7 Useful Words and Expressions When Dealing with a Dutch Doctor

Do you need to go to a Dutch doctor now and then? Chances are high that your doctor will speak English, but… if you like to speak with your doctor in Dutch, then here are 7 things that can help.

1. Just think of the healing arts

Dokter is the Dutch word for doctor; another word you will see a lot is arts. Arts is easy to remember; just think of the healing arts, and the word will be yours!

Once you have the word arts, you will see many combinations. Huisarts is not a doctor who will heal your house; it is the Dutch word for general practitioner.

Here are some other words that you will see and hear a lot. Tand is tooth and tandarts is dentist. Oog is eye and oogarts is ophthalmologist. You see the system, right? It seems that Dutch people like to keep things simple.

2. A Dutch doctor might enhance your cooking skills

In English, a doctor may give you a prescription, but… in Dutch, he or she will give you een recept. Een recept can mean two things…. One is a prescription, and… it could also be an instruction on how to make a great lasagna.

Although voorschrift would be the literal translation of prescription, in Dutch, it means more instruction on how to use it. Een voorschrift could be that you need to use it three times per day during a meal and that you should not drink alcohol.

3. A Dutch doctor will probably not give you a beer!

Pil is a pill in Dutch; this is very easy; just write it with one l. But… if you want to have more than 1 pil, then make sure that you do not say pils. Pils is beer in Dutch, and yes… sometimes it could also be a perfect medicine. The right way to say pills, however, is pillen.

4. Make sure that you do not come across as a junky…

If you speak English, it is quite normal to ask for some drugs. But… no matter how ill or sick you are, chances are high that your doctor or arts will not give it to you. Drugs in Dutch only refer to the real stuff, such as heroïne, cocaine and crystal meth. Een paracetamol would only be for your children.

Once again, drugs are illegal in Dutch, but if you like, you still can get them. Just make sure that you ask for pillen or medicijnen.

5. How to say what your problem is

Een dokter may ask wat is het probleem? This is easy to understand, of course. You may also hear: Wat is er aan de hand? and then it does not only refer to your hand, of course… It simply means: What is going on, or what is the matter?

Some other words you may hear are klacht, a complaint and last. Last is literally a burden. You may recognize this word from the Belastingdienst, the Dutch Tax Office, literally the burdening service.

You could say, for example, ik heb last van mijn knie, and then it means that your knee hurts. You can use this construction for many different things, for example, Ik heb last van hernia & Ik heb last van stress.

6. How to say that something hurts

If you like to say that something hurts, you can simply use ik heb last van and then, of course, it also means that it hurts. Otherwise, it would not be a burden, right?

If you like, you could also say: mijn knie doet pijn or ik heb pijn in mijn knie. Pijn is close enough to pain right and yes just like in English, pijn can be physical, emotional and even spiritual!

Zeer is also a word that you can use to describe that something hurts. You may have discovered that zeer means very, like zeer interessant or zeer essentieel and yet, it can also refer to anything that hurts as well.

That is why you can say: Au! Het doet zeer! and if de dokter asks doet het zeer? You can scream ja, het doet zeer, if needed.

7. Avoid the Paracetamol trap

A standard Dutch joke is that being een doctor is quite easy in the Netherlands. All you need to say is: ik geef u paracetamol, I’ll give you paracetamol and there might be some truth about it.

First of all, it seems that doctors in Holland are afraid of giving an overdose, and they only want to give you medicines if you really need them. In some other countries, doctors may quickly put you on penicillin, but it is also true that if you use it too much, this medicine can lose its effect. It seems that initially, Dutch doctors hope that if you take een paracetamol, everything will be solved without any further intervention.

Make sure, however, that you are assertive if you think that you do not get the attention that you deserve. If you already had some Paracetamol, you can simply tell your huisarts. You do not have to see your huisarts as the ultimate authority and follow him/her blindly, and yet it can be good to push your doctor gently if needed. You can do it very politely, certainly, if you suggest that you like to hear more specific advice.

Last but not least, if there is a favorite medicine in your country that you really like, it could be a good idea that buy it there. Somehow, it seems that Dutch doctors do not like strong medicines, and if there are certain medicines in your country that are quite effective for a flu, for example, it is always good that you can use them here in the Netherlands as well.

So now you know some useful Dutch words for visiting a Dutch doctor and… let’s end with the most important word: gezondheid! ezondheid is health, which is one of the most important things in life and… you can use it while toasting as well… Proost! Gezondheid! Santé!

When you are ready to go one step further, check out the Dutch Brainwash. This masterclass is a tried-and-true program that has the power to revolutionize your Dutch. Aside from tripling your vocabulary

Albert Both

Talencoach / Dutch Flow Now