hoe gaat het?
In Dutch, "how are you?" is said as hoe gaat het?
The phrase is a common greeting used to ask someone about their general well-being. You can respond to this question with Goed, dank je. (Good, thank you.) or Niet slecht, bedankt. (Not bad, thanks.).
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase hoe gaat het? literally translates to "how goes it?"
Which one should you use?
While hoe gaat het? is a general variation, you can use Hoe gaat het met jou? to be more specific by adding "with you" to the end. For a very shortened and colloquial way to ask the same thing, you can use Hoe is 't?
Did you know?
- While hoe gaat het? is standard, a very common colloquial response is lekker, which literally means 'tasty' but here means 'great'.
- In many Dutch social circles, answering hoe gaat het? with a detailed list of your problems is often seen as a mistake, as the phrase frequently functions as a polite social filler rather than a literal inquiry.
- The word het in this phrase evolved from a Middle Dutch contraction 't that was originally a version of dat before merging with the pronoun het.
Examples in context
- Hoe gaat het?How are you?
Example conversation
Levi and Julia meet briefly at a local coffee shop.
- LeviHoi Julia, hoe gaat het?Hi Julia, how are you?
- JuliaGoed, dank je! En met jou?Good, thank you! And with you?
- LeviOok goed, bedankt.Also good, thanks.
- JuliaFijn om je te zien!Nice to see you!
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries het, hoe, CC BY-SA 4.0.
