckauf said:


> Can "nou" be used as the English "well" ? When you begin a sentence, for instance?


Yes, it can. It's probably even more common than *well*.

Examples:
*Nou, dat betwijfel ik.* '(Well,) I doubt that.'
*Zal ik een verhaal vertellen? Nou, er was eens..* 'Shall I tell a story? (Well,) once upon a time..'

*Nou* can also occur in the middle of a sentence. I think the difference between *gaat het nu wat beter?* and *gaat het nou wat beter?* is that the former asks how you are doing right now, and the latter is more like 'gaat het ondertussen wat beter?' -- I'm not sure though, I would say *nu* in both cases.

*Nou* is also common in combination with *eens*:
*Sta nou (toch) eens stil!* 'Will you (please) just for once stand still!'
*Als ze nou eens wat vriendelijker waren met de klanten, dan verdienden ze veel meer.* 'If they were (just) a bit friendlier to their clients, they would make more money.'
*Doe nou (eens) niet zo stom!* '(Now) don't be stupid!'



schluckauf said:


> I think "dus" is like the English "So," at the beginnning of a sentence..


I agree.

You will find *dus* in the middle of sentences too, the meaning is similar.



schluckauf said:


> I've heard "hoor" quite a couple of times at the end of a sentence but I cannot find the English equivalent..


That's because there isn't a real equivalent. It is used to reassure the listener is some way or another.

*Sorry dat ik je hiermee lastig val. - Da's niet erg hoor.* 'Sorry to bother you for this. - (Don't worry,) that's ok.'

As such, it is frequent with imperatives already softened with *maar*:
*Kom maar hoor!* (a friendly, reassuring) 'Come!'

It can also be reassuring the speaker that what you are saying is true.
*Ik heb er veel meer hoor.* 'I've got a lot more of those, (I'm telling you)'
*Die gemenerik zal nooit iemand helpen hoor.* 'He won't ever help anyone, (you know)!'


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## Lawrencelot

These words are very hard to explain. They are usually about the tone if there's no equivalent in English. In addition to Joannes:

nou can also appear at the end of a sentence, usually after an imperative.
'Ga nou!' - Move on! (tone of impatience)
'Stop nou!' - Stop! (here nou has the meaning of please, but not at all a formal please, more like an ''I'm getting tired of this' type of please)

After an imperative+nou, the sentence doesn't need to end.
Schiet nou eens op. / Doe dat nou maar snel / Drink nou (eens) niet zo veel / etc.

Actually Joannes also said this, but whatever...

Hoor usually appears at the end of a sentence to make a sentence more friendly or more informal.

Another type of these words is maar at the end of a sentence.

Vergeet het maar. - Just forget it.
Doe dat maar. - Do that. (I think you should)
Doe dat maar niet. - It's better if you don't do that.

Then you have the Dutch word wel, which also has no equivalent in English.

Dat doe ik wel (same meaning as Dat doe ik toch)
Ik heb wel een auto - I do have a car
Ik ga wel naar dat feestje - I am (with emphasis) going to that party.

Basically, wel is the opposite of niet (not). The opposite of a negation. I find it strange that this word does not exist in English.


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## Lopes

Lawrencelot said:


> Basically, wel is the opposite of niet (not). The opposite of a negation. I find it strange that this word does not exist in English.



Does too! 

(toch?)


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## Lawrencelot

Lopes said:


> Does too!
> 
> (toch?)


Volgens mij betekent dat meer 'welles'


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## Suehil

The English don't need a word, they manipulate their auxiliaries.
Ik ga naar het feest - I'm going to the party.
Ik ga wel naar het feest - I am going to the party.


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## Guichelheil

_Nou, schluckauf, dat is me toch maar even een wel echt héél interessante vraag die je daar stelt!_

Hello schluckauf, hello forum,

After having spied on Wordreference's forums from a save distance for a while, schluckauf's question triggered me to register.

Though the answers that have been provided by the other forum members seem very accurate to me, I would recommend you the book "Dubbel (sic) Dutch" by Kevin Cook. You may find it very interesting, because it is exactly about these nasty little words, treated in a very entertaining way. You can find part of the book in Google Books. (Sorry, I am not allowed to post URLs yet.)

Further to the examples that Joannes and Lawrencelot have given, which I would describe as filling/starting, time, irritation, despair and encouragement, there are a few more meanings that occur to me:

Conclusion (in a question or a situation) 
_Nou vroeg ik me af of ik misschien jóuw auto even zou mogen lenen..._
_Nou, dan gaan we maar weer eens. Nou, ik hou het voor gezien._
Clarification
_Nou moet je me eens vertellen hoe dat nou zit met jou en je buurvrouw. _
(Implies that the question has been on the speaker's mind for a while.)
Further background information
_Nou wil het geval dat... Nou zit het zo..._

No doubt that there are many, many more meanings, the exact connotations of which are hard to give. There is one of which I think it really fits in the thread of small words:

_Nou hoor!_ mildly expressing disbelief, being upset or disappointment and therefore saying something totally different than _Hoor nou! _which means Now hear!/Listen up!

_Nou, als je echt alles wilt weten, dan moet je toch zéker dat boek even bekijken, hoor!_


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## Guichelheil

Hello Suehil,

Not because of splitting hairs, but merely to emphasise how hard these little words indeed are:



Suehil said:


> Ik ga wel naar het feest - I am going to the party.


 
This sentence could mean two things, depending on where one puts the stress.
_Er is niets leuks op televisie, ik ga wel naar het féést. _
The one you meant, as becomes clear from the translation, is:
_Mijn moeder zegt dat het niet mag, maar ik ga wél naar het feest._


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## Joannes

> This sentence could mean two things, depending on where one puts the stress.
> _Er is niets leuks op televisie, ik ga wel naar het féést. _
> The one you meant, as becomes clear from the translation, is:
> _Mijn moeder zegt dat het niet mag, maar ik ga wél naar het feest._


That's right. I guess for the former one a translation '(so) I'd rather go to the party' would do.



Guichelheil said:


> No doubt that there are many, many more meanings, the exact connotations of which are hard to give.


Exactly, we could have separate, long threads discussing each of these modal particles. And in them, at times, we would have to point out how the particles interact so you can get sentences like *ga dan toch ook nog maar eens even wat zitten*, a way to say 'sit down' with all the colours of the rainbow..


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## Lieven

schluckauf said:


> hello again,
> 
> I was wondering if somebody could give me explanations/exemples of how to use those idiomatic but "hard to handle" small words like: nou, dus, hoor, wel.
> 
> Can "nou" be used as the English "well" ? When you begin a sentence, for instance?
> I think "dus" is like the English "So," at the beginnning of a sentence..
> I've heard "hoor" quite a couple of times at the end of a sentence but I cannot find the English equivalent..
> Thanks for your help!!


 
A word in English that can be used in a similar way to "hoor" is the Canadian "ey" (translating the Canadian ey to "hoor" more often than not won't work, since it has a much broader usage, but the other way around, translating hoor to "ey" does seem to work most of the time).


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