Days of the week and months in Dutch (plus dates and seasons)
Dutch days of the week, months and seasons, parts of the day, the right prepositions, how to say dates, and everyday expressions like overmorgen.
Making an appointment, booking a train ticket, telling someone when your birthday is: you need days, months and dates all the time. The Dutch words are close to the English ones, so they're quick to learn. The tricky parts are the small words around them — op maandag, in januari, 's avonds — and a few expressions English doesn't have, like overmorgen. This page covers all of it.
Days of the week
| Dutch | Short | English |
|---|---|---|
| maandag | ma | Monday |
| dinsdag | di | Tuesday |
| woensdag | wo | Wednesday |
| donderdag | do | Thursday |
| vrijdag | vr | Friday |
| zaterdag | za | Saturday |
| zondag | zo | Sunday |
| het weekend | the weekend |
Two important differences from English:
- Days are written in lowercase: maandag, not Maandag (unless it starts a sentence).
- The week starts on Monday in Dutch calendars.
The short forms are what you'll see on opening hours: ma–vr 9.00–17.30, za 10.00–17.00, zo gesloten (closed on Sunday).
Use op with a day; for one specific day you can also leave it out. With elke ("every"), don't use op:
- Ik werk op maandag en dinsdag. — I work on Monday and Tuesday.
- Op zaterdag ga ik naar de markt. — On Saturday I go to the market.
- Ik zie je vrijdag! — See you on Friday!
- Elke woensdag heb ik Nederlandse les. — Every Wednesday I have a Dutch lesson.
For the weekend, Dutch in the Netherlands uses in het weekend: Wat doe je in het weekend? — What are you doing at the weekend?
Months
| Dutch | English | Dutch | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| januari | January | juli | July |
| februari | February | augustus | August |
| maart | March | september | September |
| april | April | oktober | October |
| mei | May | november | November |
| juni | June | december | December |
Months are also lowercase. Use in for a month:
- Mijn verjaardag is in mei. — My birthday is in May.
- In augustus gaan we op vakantie. — In August we're going on holiday.
Watch out for juni and juli: they sound very similar. To avoid confusion, especially on the phone, many Dutch speakers pronounce juli as "julaai", rhyming with English "why". You'll hear it, but you don't need to copy it.
Seasons
| Dutch | English |
|---|---|
| de lente / het voorjaar | spring |
| de zomer | summer |
| de herfst / het najaar | autumn |
| de winter | winter |
Use in de with a season, or 's for "in (the) …" as a general habit with zomer and winter:
- In de zomer is het lang licht. — In summer it stays light for a long time.
- 's Winters fiets ik minder. — In winter I cycle less.
- In het voorjaar komt mijn moeder op bezoek. — In the spring my mother is coming to visit.
Parts of the day
| Noun | "In the …" (habit) | "This …" (today) | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| de ochtend / de morgen | 's ochtends / 's morgens | vanochtend / vanmorgen | morning |
| de middag | 's middags | vanmiddag | afternoon |
| de avond | 's avonds | vanavond | evening |
| de nacht | 's nachts | vannacht | night |
The 's forms mean "in the morning, in the evening" in general, often as a habit. The van- forms mean "this morning, this evening" — today.
- 's Ochtends drink ik koffie. — In the morning I drink coffee.
- Ik werk 's avonds niet. — I don't work in the evenings.
- Vanavond gaan we uit eten. — Tonight we're going out for dinner.
- Ik heb vannacht slecht geslapen. — I slept badly last night.
Note that vannacht can mean "last night" or "tonight" (the coming night); the tense makes it clear. And when 's starts a sentence, the next word gets the capital: 's Avonds.
You can combine days with parts of the day: maandagochtend (Monday morning), zaterdagavond (Saturday evening), morgenmiddag (tomorrow afternoon), gisteravond (yesterday evening).
Saying the date
In Dutch, the day comes before the month, and you use a normal number. Use op for "on" a date.
- Welke datum is het vandaag? — What's the date today?
- Het is 15 oktober. — It's the 15th of October.
- Ik ben op 3 mei jarig. — My birthday is on the 3rd of May.
- De cursus begint op 1 september. — The course starts on the 1st of September.
You say drie mei, vijftien oktober — no "the" and no "of". In more formal speech you'll also hear ordinal numbers: de derde mei.
Dates are written day first: 15-10-2026 or 15 oktober 2026. So 3-5 is the 3rd of May, not the 5th of March.
Years before 2000 are said in hundreds, like English: 1990 is negentienhonderdnegentig. Years from 2000 are said as a number: 2026 is tweeduizend zesentwintig. Use in for a year:
- Ik ben in 1995 geboren. — I was born in 1995.
- Ik ben geboren op 12 juni 1990. — I was born on the 12th of June 1990.
More on numbers in numbers and time.
Useful time expressions
| Dutch | English |
|---|---|
| vandaag | today |
| morgen | tomorrow |
| overmorgen | the day after tomorrow |
| gisteren | yesterday |
| eergisteren | the day before yesterday |
| deze week | this week |
| volgende week | next week |
| vorige week | last week |
| volgende maand | next month |
| vorige maand | last month |
| dit jaar | this year |
| volgend jaar | next year |
| vorig jaar | last year |
| over twee weken | in two weeks |
| twee dagen geleden | two days ago |
| elke dag / iedere dag | every day |
| doordeweeks | on weekdays |
Did you notice volgende week but volgend jaar? Week and maand are de words, jaar is a het word, and adjectives before a het word with no article lose the -e. The same goes for vorige week but vorig jaar. See adjective endings.
Also watch morgen: on its own it means "tomorrow", but de morgen is "the morning". Morgenochtend is "tomorrow morning", and vanmorgen is "this morning".
- Ik bel je overmorgen. — I'll call you the day after tomorrow.
- Ik ben twee dagen geleden aangekomen. — I arrived two days ago.
- Over een maand gaan we verhuizen. — We're moving in a month.
- Vorig jaar was ik in Spanje. — Last year I was in Spain.
Careful with over: over twee weken means "in two weeks' time", from now. For "within" or "it takes", use in: Ik doe het in twee uur. — I'll do it in two hours.
Quick summary
- Days and months are lowercase: maandag, januari.
- op + day or date (op maandag, op 3 mei); in + month, season or year (in januari, in de zomer, in 2026).
- 's ochtends, 's middags, 's avonds, 's nachts = in the morning/afternoon/evening/night; vanochtend, vanavond = this morning, this evening.
- Dates: day before month, normal numbers: 15 oktober.
- overmorgen and eergisteren are the day after tomorrow and the day before yesterday.
- volgende week but volgend jaar; over twee weken = in two weeks; twee dagen geleden = two days ago.
Practise it
Learn the calendar in Months, tell the time in Time, and describe your week in Daily routine. For more on om, op, in and sinds, read prepositions of time.