Collocations in Dutch

In Brief

A collocation is a combination of words that Dutch speakers conventionally use together. The meaning may be clear with a different word, but the result will sound unnatural: Dutch says een beslissing nemen (“make a decision”), not normally een beslissing maken. At C1, learning these preferred combinations is essential for writing and speaking precisely and naturally.

Overview

Collocations (collocaties) lie between freely created phrases and fixed idioms. In a free phrase, many words can be exchanged without making the result unusual: een groot, oud, mooi huis. In an idiom, the meaning cannot reliably be worked out from the individual words. A collocation is different: its overall meaning is usually transparent, but convention strongly favors one combination, such as hevige kritiek, een conclusie trekken, or aandacht besteden aan.

English and Dutch often package the same idea differently. English uses “make” in “make a decision,” while Dutch uses nemen. English “take measures” corresponds to Dutch maatregelen treffen, and “pay attention to” is often aandacht besteden aan. A word-for-word translation may therefore be understandable without being idiomatic.

This is a C1 topic because advanced learners generally know all the individual words already. The challenge is choosing the word that naturally accompanies another word and controlling the complete pattern—including articles, prepositions, number, and register. Collocations are not decorative extras: they are the normal building blocks of fluent Dutch.

How It Works

Learn a word together with its partners

A collocation has a base, the main word whose meaning you want to express, and a collocate, the word conventionally selected with it. In een besluit nemen, for example, besluit is the base and nemen is its usual verb. This terminology is only a learning aid; what matters is storing the whole phrase rather than two isolated words.

Many Dutch collocations follow a small number of patterns:

Pattern	Dutch example	Meaning
verb + noun	een beslissing nemen	make a decision
verb + noun + preposition	kritiek leveren op	criticize
adjective + noun	hevige regen	heavy rain
adverb + adjective	nauw verwant	closely related
noun + preposition	behoefte aan	need for
verb + adverb	ernstig twijfelen	have serious doubts

The noun often determines which verb is natural. Compare een beslissing nemen, maatregelen treffen, een conclusie trekken, and een bijdrage leveren. English may use one broad verb such as “make” or “take” across several of these expressions, but Dutch distributes the meanings across different verbs.

Support verbs: light meaning, strong preference

In many verb–noun collocations, the verb contributes little independent meaning. Such a verb is sometimes called a support verb (a verb that mainly supports the meaning carried by the noun). Common support verbs include doen, nemen, maken, geven, leveren, stellen, treffen, trekken, and brengen. They are not interchangeable.

Support verb	Frequent combinations	Typical idea
doen	een poging doen, onderzoek doen, zaken doen	perform an activity
nemen	een besluit nemen, verantwoordelijkheid nemen, afscheid nemen	undertake or assume something
treffen	maatregelen treffen, voorbereidingen treffen, een regeling treffen	arrange or put in place
leveren	kritiek leveren, een bijdrage leveren, bewijs leveren	provide or produce
stellen	een vraag stellen, eisen stellen, een diagnose stellen	formulate or establish
trekken	een conclusie trekken, aandacht trekken, profijt trekken uit	derive or draw
brengen	schade toebrengen, ter sprake brengen, in gevaar brengen	cause or move into a state

These groupings help you notice patterns, but they are not rules that generate every possible phrase. For example, onderzoek doen is standard, while een analyse maken and een analyse uitvoeren can both be natural in appropriate contexts. Usage, not the literal meaning of the verb alone, decides the combination.

The complete frame matters

A collocation can include more than two words. Learn its frame: the fixed or strongly preferred structure around it.

• kritiek leveren op iets of iemand
• aandacht besteden aan iets
• rekening houden met iets of iemand
• een beroep doen op iemand
• invloed uitoefenen op iets
• in aanmerking komen voor iets

The preposition is part of the expression. If the object is a person, Dutch may require a pronominal form in some structures; if it is a thing, words such as daarop, daarmee, and eraan often replace a preposition plus het. For example: We houden rekening met het weer becomes We houden er rekening mee. This builds directly on Dutch prepositional expressions.

Articles and number also belong to the phrase. Compare een beslissing nemen with afscheid nemen (normally no article), and maatregelen treffen (frequently plural) with een maatregel nemen (also possible, but less characteristic of formal set language than maatregelen treffen). Store the form you actually encounter.

Strength and flexibility

Not every collocation is equally fixed. Some allow almost no substitution: een vraag stellen is the neutral phrase, whereas een vraag zetten is wrong. Others allow alternatives with a difference in tone or viewpoint:

• een poging doen is neutral; een poging wagen presents the attempt as daring, uncertain, or difficult.
• een besluit nemen and een beslissing nemen overlap, though the surrounding context and preferred noun may differ.
• kritiek uiten op and kritiek leveren op are both standard; uiten emphasizes expressing criticism, while leveren is an established, often more formal combination.
• maatregelen nemen is also normal Dutch, especially in general usage; maatregelen treffen is particularly common in formal, administrative, and news language. The important warning is not that nemen is always impossible, but that treffen is a highly conventional choice in the target expression.

Collocational knowledge therefore includes knowing what is fixed, what varies, and what nuance an alternative creates.

Examples in Context

Dutch	English	Note
Na lang overleg heeft de directie een beslissing genomen.	After lengthy consultation, management made a decision.	Neutral verb–noun combination
De overheid moet snel maatregelen treffen om verdere schade te voorkomen.	The government must quickly take measures to prevent further damage.	Formal and administrative style
De oppositie leverde scherpe kritiek op het voorstel.	The opposition sharply criticized the proposal.	The frame includes op
Ondanks haar twijfels waagde ze een poging.	Despite her doubts, she made an attempt.	Wagen suggests uncertainty or courage
De onderzoekers trokken de conclusie dat meer gegevens nodig waren.	The researchers concluded that more data was needed.	Common in analytical writing
Kunt u hier even aandacht aan besteden?	Could you pay some attention to this?	The frame includes aan
Bij de planning moeten we rekening houden met vertragingen.	When planning, we must take delays into account.	A highly frequent fixed frame
Vrijwilligers leveren een belangrijke bijdrage aan het project.	Volunteers make an important contribution to the project.	Both verb and preposition are conventional
De rechter kon op basis van deze documenten geen bewijs leveren.	The judge could not provide evidence on the basis of these documents.	Bewijs leveren means provide proof
Tijdens de vergadering stelde zij een lastige vraag.	During the meeting, she asked a difficult question.	Dutch “sets” rather than “does” a question
De nieuwe wet kan grote gevolgen hebben voor kleine ondernemers.	The new law may have major consequences for small business owners.	Noun frame with voor
Het bedrijf heeft zijn excuses aangeboden en verantwoordelijkheid genomen.	The company apologized and took responsibility.	Common in public and professional language
Zijn opmerking bracht een gevoelig onderwerp ter sprake.	His remark brought up a sensitive subject.	Multiword collocation
De twee onderzoeken zijn nauw met elkaar verbonden.	The two studies are closely connected.	Adverb–adjective combination

Common Mistakes

Translating English “make” as maken

• Wrong: We moeten vandaag een beslissing maken.
• Right: We moeten vandaag een beslissing nemen.
• Why: English uses “make,” but standard Dutch selects nemen with beslissing. Learn the phrase as one unit.

Choosing a general verb instead of the conventional one

• Unnatural: De journalist gaf kritiek op het beleid.
• Natural: De journalist leverde kritiek op het beleid.
• Also natural: De journalist uitte kritiek op het beleid.
• Why: Geven is understandable here but is not the usual partner of kritiek. Leveren and uiten are established choices.

Dropping the required preposition

• Wrong: We moeten meer aandacht besteden dit probleem.
• Right: We moeten meer aandacht besteden aan dit probleem.
• Why: The full frame is aandacht besteden aan. The preposition cannot be predicted reliably from the English translation.

Treating every preferred combination as an absolute rule

• Too rigid: “Only maatregelen treffen is correct.”
• Better: Both maatregelen treffen and maatregelen nemen occur naturally; treffen is especially characteristic of formal contexts.
• Why: Collocations express preferences of usage, not always a simple correct–incorrect divide. Check authentic examples before rejecting an alternative.

Mixing two expressions

• Wrong: We moeten rekening besteden aan de kosten.
• Right: We moeten rekening houden met de kosten.
• Or: We moeten aandacht besteden aan de kosten.
• Why: This error blends two valid frames. Memorize each expression with its own verb and preposition.

Using the wrong article or number

• Wrong: Na tien jaar namen ze een afscheid van elkaar.
• Right: Na tien jaar namen ze afscheid van elkaar.
• Why: In the standard collocation afscheid nemen, afscheid normally has no article. Small grammar words are part of the stored expression.

Usage Notes

Formal Dutch makes extensive use of support-verb constructions. Reports, policy documents, academic texts, and news articles favor phrases such as maatregelen treffen, onderzoek verrichten, een beoordeling uitvoeren, and invloed uitoefenen. In everyday conversation, a simpler verb may be shorter and more direct: bekritiseren instead of kritiek leveren op, or helpen instead of hulp bieden. Both forms can be correct; the choice affects register.

Do not assume that the longer expression is always better Dutch. Overloading a sentence with formal collocations can make it bureaucratic: Wij zullen een evaluatie uitvoeren may be appropriate in a project plan, while Wij zullen dit evalueren is more concise. Advanced control means matching the expression to the situation, not merely choosing the most elaborate wording.

Adjectives and adverbs also reveal native-like preferences. Dutch commonly says hevige regen, een groot risico, diepe teleurstelling, zware kritiek, and nauw betrokken. Other modifiers may be grammatically possible but less typical. Corpora, edited news sources, and reliable dictionaries are useful because intuition based on English is not enough.

Variation exists across genres, regions, and individual speakers. A dictionary may label an expression formal, Belgian Dutch, or informal. Such labels matter more at C1 than a bare translation does. When two combinations are attested, compare their context rather than searching for one universal winner.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

Collocations as choices of perspective

Near-synonymous collocations can frame an event differently. Een poging doen simply reports an attempt; een poging wagen highlights risk. Kritiek uiten focuses on putting criticism into words; kritiek leveren presents criticism as an act or contribution to debate. Een probleem oplossen describes a successful result, while een probleem aanpakken describes beginning to deal with it and does not promise success.

This distinction is especially important in translation. The best Dutch equivalent depends on what the sentence is doing, not just on the dictionary meaning of one English word.

Grammatical transformations

A collocation can change form while retaining its lexical partnership:

• Active: De commissie nam een besluit.
• Passive: Er werd een besluit genomen.
• Nominal reference: Na het nemen van het besluit ontstond onrust.

The passive version is common in formal Dutch because it leaves the decision-maker unmentioned. The nominal version (het nemen van) is grammatical but can sound heavy if repeated. A good writer varies the sentence structure without breaking the collocation.

Separable verbs and pronominal adverbs may split the parts further apart. In We houden daar bij de planning rekening mee, daar ... mee refers to a thing and surrounds other material. Recognizing the underlying frame rekening houden met helps you understand such sentences even when its pieces are separated.

Creative variation depends on knowing the norm

Writers sometimes deliberately alter a familiar collocation for humor, emphasis, or a headline. Such variation works because readers recognize the expected phrase. Learners should first acquire the neutral combination; creative departures are effective only when they are clearly intentional.

Practice Tips

1. Build phrase cards, not word cards. Record een conclusie trekken uit iets with a complete sentence, not just conclusie = conclusion. Include the article and preposition.
2. Keep a collocation notebook by base word. Under aandacht, collect aandacht besteden aan, aandacht schenken aan, aandacht vragen voor, and aandacht trekken. Add a note about register or meaning where they differ.
3. Verify combinations in context. Search a reliable dictionary or a corpus for the complete phrase. Compare several authentic sentences and notice subject, article, preposition, and genre. Then rewrite one sentence for your own work or daily life.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Prepositional Expressions — reviews fixed combinations such as denken aan, trots op, and gebrek aan, which form part of many larger collocational frames.