10 Pronombres indefinidos

16/4/2016 Dutch Grammar • Indefinite pronouns

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Indefinite pronouns

By Bieneke Berendsen

The amount and complexity of indefinite pronouns can be quite overwhelming. In this

subchapter, every pronoun will be discussed in detail. If you would like to start with a quick

overview, visit the summary page first.

The indefinite pronoun

An indefinite pronoun refers to someone or something that is not specifically or exactly

defined, e.g. some, every, all, or each.

Some indefinite pronouns can be used independently: "Everybody is happy." Other

indefinite pronouns act as adjectives, which means that they precede a noun: "Every cat is

happy."

Collective indefinite pronouns

Among the indefinite pronouns, there is a special category: the collective indefinite

pronouns: all, every, each, everything, everyone, and everybody. They are defined as a

separate class because they have a few features in common.

We will start with the collective indefinite pronouns. After that, we will move on to the rest:

any, several, some, something, somebody, nothing, nobody, et cetera.

Pronominal adverbs

Among the indefinite pronouns, there are three pronouns that we can turn into pronominal

adverbs when we combine them with a preposition: we can turn alles into overal, iets into

ergens, and niets can become nergens.

Remember: If, while going through the following pages, you feel like you are losing track of

the overall picture, you can always jump to the summary.

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16/4/2016 Dutch Grammar • Collective indefinite pronouns




Collective indefinite pronouns always refer to the whole group (everyone, everything) or to

every member of a group (each, every)

The Dutch (or English) collective pronoun can behave in three different ways:

It can be an independent pronoun, which means it does not precede a noun:

Iedereen moet zijn tanden poetsen. Everyone has to brush his teeth.

Alles staat in de bibliotheekscatalogus. Everything is in the library catalogue.

It can also say something about a noun, by preceding it like an adjective.

Alle mensen moeten hun tanden poetsen. All people have to brush their teeth.

Elk boek heeft een unieke code. Each book has a unique code.

Collective indefinite pronouns can also occur somewhere after* the noun they say something

about, as a 'little extra' (a 'predicative adjective'). In the following examples, the information

provided by the indefinite pronouns is not essential and could be omitted.

De mensen moeten allemaal hun tandenpoetsen.

The people all have to brush their teeth.

De boeken hebben elk een unieke code. The books each have a unique code.

The pronouns serve to stress that 'the people' concerns all people and that by 'the books', we

mean each book. Without 'each', we could think that we only have one unique code for all

books together.

On the following pages, we will discuss each collective pronoun separately.

(*) For the exact position in a sentence, see Place of the complement.


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16/4/2016 Dutch Grammar • Alles & iedereen (everything & everyone)


Alles & iedereen (everything & everyone)


Just like in English, alles (everything) and iedereen (everyone) are independent pronouns:

They do not precede another noun.

The Dutch do not make a distinction between 'everyone' and 'anyone', they always say

iedereen. The same goes for 'everything' and 'anything', for which the Dutch use the word

alles.

Dutch Application English

alles singular everything, anything

iedereen singular everyone, anyone

Iedereen (everyone)

Although it refers to a group of people, iedereen is regarded as a singular pronoun. The

English pronouns 'everybody' and 'everyone' are also singular but in colloquial English we do

come across sentences like "Everyone has to brush their teeth" (instead of the correct form:

his teeth). In Dutch, even colloquial Dutch, you will never hear this.

Iedereen kan leren fietsen. Everyone (anyone) can learn how to ridea bicycle.

Hij kan met iedereen opschieten. He gets along with everyone.

Heb je iedereen verwittigd? Dit you notify everyone?

Alles (everything)

Just like iedereen, alles is a singular pronoun.

Alles is veranderd. Everything has changed.

Ik heb alles al gedaan. I have done everything already.

Pronominal adverb alles overal

If you already went through the pronominal adverbs, you know that we sometimes change

the pronoun into an adverb when it is preceded by a preposition. We can (but in this case, do

not have to) do the same with alles. For example, instead of voor alles ('for everything'), we

can say overal voor ('everywhere for'). Note that we write overal and voor as two separate

words (unlike most other pronominal adverbs).




16/4/2016 Dutch Grammar • Alles & iedereen (everything & everyone)


preposition + alles overal + preposition

In the examples below, both Dutch sentences are correct.

Hij heeft altijd op alles een antwoord. He always has an answer to everything.

Hij heeft altijd overal een antwoord op.

Ik kan met haar over alles praten. With her, I can talk about everything.

Ik kan met haar overal over praten.

16/4/2016 Dutch Grammar • Al, alle, allen, allemaal (all)


Al, alle, allen, allemaal (all)


In Dutch we have four ways to say 'all': al, alle, allen, and allemaal. In the table below, you

can read how we use each form.

alle 1. Before plural nouns, e.g. 'all people', 'all houses'.2. Before uncountable singular nouns, e.g. 'all gold', 'allmight'.

al Before a pronoun or article, e.g. 'all the time', 'all my life','all those people'.

alle, allen,allemaal

Predicative: After a pronoun as 'extra information', e.g.'they are all different', 'it is all the same'.

Allemaal can refer to both person and things, alle only tothings, allen only to persons. Allemaal is common, alle andallen are formal.

allen Independent as a synonym for iedereen (everyone). Veryformal!Note that 'alle' (without final n) cannot function as anindependent pronoun).

Alle

When 'all' precedes a noun, we use alle.

We generally use it before plural nouns:

Alle mensen zijn zoogdieren. All people are mammals.

Heb je alle lichten uitgedaan? Did you switch off all lights?

Alle kaarten waren uitverkocht. All tickets were soldout.

We can also use it before a singular noun but only if that noun does not have a plural form

(or its plural form has a different meaning):

Alle moeite was voor niets. All effort was in vain (for nothing).

The Dutch word moeite does not have a plural form.

We willen je met alle liefde helpen. We would love to help you ("We would liketo help you with all love")

Liefde (love) does have a plural form: Liefdes. We only use this to refer to love relationships

or persons that you love. In the example above, we use it in a different way: We are talking

about the concept of love in general, not about specific relationships or loved ones.




Ze wilden met alle geweld hun auto voorhun huis parkeren.

They wanted to park their car in front oftheir house at all costs ('with allviolence').

If you want something 'met alle geweld', this means that you will do anything to get your

way. Geweld (violence) does not have a plural.

Al

If all precedes an article or another pronoun, we use al. For example: al je geld(all your

money), al die mensen(all those people), al die tijd(all that time).

Just like alle, it is used for plural nouns and singular nouns that do not have a plural.

Hij heeft al die maanden voor haar gezorgd. He has been taking care of her (during) allthose months.

Hebben jullie al de lichten uitgedaan? Did you switch off all the lights?

Singular nouns that do not have plural:

Ze hebben al hun geld aan de renovatie vanhun huis besteed.

They spent all their money on therenovation of their house.

Waar heb je al die tijd gezeten? Where have you been all that time?

Geld (money) and tijd (time) have plural forms but they mean something else. We use the

plural form gelden when we talk about fees or budgets. When we say tijden, we usually refer

to hours (like opening hours) or grammatical tenses. We also use it when we talk about

historical periods.

Alle, allen, and allemaal

We already discussed alle as a pronoun that precedes another noun (see above) but it can

also occur somewhere after the noun it says something about.

In "The books are all listed in the library catalogue", the information provided by the

indefinite pronoun 'all' is not essential and could be omitted. It only serves to stress that 'the

books' concerns all books.

In Dutch, the common form is allemaal. We use it to refer to plural nouns and to singular

nouns that do not have plural forms.

De boeken staan allemaal vermeld in debibliotheekscatalogus.

The books are all listed in the librarycatalogue.

De kandidaten zullen allemaal wordenuitgenodigd voor een toelatingstest.

The applicants will all be invited for anadmission test.

Je hoeft het niet allemaal uit je hoofd teleren.

You do not have to study it all by heart.

Hij heeft het geld toch allemaal aan eengoed doel geschonken?

He donated the money all to a goodcause, did he not?



A formal form is alle(n). It means the exact same as allemaal but there is one difference: We

can only use alle(n) for plural antecedents.

When we refer to persons, we use allen, in all other cases alle(without the final n).

De boeken staan alle vermeld in debibliotheekscatalogus.

The books are all listed in the librarycatalogue.

De kandidaten zullen allen wordenuitgenodigd voor een toelatingstest.

The applicants will all be invited for anadmission test.

Allen

Allen can also occur independently, which means that it does not have an antecedent (a

noun it refers to). This use of allen is very formal!

If we use it this way, it is a synomym for iedereen (everyone). There is, however, a slight

difference: While iedereen can refer to an indefinite universe, allen has a more limited

scope, which is defined by the context. It practically means the same as 'all of them'.

Allen is a plural pronoun.

Allen moesten hun paspoort laten zien. All (of them) had to show their passports

Allen zijn voor de toelatingstest geslaagd. All (of them) passed the admission test..

I would like to stress again that the use of allen instead of iedereen is rather formal.

16/4/2016 Dutch Grammar • Elk & ieder (each & every)


Elk & ieder (each & every)


There is no clear difference between elk and ieder (each and every). They are practically

interchangeable. There is, however, a tendency to use:

ieder for persons

elk for things

elk when we are talking about a small group of people or things


elk singular each

ieder singular every

Elk(e) and ieder(e) before a noun

When we place elk or ieder before a noun (e.g. elke keer, 'each time'), we have to inflect it

according to the gender of the noun. Before neuter nouns (hetwords), we say elk or ieder.

Before denouns, we have to add e: elke and iedere.

We only use elk(e) and ieder(e) before singular nouns.

Inflection Before what type of noun?

elk / ieder hetnouns

elke / iedere denouns

The example below illustrate how elk and ieder are inflected according to the nouns they

precede.

[de dag] Ik fiets elke dag naar mijn werk.

[the day]I cycle to work every day.

[het bibliotheekboek]Elk bibliotheekboek heeft een unieke code.

[the library book]Each library book has a unique code.

[de deelnemer] Iedere deelnemer ontvangt een officieelattest.

[the participant]Every participant will receive an officialcertificate.

[het meisje]Op Valentijnsdag stuurt hij ieder meisje inzijn klas een kaart.

[the girl]On Valentine's Day, he sends a postcardto every girl in his class.

Elk van and ieder van




Elk and ieder are rarely used independenty. If they are, they usually take the form elk van or

ieder van (each of, every one of).

Recall that elk and ieder are singular pronouns.

Ieder van hen moest zich legitimeren. Every one of them had to identifyhimself.

Ik heb het met elk van jullie besproken. I discussed it with each of you.

We generally use elk when we the group we refer to is relatively small. That is why you will

not often hear "ieder van mijn vier collega's".

Independent elk and ieder

We find independent elk and ieder in a few fixed expressions:

Ieder voor zich. "Each for oneself." [Each has to decide for oneself or has toserve one's own interests].

Voor elk (or ieder) wat wils. Something to each person's liking.

Predicative elk and ieder

Elk and ieder can also occur somewhere* after the noun they refer to. If they do, they

provide us with some extra information, which is not essential. This information could be

omitted.

De boeken hebben elk een unieke code. The books each have a unique code.

The pronoun serves to stress that by 'the books', we mean 'each individual book' . Without

'each', we could think that we only have one unique code for all books together.

De schilderijen hebben elk € 20.000 gekost. The paintings costed € 20,000 each.

De leerlingen hadden ieder een gedichtgeschreven.

The students each wrote a poem.

Without the pronouns, it could seem as if the paintings were bought for a total of € 20,000

together and that the students collectively wrote one poem.

Of course, we could also simply write: "Elk schilderij heeft € 20.000 gekost" and "Iedere

leerling had een gedicht geschreven."

(*) For the exact position in a sentence, see word order: miscellaneous box.




16/4/2016 Dutch Grammar • Iets & niets (something & nothing)


Iets & niets (something & nothing)


Iets and niets are used exactly like 'something' and 'nothing' in English. The only difference

is that the Dutch do not make a distinction between 'something' and 'anything'.

Iets and niets are singular pronouns.


iets singular something, anything

niets singular nothing

If we combine iets or niets with a preposition (met iets, voor niets), we can use a pronominal

adverb (see further below).

Iets [something] and niets [nothing]

Ik wil graag iets zeggen. I would like to say something.

Moeten we iets meenemen? Should we bring anything?

We hebben nog niets gedaan. We have not done anything yet.

Niets is onmogelijk. Nothing is impossible.

Pronominal adverbs ergens [somehwere] and nergens [nowhere]

Sometimes, we change the pronoun into an adverb when it is preceded by a preposition. For

example, instead of voor iets ('for something'), we can say ergens voor ('somewhere for').

We do not have to do this. We are perfectly allowed to write a preposition before iets or

niets. However, if we want, we can use the pronominal adverbs ergens (somewhere) instead

of iets (something) and nergens (nowhere) instead of niets. If we do this, the following

happens:

preposition + iets ergens + preposition

preposition + niets nergens + preposition

Note that (n)ergens is not attached to the preposition.




16/4/2016 Dutch Grammar • Iets & niets (something & nothing)


Dat deed me aan iets denken. That reminded me of something.

Dat deed me ergens aan denken.

Ze was voor niets bang. She was not afraid of anything. [She was afraid of nothing]Ze was nergens bang voor.

Iets and niets before adjectives

If iets or niets precedes an adjective, we add s to the end of the adjective.

Er is niets interessants op tv. There is nothing interesting on TV.

Er is niets anders. There is nothing else.

Kun jij iets beters bedenken? Can you think of anything better?

Er was iets vreemds aan hem. There was something strange about him.

16/4/2016 Dutch Grammar • Iemand & niemand (someone and noone)


Iemand & niemand (someone and noone)


The Dutch do not make a difference between 'someone' and 'anyone'. They are both called

iemand.

Iemand and niemand are singular pronouns.


iemand singular someone, anyone

niemand singular noone

Heb je het al aan iemand verteld? Did you already tell anyone?

Ik heb het al aan iemand verteld. I already told it to someone.

Nee, ik heb het nog aan niemand verteld. No, I did not tell anyone yet.

Niemand mag het weten. Noone is allowed to know.


16/4/2016 Dutch Grammar • Beide and allebei (both)

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Beide and allebei (both)


For the English word 'both', the Dutch can say beide(n) or allebei (de). As they always refer

to two things or persons, these are all plural pronouns.

Just like in English, these pronouns can be dependent, independent, or predicative.

Both


beide 1. Dependent (before a noun), e.g.'both men wore blue shirts'.

2. Independent (referring to things),e.g. 'both are listed as pollutedzones'.

both (of them)

beiden Independent (referring to persons),e.g. 'both have qualified for the nextround'.

both (of them)

allebei Predicative, as 'extra' information.

E.g. 'they have both qualified for thenext round' (persons) or 'they areboth listed as polluted zones' (things).

both (of them)

allebei de Dependent (before a noun), used inexactly the same way as dependentbeide (see first row).

both (of them)

The literal translation of 'both of them' would be 'beide(n) van hen'. In Dutch, it is rather

unusual to add van hen.

Neither


geen vanbeide

1. Dependent (before a noun), e.g.'neither (of them )wore blue shirts'.

2. Independent (referring to things),e.g. 'neither (of them) are listed aspolluted zones'.

neither (of them)

geen vanbeiden

Independent (referring to persons),e.g. 'neither (of them) have qualifiedfor the next round'.

neither (of them)

Beide before a noun (dependent)




When we place 'beide' before a noun, it never receives n at the end, regardless of whether

the noun refers to persons or things.

Het heeft op beide dagen geregend. It was raining (on) both days.

Beide collega's gaan in mei op vakantie. Both colleagues will go on holidays inMay.

Independent: Beide and beiden

When used independently, i.e. not placing it before a noun, we have to choose between beide

and beiden. We use beide for things, beiden for persons.

Beide staan in de uitverkoop. Both are on sale.

Beiden arriveerden te laat. Both arrived late.

In the first example, beide could refer to shoes, bicycles, or any other goods that could be on

sale. In the second example, beiden refers to persons.

Predicative allebei

We can also add 'both' as additional information about another pronoun. If we say "they are

both females", 'both' gives us extra information about 'they'. We could omit this information

as 'both' only serves to emphasize that 'all two of them' are females. We do the same in

Dutch.

Ik vind ze allebei even mooi. I think they are both equally beautiful.

Ze hebben allebei veel gevoel voor humor. They both have a good sense of humor.

In the examples above, we could easily omit allebei or 'both'. In the next examples, it is

necessary to use allebei.

Wie had er gelijk?Ze hadden allebei gelijk.

Who was right?They were 'both right.

Heb je de rode of de blauwe fiets gekocht?Ik heb ze allebei gekocht.

Did you buy the red or the blue bicycle?I bought them both.

We use allebei because we want to stress that it was not 'one of them' but 'both'.

Predicative allebei is sometimes placed at the beginning of the sentence if it is linked to the

subject. Although it may now look as if it is an independent pronoun, it really is not. It just

changed its position in the sentence. See also How flexible is a Dutch sentence?

To make it clear that in the example below, allebei is not an independent pronoun (subject,

in this case), the real subject (ze) is underlined.

Allebei hadden ze gelijk. They were 'both right.




Dependent allebei de

Before nouns, we often use allebei de instead of beide. To illustrate the interchangeability of

allebei de and dependent beide, I will use the same examples:

Het heeft op allebei de dagen geregend. It was raining (on) both days.

Allebei de collega's gaan in mei opvakantie.

Both colleagues will go on holidays inMay.

Instead of de, we can also combine allebei with a possessive pronoun:

Allebei hun restaurants ontvingen eenMichelinster.

Both of their restaurants received aMichelin star.

Allebei zijn ouders werken deeltijds. Both of his parents work part time.

Neither (of them): Geen van beide(n)

In Dutch, we do not have a word for 'neither'. We say geen van beide if it precedes a noun.

When used independently, we add n when referring to persons.

Geen van beide referring to things

Geen van beide films haalde de top tien. Neither of the films made it to the topten.

Geen van beide haalde de top tien. Neither (of them) made it to the top ten.

Geen van beide(n) referring to persons

Geen van beide collega's kwam opdagen. 'Neither of the colleagues showed up.

Geen van beiden kwam opdagen. Neither (of them) showed up.

16/4/2016 Dutch Grammar • Men


Men



men singular one

Men (one)

When the subject is not specific, we can use men (one). In Dutch, it is a rather formal form

but still a lot more common than its English equivalent 'one'. It goes without saying that

men is a singular pronoun.

Men kan aangetekende postpakketten ookbij het postkantoor afhalen.

One can also pick up registered mail atthe post office.

Bij het bezoeken van een moskee moet menzijn schoenen uitdoen.

When visiting a mosque, one has toremove one's shoes.

As you can see, the Dutch do not have a possessive pronoun for men. They simply use zijn

(his).

When 'they' is not clearly defined, the Dutch often use men. The Dutch can also use ze

(they). Both pronouns (men and ze) are equally correct. Men is only a bit more formal than

ze.

Draagt men in Nederland klompen? Do they wear wooden shoes in Holland?

Dragen ze in Nederlands klompen?

Men zegt dat de economie weer aantrekt. They say that the economy is recovering.

Ze zeggen dat de economie weer aantrekt.


16/4/2016 Dutch Grammar • Sommige (some, 'certain')


Sommige (some, 'certain')


The Dutch translation for 'some' and 'any' is sommige.

Dutch sommige is more limited in its application than English some. The Dutch use

sommige in the sense of 'certain', e.g "Some (certain) things never change."


sommige singularplural

some in the sense of'certain'

In English, we also use some to indicate that we are talking about a small amount (some, a

few), e.g. "I wrote some (a few) lines". In this case, the Dutch prefer 'enkele' or 'een paar' ('a

few'), which we will discuss in Small amounts.

We only use sommige before plural nouns or singular uncountable nouns.

Plural: sommige

Sommige dingen veranderen nooit. Some (certain) things never change.

Voor sommige tvkanalen moet je eensatellietschotel hebben.

For some (certain) tv channels, one musthave a satellite dish.

Ik had sommige mensen al eerder ontmoet. I had already met some (of the) peoplebefore.

Singular: sommig or sommige

We use sommig for hetwords, sommige for dewords.

[de straling]Sommige straling is schadelijk voor demens.

[the radiation]Certain types of radiation are harmful topeople.

[het werk] Voor sommig werk moet je handig zijn.

[the job]For certain jobs, one must be handy(motorically skilled).

Independent sommige(n)

Sommige can also be independent (i.e. not preceding a noun). We only do this when we refer

to plural nouns. When we refer to things, we write sommige, for people we add n:

Sommigen.



16/4/2016 Dutch Grammar • Sommige (some, 'certain')


In die boekhandel verkopen ze antiekeboeken. Sommige zijn zeer kostbaar.

In that bookshop, they sell antique books.Some (of them) are very valuable.

De studenten hadden hard voor hettentamen geleerd. Sommigen hadden dehele nacht doorgehaald.

The students had studied hard for thetest. Some (of them) had stayed up allnight.

16/4/2016 Dutch Grammar • Summarizing indefinite pronouns


Summarizing indefinite pronouns




alles Independent and singular everything

iedereen Independent and singular everyone, anyone

al Before articles and pronoun all

alle [1] Before plural nouns and beforeuncountable singular nouns.[2] Predicative (plural)

all

allen Only to refer to persons.[1] Independent (very formal)[2] Predicative

all, everyone

allemaal Predicative all

elk(e) Singular[1] Before singular nouns[2] Predicative[3] Independent

each

ieder(e) Singular[1] Before singular nouns[2] Predicative[3] Independent (formal)

every

Other indefinite pronouns


iets Independent and singular something

niets Independent and singular nothing

iemand Independent and singular someone, anyone

niemand Independent and singular noone

beide 1. Dependent (before a noun)2. Independent, referring to things

both (of them)

beiden Independent, referring to persons both (of them)

allebei Predicative both (of them)


16/4/2016 Dutch Grammar • Summarizing indefinite pronouns


allebei de Dependent (before a noun) both (of them)

geen van beide 1. Dependent (before a noun), 2. Independent, referring to things

neither (of them)

geen van beiden Independent, referring to persons neither (of them)

men Independent and singular one

sommig Before singular hetnouns some, certain

sommige [1] Before singular denouns[2] Before plural nouns[3] Independent, referring to things(plural)

some, certain

sommigen Independent, referring to persons(plural)

some

16/4/2016 Dutch Grammar • Indefinite numbers


Indefinite numbers


By indefinite number, we do not mean a huge, infinite number but a variable number. An

indefinite number does not give us a specific quantity but only a rough idea, e.g. many, some,

several, or a few.

On the following pages, we will discuss the most common indefinite numbers.

On the summary page, you can have a look at all of them at once.

The Dutch indefinite numbers can be a bit confusing as several of them also function as

adjectives. Where this is the case, we will discuss the adjectival form in a separate paragraph.



16/4/2016 Dutch Grammar • Small amounts


Small amounts


In Dutch, there are several ways to say 'a few'.

On one of the previous pages, you read about sommige or 'some' in English. The Dutch make

a distinction between some in the sense of 'certain' and some referring to a small quantity.

On this page, we will deal with 'quantitive some'.

The most common ways to say 'a few' are wat and een paar:


wat singularplural

some, a few

een paar plural some, a few

We can also use enkele(n) or enige(n) but this is a bit formal.


enkele(n) plural some, any

enige(n) singularplural

some

Wat and een paar

Wat and een paar both mean 'a few'. Wat also means 'what' and een paar literally means 'a

pair' but we can use them both as a translation for 'a few'.

Wat and een paar can refer to things as well as to persons;

We use wat and een paar before plural nouns. Wat can also be used before uncountable

singular nouns (meaning 'a bit');

Wat is considered colloquial.

Before plural nouns, we can use both een paar and wat:

Ik heb een paar mensen uitgenodigd.Ik heb wat mensen uitgenodigd.

I invited a few people.

Mag ik u een paar vragen stellen? Mag ik u wat vragen stellen?

May I ask you a few questions?

Before singular nouns, we can only use wat.





Heb je nog wat geld over? Do you have any money left?

Er was wat onduidelijkheid over detaakverdeling.

There was some unclarity about thedivision of tasks.

Instead of wat, you can also say enig(e), which is more formal: "Heb je nog enig geld over?",

or: "Er was enige onduidelijkheid over de taakverdeling."

Enkele

Enkele means 'a few'. As an adjective, it means 'single'.

Enkele can refer to things as well as to persons;

We use enkele before plural nouns;

Enkele is a bit formal. Een paar or wat are more common.

Hij is al voor enkele tentamens geslaagd. He already passed a few tests.

Ze heeft het al aan enkele mensen verteld. She already told it to a few people.

Enkele can also be independent (not preceding a noun). If it refers to things, we write

enkele, for persons we write enkelen.

In die boekhandel verkopen ze antiekeboeken'.Enkele zijn zeer kostbaar.

In that bookshop, they sell antique

books.

A few (of them) are very valuable.

De studenten hadden hard voor hettentamen geleerd.Enkelen hadden de hele nacht doorgehaald.

The students had studied hard for thetest.A few (of them) had stayed up all night.

Note that enkel can also function as an adjective (meaning 'single'). While the pronoun

enkele(n) can only refer to plural nouns, the adjective enkel(e) can also refer to single nouns.

Enige

As mentioned above, enige can be used as a more formal form of wat:

Enige can refer to things as well as to persons;

We use enige before singular and plural nouns;

[de onduidelijkheid] Er was enige onduidelijkheid over detaakverdeling.

[the unclarity]There was some unclarity about thedivision of tasks.

[het enthousiasme] Het plan werd met enig enthousiasmeontvangen.

[the enthusiasm]The idea was received with someenthusiasm

Enige is most common in questions, where it can be compared with English 'any'.



[het idee] Heb jij enig idee hoe laat het is?

[the idea]Do you have any idea what time it is?

[de overeenkomst] Zie jij enige overeenkomst?

[the similarity]Do you see any similarity?

[de kaarten]Zijn er nog enige kaarten over?

[the tickets]Are there any tickets left?

In the rare case that we use it independently (not preceding a noun), this pronoun behaves

the same as enkele. When referring to things, we write enige, for persons, we write enigen.

Enkele and enige as adjectives

The indefinite numbers enkele and enige can also be used as adjectives. In this case, enkele

means 'single' and enige means 'only'.

Ik kan geen enkele oplossing bedenken. I cannot think of a single solution.

Was dat de enige keer? Was that the only time?

16/4/2016 Dutch Grammar • Several


Several


In Dutch, we have three different words for 'several'.

Verschillende Several

Verscheidene

Diverse

Verschillende and diverse are also often used as adjectives (see below). As pronouns, they all

mean 'several'. They can refer to things and to persons.

The three are perfectly interchangeable. Verscheidene has a slightly formal sound.

Preceding a plural noun

De buren hebben er al verschillende kerenover geklaagd.

The neighbours already complained aboutit several times.

De buren hebben er al verscheidene kerenover geklaagd.

De buren hebben er al diverse keren overgeklaagd.

Independent

When they function as independent pronouns (not preceding a noun), they normally refer to

things. They can also refer to persons but this is very uncommon (in this case, we have to

n).

The independent pronouns verschillende, verscheidene, and diverse require er (see also er

in the sense of 'of it' or 'of them').

Heb je wel eens een vallende ster gezien?Ja, ik heb er al verschillende gezien.

Have you ever seen a falling star? Yes, Ihave already seen several of them.

As adjectives

As adjectives, verschillende means 'different' and diverse means 'diverse'. Verscheidene

means 'various' but is hardly ever used as an adjective.

We hebben veel verschillendenationaliteiten in onze klas.

We have many different nationalities inour class.

De flora en fauna op de Galapagoseilandenzijn zeer divers.

The flora and fauna on the GalapagosIslands are very diverse.



16/4/2016 Dutch Grammar • Several


16/4/2016 Dutch Grammar • Few and many


Few and many


The Dutch translation for 'few' is weinig, for 'many' and 'much', we say veel.

For the expression 'quite a few', we can use several translations. We will only discuss the

most common one: menig.

Dutch English

veel many (emphasizing the totalamount)

vele many (emphasizing the individualthings)

velen many people

weinig few

menig(e) many a ... [things and persons]

menigeen many a ... [persons]

Veel [much, many]

Where in English, we make a distinction between 'many' (before plural nouns) and 'much'

(before uncountable singular nouns), the Dutch always use veel. We use it before singular

and plural nouns.

Hij spreekt veel talen. He speaks many languages.

We hebben niet veel tijd. We do not have much time.

Vele (many)

We sometimes use vele instead of veel. This has nothing to do with the necessary inflection

(adding e) that is sometimes required before denouns. After all, we can use veel before het

nouns as well as denouns.

Vele has a different meaning. We use it if we want to emphasize the individual items rather

than the total amount.

Ik kan vele redenen noemen om het plandoor te zetten.

I can name many reasons to continuewith the plan.

Na vele onderhandelingen zijn ze tot eenovereenkomst gekomen.

After many negotiations they have cometo an agreement.




From the examples above, the difference with veel may not be immediately clear. It may be

easier to see when we look at an example where we cannot use vele:

Het meisje heeft veel sproeten. The girl has many freckles.

Not: Het meisje heeft vele sproeten. The girl has many (individual) freckles.

If we use vele, we are paying attention to the individual freckles rather than the total

amount. It is as if we are attributing unique qualities to each individual freckle. In the case of

the negotiations or the reasons (in the examples above), we assume that we are talking about

a collection of different negotiations and reasons.

Velen

Velen means 'many people'. It often but not necessarily follows after a sentence where the

group of people we want to refer to is more or less defined.

Werknemers hebben recht op minimaal 20vakantiedagen. Velen gaan met vakantie inde zomermaanden.

Employees are entitled to a minimum of20 holidays a year. Many (of them) go onholidays during the summer months.

Die professor was beroemd om zijncontroversiële colleges. Velen kunnen zichhem nog goed herinneren.

That professor was famous for hiscontroversial lectures. Many (people,students) can still remember him well.

Weinig

If we place weinig before a noun, it means little, a few, or a bit. We can place it before

singular and plural nouns.

We hebben weinig regen gehad deze lente. We have had little rain this spring.

Er waren slechts weinig mensen op hetstrand.

There were only (a) few people on thebeach.

We do not inflect weinig (it does not receive an e at the end) unless we place it between an

article and a noun.

De weinige momenten die ze samen hebbendoorgebracht.

The few moments that they spenttogether.

Het weinige daglicht was de oorzaak vanhun tekort aan vitamine D.

The little amount of daylight was thecause of their vitamine D deficiency.

Dependent menig and menige

We use menig to say 'quite a few'. Although menig refers to plural things or persons, we treat

it as a singular pronoun. The noun that follows after is, is also singular. You can compare the

use of mening with English 'many a man'.



We use menig before 'het'nouns, menige before 'de'nouns.

[de universiteit]Menige universiteit maakt zich zorgen overde bezuinigingen in het onderwijs.

Many a university is concerned about thebudgetcuts in education.

[[het succes]Menig succes was te danken aan het

goede onderwijssysteem.

Many successes ('many a succes') wasdue to the good educational system.

Independent menigeen

The independent form of menig is menigeen. We can only use this for persons.

Menigeen had twijfels over de kwaliteit. Many people ('many a man') had doubtsabout the quality.

Menigeen bleef tot het einde wachten. Many people ('many a man') waited untilthe end.

16/4/2016 Dutch Grammar • Summarizing indefinite numbers


Summarizing indefinite numbers



Wat Before plural and singular nouns some, a bit of, acouple of

Een paar Before plural nouns some, a couple of

Enkele(n) 1) Before plural nouns2) Independent, referring to pluralnouns

some, a few

Enige Before plural nouns some, a few

Verschillende Before plural nouns several

Verscheidene Before plural nouns several

Diverse Before plural nouns several

Menig Before singular nouns Quite a few("many a ...")

Menigeen Independent Quite a few people("Many a man")

Veel, vele 1) Before plural nouns2) Before singular uncountable nouns

Many

Velen Independent, referring to plural nouns(persons)

Many

Weinig 1) Before plural nouns2) Before singular uncountable nouns

Few

Weinigen Independent, referring to plural nouns(persons)

Few


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10 Pronombres indefinidos