Wednesday 23 May 2007

The -jes



I cant help but to notice this. we have a lot of things with -jes at the back of most words. the dutch adds the -jes to describe almost everything that is small or short.

For example:
Aidan's enjoying appletjes now (small apples). i cook them myself for his snack. i try to avoid giving him potjes (food from the bottles). but its good to have them when you're travelling. aidan's got a paddington beartje (small paddington bear) in his room and lots of other speeltjes (small toys). aidan sleeps with a knuffeldoekje (doudou). slightly later, when he's up from his slaapje (short nap), he will have his pompoenhapje (pumpkin small meal) as his lunch.

I'm currently sitting on a stoeltje (small stool). a while ago, ik heb twee zakjes of chinese tomaat soep (i had 2 packets of chinese tomato soup). my husband likes to eat his broodje (small bread) with balsamic oil, which i will prepare for part of his dinner later.

I still havent bought any cadautjes (small presents) for our UK trip, and i'm gathering ideas to do some bedanktjes (small thank you favors) for noreen and daniel's wedding!

All dutch will surely offer you een kopje thee or een kopje koffie (a small cup of tea or a small cup of coffie) when you visit them. alongside with their teas and coffies, they'd have a koekje (small biscuit), which are most of the time quite tasteful and nice! and once you're done with your teabags, you put them on this:



Talking about koekjes, aidan's tandje (tiny tooth) has come out and hopefully he'll taste his eerste koekje soon!

Since the sun's out and wether's been good, i think we need to buy a tafelje (small table) so that we can enjoy the zomer zon! perhaps we should go to ikea this weekend and have a look at the koopjes section (bargain buys).

And in case you havent noticed, look at our web address of this blog! :)

Oh, and earlier today, i used a couple of wattenstaafjes (cottonbuds) to clean my ears! he he..

(note: 'j' is pronounced as 'y')

Z

10 comments:

Theta said...

Zaza,
Actually I do not know the -je refers to small/short. I had my guesses, especially when I look at the title of your blog!
Thanks for enlightening me. ;-)
My family and I will be staying in Den Haag (I hope this will pan out!) from June 11-22 for hubby's course. As such, I do hope to get a taste of homegrown Malaysian food at the embassy! I've heard so much about this Kelantanese makcik who, according to third-party accounts, actually runs a small restaurant at her house! (Didn't know her name is Noriah)
Please do let me know the dates for this event. Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Hi za!
As u mentioned the dutch sllu ada jes to describe something short or small kan? Come to think of it perasan tak klu kita describe something kecik ke pendek kita pun unconciously sllu ckp 'kecik jer' or 'pendek jer' but not for panjang or besar kan? Only we use it as bahasa pasar.
Ok.....loves to the three of u. Bila gi umah kakak? Mak dah nak gi kan? Until next time......
KAK SHASHA

Theta said...

Hi Zaza,
Quick note. I just tagged you for a meme - the Layered Me. Hope you can take part....
Please hop by for further info. ;)
I gather your mom is coming? How nice.
Take care!

Theta

ZazaHardy said...

theta: the malaysian food fair will be on sat 9th june and sunday 10th june, starts at 12pm-6pm. at the embassy rustenburgweg 2, den haag. (behind the peace palace). hopefully k.noriah will sell her nasi kerabu and sate! she has a shop now, we went makan there after getting our passports at the embassy last feb.

you tagged me? aisey eliza@mas@theta, have to peel an onion too? haha :)

mum will come insyaallah soon, as soon as the house is sorted. best best!

k.shasha: you're right, come to think of it, we use jer instead of jes!! pandai nya diaa!
we'll be driving to kakak's on the 30th june. a 6 hour drive. she was hospitalized for a day hari tu, had strong contractions, but we believe it was more of food poisoning, she had blueberry juice!!

Z

Anonymous said...

Seeing that you'll have your car the next time you're here.....make sure you drop by Watford ek!

ZazaHardy said...

k.na, insyaallah we'll drop by and see the new mummy and the newborn!!! nak postcode nak masok kan dalam tomtom!

Z

Dilip Mutum said...

That's interesting. We are learning Dutch through your blog - a word at a time.

Theta said...

Thanks Zaza for the info.

How opportune! We are checking in to the course's hotel on Sunday, 10th June...so we'll definitely swing by the Embassy.

Else, we might go on Saturday if the weather's nice..it all depends if we're itching to get out of Delft!

If you're in the 'neighborhood' and happens to see me munching away at the buffet table, please don't be a stranger... ;)

Tita =)

Anonymous said...

thanks for the lesson! you make it sound so simple...

dear, i still tada mood nak kerja ni hehe... kalu buleh nak je amik 1 month off ;D

ZazaHardy said...

adam: now that you know a little bit of dutch, you have to come here and practise it! ;)

theta: we shall not miss the opportunity to meet you guys. we havent decided yet... but hopefully, we will be there (together with aidan's oma and opa!)

pengantin baru toughcookie: my dear, of course lepas kawin tak ada mood nak kerja!! and i'd say, TAKE 1 MONTH OFF!! amik! amik!!

Z