Character and personality
Karakter en persoonlijkheid
- Learn to describe the character of people.
- Talk about personalities.
- Negation
Learn to describe character and personality traits in Dutch at A1 level. This lesson covers positive and negative adjectives, simple negation, dialogues about colleagues and friends, verb conjugations, and a story for practice.
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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Understanding Character and Personality in Dutch
This lesson introduces you to describing character and personality traits in Dutch, focusing on forming positive and negative descriptions. You will learn basic adjectives commonly used to talk about people’s personalities, such as vriendelijk (friendly), eerlijk (honest), slim (smart), and their opposites like lui (lazy), verlegen (shy), and dom (stupid).
Key Topics Covered
- Positive and negative personality adjectives
- Constructing simple sentences with niet to express negation (e.g., Hij is niet lui – He is not lazy)
- Basic conversational dialogues describing colleagues, friends, and family
- Verb conjugation practice focusing on common verbs like ontmoeten (to meet) and zijn (to be)
- Grouping vocabulary by positive and negative traits
- A short story to contextualize personality descriptions and practice verb forms
Examples of phrases you will learn
- Mijn buurman is vriendelijk en niet verlegen. (My neighbor is friendly and not shy.)
- Hij is niet dom, maar slim en snel met zijn werk. (He is not stupid, but smart and fast with his work.)
- Zij is heel vriendelijk tegen iedereen. (She is very friendly to everyone.)
Practical learning focus
This lesson is ideal for beginner A1 learners who want to build confidence in talking about personality traits and form simple but useful sentences. By comparing positive and negative adjectives and practicing negation, you will gain helpful tools to describe people clearly and politely in Dutch.
Note on Dutch language structure and vocabulary
In Dutch, personality traits are often paired with negation words like niet to express the opposite meaning (e.g., niet verlegen = not shy). This differs from English where you might say "outgoing." The verb ontmoeten means "to meet" and is regularly conjugated, so it’s important to memorize its forms. Also, adjectives agree with gender and number less often than some other languages, making noun-adjective agreement simpler at this level. Common phrases such as Hoe is jouw collega? (How is your colleague?) are useful conversational starters. Learning both positive and negative words for character helps you speak naturally and understand descriptions in real-life situations.
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