Dutch family vocabulary
These are the Dutch words about family that come up most often in real speech, ranked by how often they appear in film and TV subtitles. Start with the first ones, such as vader (father), moeder (mother), zoon (son), because you will run into them on almost any page about the subject, and the rarer words make more sense once those are familiar.
Words in this list: 30
| # | Word | Pronunciation | Translation | Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | vader | /vadər/ | father | A1 |
| 2 | moeder | /ˈmu.dər/ | mother | A1 |
| 3 | zoon | /zoːn/ | son | A1 |
| 4 | familie | /faːˈmi.li/ | family | A1 |
| 5 | broer | /brur/ | brother | A1 |
| 6 | dochter | /ˈdɔx.tər/ | daughter | A1 |
| 7 | baby | /ˈbeːbi/ | baby | A1 |
| 8 | oom | /oːm/ | uncle | A2 |
| 9 | gezin | /ɣəˈzɪn/ | household | A2 |
| 10 | partner | /ˈpɑrt.nər/ | partner | A2 |
| 11 | oma | /ˈoː.maː/ | granny | A2 |
| 12 | zuster | /ˈzʏs.tər/ | sister | A2 |
| 13 | tante | /ˈtɑn.tə/ | aunt | A2 |
| 14 | opa | /ˈoː.paː/ | grandpa | A2 |
| 15 | ouder | /ˈɑu̯dər/ | parent | A2 |
| 16 | neef | /nef/ | nephew | A2 |
| 17 | echtgenoot | /ˈɛχtχəˌnoːt/ | husband | B1 |
| 18 | nicht | /nɪxt/ | niece | B1 |
| 19 | bruid | /brœy̯t/ | bride | B1 |
| 20 | grootvader | /ˈɣroːtˌfaːdər/ | grandfather | B2 |
| 21 | zusje | /ˈzʉs.jə/ | little sister | B2 |
| 22 | tweeling | /ˈtʋeː.lɪŋ/ | twin | B2 |
| 23 | pappa | /ˈpɑ.paː/ | dad | B2 |
| 24 | grootmoeder | /ˈɣroːtˌmu.dər/ | grandmother | B2 |
| 25 | kleinzoon | /ˈklɛi̯n.zoːn/ | grandson | B2 |
| 26 | echtgenote | /ˈɛxt.xəˌnoː.tə/ | missus | B2 |
| 27 | familielid | /faːˈmi.liˌlɪt/ | relative | C1 |
| 28 | kleindochter | /ˈklɛi̯nˌdɔx.tər/ | granddaughter | C1 |
| 29 | stiefvader | /ˈstiˌfaːdər/ | stepfather | C1 |
| 30 | zwager | /ˈzʋaː.ɣər/ | brother-in-law | C1 |
How to make these words stick
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Sources: translations and pronunciation from Wiktionary (wikdict, CC BY-SA 3.0) and ipa-dict (MIT), frequency from OpenSubtitles (FrequencyWords).