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[Jessica]

How do you say "to lie"?

[EmpanadaRica]

Originally Posted by Jessica

How do you say "to lie"?

Well interesting question That would depend if you mean 'to lie' as in telling a lie, or to lie, being horizontal on a bed for instance.

To lie (tell a lie) = liegen.
A lie = een leugen
A liar = een leugenaar (or if female: een leugenares)

To lie (being horizontal on a bed) = liggen


In fact it is interesting that you asked this because I have been thinking about this very verb (the latter that is, being horizontal. ) to mention here because it's an interesting verb in that in Dutch it is often used to express a rather specific kind of present continuous (i.e. the 'ing' form in verbs: dancing, walking, reading etc).

In Dutch we use the present continuous far less so than it would be used in English or even Spanish. In many cases we just use the indicative instead (I was walking the street minding my own business = Ik liep op straat, en deed mijn ding..' for example).

In fact if we do use the present continuous in Dutch there are two ways to express it. We do so :
1. if we want to explicitly say that we were in the middle of doing something when something suddenly happened
2. if we want to emphasize that something was lasting for quite a while (as in narrating an event or a story for example)

The first way to express the present continuous = 'aan het + infinitive'.
This is probably the most commonly used way of expressing it.

'I was cooking in the kitchen when suddenly the doorbell rang'
'Ik was in de keuken aan het koken toen de deurbel plotseling ging'.

'I was reading on the couch when my husband came home'.
'Ik was op de bank een boek aan het lezen toen mijn man thuiskwam'.

in fact the latter example might also be said in the second way of expressing the present continous in Dutch. We use the second one to give more emphasis to the duration or to narrate something with more 'spunk' () i.e. to spruce it up a little or to emphasize how long something was taking.
(I think the Dutch in spite of the natural down-to-earthedness and understated way of speaking have a secret flair and desire for drama.. )

For this we would use only a couple of verbs:
1. zitten ------ to sit / sentarse
2. staan ------ to stand/ to be standing -estar de pie
3. lopen ------ to walk /andar
4. liggen ------- to lie/tenderse- estar tendido
5. hangen ------ to hang/ pender

Of these the first 3 are by far the most used in these types of sentences.

You would use them for example like this:
'I had been waiting in waitingroom for hours when finally it was my turn..'
'Ik zat al uren te wachten in de wachtkamer toen ik eindelijk aan de beurt was'.

'I have been waiting outside for you for ages, where have you been..?'
'Ik sta al uren buiten op je te wachten, waar was je nou..??'

'I was thinking about it the whole afternoon, but then I decided just to do it..'
' Ik liep er de hele middag over na te denken, maar toen besloot ik het gewoon maar te doen'.


These verbs are used to express a certain kind of impatience or emotion in general, to emphasize the suddenness or the length/duration of the action and the contrast to something happening suddenly.

In fact the confusing bit (confusing to foreigners anyway, for us it's quite logical of course.. ) is that you can actually literally mean 'to sit' , to walk etc but this needs not be. I could be 'zitten te wachten' while impatiently pacing the room for instance... I would still say ' Ik zat te wachten' instead of 'ik liep te wachten' (although lopen literally means to walk).

'Ik liep na te denken' could mean I was walking and thinking, but it may also mean that I am sat down thinking deeply...

I guess what happens is that we use the verb that is intrinsically more suited to the action we want to emphasize, so as to stress this more.
The verb 'zitten' (to sit) is far more passive than the verb 'lopen' (to walk).
So when waiting, we want to stress that we were just sitting there (literally or figuratively) waiting and being passive and not able to actively do something about the situation which frustrated us....

Or when thinking, we want to stress that this is a very active process and we would be more likely to say something like 'Ik liep na te denken', to stress that we were very occupied actively thinking about all that was going though our minds...

You could also say ' ik lag na te denken' which is more likely used when you are actually lying down and more or less being pensive, reflecting on something more in a pensive and abstract way.

' Ik zat te denken' is another option but this would be used more if you are thinking about something concretely, as in overthinking something and getting back to someone on a certain issue. Like ' You know, I've been thinking...' , 'Weet je, ik zat er nog eens over na te denken...'

So I guess it all depends on how much activity you want to stress which of these 5 you would be using...

I hope this (probably more than.. ) answers your question Jessica? Please ask if anything is not clear.

[EmpanadaRica]

Hola a todos, Hi everyone, Hoi allemaal!

As everyone knows it's just been xmas and now we're heading towards New Years.

There is a traditional snack that we eat a lot in these days, leading up to newyears: de oliebol! (literally: 'oilball')
This snack has many fans, yet some people think it a bit greasy. This is because it's boiled in fat (i.e. 'gefrituurd'). However if you eat them fresh and warm, and prepared properly, they can be quite delicious imho.

They can be made with or without raisins (with are better imho) and should be topped with (lots of) powdersugar.



Here are some variations on this traditional New Years goody for you to try at home.
http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliebol

Another popular goody on Boxing Day and New Years is the socalled 'appelflap'.


If you want to 'try this at home' : here are some recipes. They are in Dutch however but if you want you can use this translation tool to help you out (it's not perfect but it helps. )
http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appelflap

Wishing everyone all the best for 2010!!!! Have a great one, and enjoy the festivities, wherever you are in this world with or without 'Dutch Treats' ..

By the way, some of you already know this, but I have started my own site for people who want to learn Dutch very recently. I've done so because I have made several friends who are learning Dutch, and there are not enough resources to help them I feel. Hopefully this way I can be of some assistance to them.
If you're curious or would like to know more about this language, feel free to pop in. It's a non-commercial site that will be run solely on volunteers much like tomisimo which in many ways inspired me to do it in fact. I will definitely mention this wonderful site and forum in the 'other languages' section creating a topic on Spanish, as this is a great way of learning I think. Thank you to all for inspiring me, and for showing me this great way to learn! Keep up the good work, everyone!!!! God bless and may you all have a very very good 2010, bringing you all you wish it to!!!!

[poli]

Oliebols are zeppoli in the New York metropolitan area. They are usually
available at street fairs like St Anthony's in June or San Gennaro in
September. THey never have anything a healthy as raisons in them. These are big local street fairs sponsored by the Catholic church but it is said that organized crime(Mafia/cosa nostra) has a hand in it as well.They put confectioner's sugar in a paper bag and shake the
freshly fried zeppoli in the bag coating the fried dough. I am not fond of these. I am sure that zéppoli mean zeppolins in Italian because they float to the top of the oil pot when they are done.

Appelflaps seem to have a equivalent in either apple fritters or fried apple
turnovers.

The only typical American New Year's food I could think of are black eyed peas and rice. This food is eaten supposedly for good luck. This custom comes from New Orleans and is not commonly practiced eaten a New Years elsewhere except in Cajun and New Orlean Creole-style restaurants.

En españa hay un costumbre de uvas. No estoy seguro, pero creo que
tiene que comer doce uvas en los ultimos momentos antes de las doce para buena suerte. Recuerdo que en Madrid en la noche de 31 de diciembre se encuentra un ejército de coreanos vendiendo pequeñas bolsas de doce uvas. Tambien dentro la area de la Plaza de Sol la policia requiere que la gente que lleve botellas de cava, envacia las botellas en
bolsas plásticas. Seguro para evitar peleas con borracheros
tirando botelllas. En Nueva York ni puede acercar Times Square con una
botella, y la policia chequea toda la gente que lleva bolsas. Bebidas alcólicas están estrictamente prohibidos afuera restaurantes y barras. Sin embargo miles de bobos enfrenten el frio y la presencia constante de policia para estar en la muchadumbre de Times Square mirando una bola bajar a las doce.

[EmpanadaRica]

Originally Posted by poli

Oliebols are zeppoli in the New York metropolitan area. They are usually
available at street fairs like St Anthony's in June or San Gennaro in
September. THey never have anything a healthy as raisons in them. These are big local street fairs sponsored by the Catholic church but it is said that organized crime(Mafia/cosa nostra) has a hand in it as well.They put confectioner's sugar in a paper bag and shake the
freshly fried zeppoli in the bag coating the fried dough. I am not fond of these. I am sure that zéppoli mean zeppolins in Italian because they float to the top of the oil pot when they are done.

Appelflaps seem to have a equivalent in either apple fritters or fried apple
turnovers.

Ahh that's amazing, never knew that!! lol yes the zeppelin story sounds very plausible indeed.

The only typical American New Year's food I could think of are black eyed peas and rice. This food is eaten supposedly for good luck. This custom comes from New Orleans and is not commonly practiced eaten a New Years elsewhere except in Cajun and New Orlean Creole-style restaurants.

Ahh the black eyed peas.. also a band I think? Never had them yet, are they any good?

En españa hay un costumbre de uvas. No estoy seguro, pero creo que
tiene que comer doce uvas en los ultimos momentos antes de las doce para buena suerte. Recuerdo que en Madrid en la noche de 31 de diciembre se encuentra un ejército de coreanos vendiendo pequeñas bolsas de doce uvas. Tambien dentro la area de la Plaza de Sol la policia requiere que la gente que lleve botellas de cava, envacia las botellas en
bolsas plásticas. Seguro para evitar peleas con borracheros
tirando botelllas.

Lol sí así es.. una amiga nos habia introducido de este costumbre por que acabó de terminar un 'stage' en España en este tiempo.. Estuvimos 8 amigos, todos comiendo uvas como locos .. for good luck.. I almost mis-swallowed and choked lol because you have to eat them apparantly as the clock strikes.

En Nueva York ni puede acercar Times Square con una
botella, y la policia chequea toda la gente que lleva bolsas. Bebidas alcólicas están estrictamente prohibidos afuera restaurantes y barras. Sin embargo miles de bobos enfrenten el frio y la presencia constante de policia para estar en la muchadumbre de Times Square mirando una bola bajar a las doce.

siiii... que barbaridad cuando se ve en la television.. me imagino que sea bastante caotico..

Happy New Year everyone! (Have an oliebol on me.. )