Character and personality
Karakter en persoonlijkheid
- Learn to describe the character of people.
- Talk about personalities.
- Negation
Learn key Dutch adjectives to describe character and personality, such as eerlijk (honest), vriendelijk (friendly), and verlegen (shy). This lesson helps you talk about colleagues and friends with common positive and negative traits.
Listening & reading materials
Practice vocabulary in context with real materials.
Vocabulary (10) Share Copied!
Exercises Share Copied!
These exercises can be done together during conversation lessons or as homework.
Exercise 1: Reorder sentences
Instruction: Make correct sentences and translate.
Exercise 2: Match a word
Instruction: Match the translations
Exercise 3: Cluster the words
Instruction: Put the following words into the correct group: positive or negative character traits.
Positieve eigenschappen
Negatieve eigenschappen
Exercise 4: Translate and use in a sentence
Instruction: Pick a word, translated and use the word in a sentence or dialogue.
1
Verlegen
Shy
2
Dom
Stupid
3
Open
Open
4
Vriendelijk
Friendly
5
Eerlijk
Honest
Oefening 5: Conversation exercise
Instructie:
- Describe and compare the people. (Describe and compare the people. )
- Describe your own character. (Describe your own character.)
- Describe your family members and friends. (Describe your family members and friends.)
Teaching guidelines +/- 10 minutes
Example phrases:
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Juliette en Lukas zijn een liefdevol stel. Juliette and Lukas are an affectionate couple. |
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Raúl is de meest gesloten persoon. Hij is introvert. Raúl is the most closed person. He is introverted. |
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Caitlin is niet sportief; ze is de minst actieve persoon. Caitlin is not sporty; she is the least active person. |
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Hij is de luieste persoon. He is the most lazy person. |
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Ik lijk lui, maar ik ben actief. I seem lazy but I am active. |
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Ik kan verlegen zijn als ik de mensen niet ken. I can be shy if I do not know the people. |
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Hij is niet eerlijk. He is not honest. |
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Zij is erg vriendelijk maar niet erg slim. She is very friendly but not very smart. |
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Zij zijn intelligente studenten. They are intelligent students. |
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Ze zijn nogal dom, maar we zullen het hen niet vertellen. They are rather dumb, but we will not tell them. |
| ... |
Exercise 6: Dialogue Cards
Instruction: Select a situation and practice the conversation with your teacher or fellow students.
Exercise 7: Multiple Choice
Instruction: Choose the correct solution
1. Ik ______ mijn nieuwe collega morgen op kantoor.
(I ______ my new colleague tomorrow at the office.)2. Mijn collega is niet ______ en vriendelijk.
(My colleague is not ______ and friendly.)3. Ik vind hem geen ______ en open persoon.
(I don’t find him a ______ and open person.)4. Wij ______ niet graag met onvriendelijke mensen.
(We ______ don’t like working with unfriendly people.)Exercise 8: Meeting a new colleague and describing the character
Instruction:
Verb Tables
Ontmoeten - Meet
Onvoltooid tegenwoordige tijd (OTT)
- Ik ontmoet
- Jij ontmoet
- Hij/zij/het ontmoet
- Wij ontmoeten
- Jullie ontmoeten
- Zij ontmoeten
Zijn - To be
Onvoltooid tegenwoordige tijd (OTT)
- Ik ben
- Jij bent
- Hij/zij/het is
- Wij zijn
- Jullie zijn
- Zij zijn
Vinden - To find
Onvoltooid tegenwoordige tijd (OTT)
- Ik vind
- Jij vindt
- Hij/zij/het vindt
- Wij vinden
- Jullie vinden
- Zij vinden
Denken - To think
Onvoltooid tegenwoordige tijd (OTT)
- Ik denk
- Jij denkt
- Hij/zij/het denkt
- Wij denken
- Jullie denken
- Zij denken
Proberen - To try
Onvoltooid tegenwoordige tijd (OTT)
- Ik probeer
- Jij probeert
- Hij/zij/het probeert
- Wij proberen
- Jullie proberen
- Zij proberen
Weten - To know
Onvoltooid tegenwoordige tijd (OTT)
- Ik weet
- Jij weet
- Hij/zij/het weet
- Wij weten
- Jullie weten
- Zij weten
Exercise 9: Negatie
Instruction: Fill in the correct word.
Grammar: Negation
Show translation Show answersgeen, niet
Grammar Share Copied!
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Verb conjugation tables for this lesson Share Copied!
Ontmoeten to meet Share Copied!
Onvoltooid tegenwoordige tijd (OTT)
| Dutch | English |
|---|---|
| (ik) ontmoet | I meet |
| (jij) ontmoet / ontmoet | You meet |
| (hij/zij/het) ontmoet | he/she/it meets |
| (wij) ontmoeten | we meet |
| (jullie) ontmoeten | you meet |
| (zij) ontmoeten | they meet |
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Lesson Overview: Character and Personality
This lesson introduces basic vocabulary and expressions related to describing character and personality in Dutch at the A1 beginner level. You will learn how to talk about positive and negative personal traits, form simple sentences describing people, and understand related vocabulary.
Key Vocabulary: Positive and Negative Traits
It is important to recognize and use common adjectives to describe personality. Here are some examples from the lesson:
- Positive traits: eerlijk (honest), open (open), vriendelijk (friendly), slim (smart)
- Negative traits: dom (stupid), lui (lazy), verlegen (shy), onvriendelijk (unfriendly)
Sentence Structure: Negation and Coordination
You'll practice making sentences that describe characters using negation and connecting ideas with words like maar (but) and en (and). For example:
- "Hij is niet lui, hij werkt elke dag hard." (He is not lazy, he works hard every day.)
- "Zij is altijd eerlijk en vertelt de waarheid." (She is always honest and tells the truth.)
Practical Dialogues
Dialogues include everyday situations such as discussing colleagues, talking about friends, and meeting new neighbors. These conversations use simple questions and answers to describe personality traits and habits, helping you practice useful expressions in context.
Verb Focus: Present Tense Conjugations
The lesson features practice for present tense conjugation of important verbs like:
- ontmoeten (to meet)
- zijn (to be)
- vinden (to find)
- denken (to think)
- proberen (to try)
- weten (to know)
Integrated exercises help reinforce these verb forms within meaningful sentences about personality and meeting people.
Summary Story
A short story about meeting a new colleague brings together vocabulary and grammar from the lesson. It describes impressions of character using both positive and negative expressions and demonstrates sentence structure in context.
Language Note: Dutch vs. English Instructions
Since this lesson is taught in English, certain differences between Dutch and English are highlighted.
Word order and negation: Dutch often places negation words like niet after the subject but before adjectives or verbs it negates, e.g., "Hij is niet lui" (He is not lazy). In English negation placement is simpler, e.g., "He is not lazy."
Compound adjectives: Dutch can use multiple adjectives together, often linked directly or by connecting words: "open en slim" (open and smart). In English adjectives are similarly joined but agreement and order differ.
Useful phrases you will learn include:
- Hij is vriendelijk. – He is friendly.
- Zij is niet verlegen. – She is not shy.
- Ik ontmoet graag nieuwe mensen. – I like to meet new people.
- Mijn buurman is niet onvriendelijk. – My neighbor is not unfriendly.
These building blocks let you confidently describe personalities and engage in simple conversations in Dutch.
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