How to write an email in Dutch: openings, closings and useful phrases
Write clear Dutch emails. Learn formal and informal openings and closings, key phrases, punctuation rules and two complete example emails.
Sooner or later you'll need to write an email in Dutch: to a landlord, a school, the gemeente (municipality), a new colleague or a friend. The good news is that Dutch emails follow a small set of fixed patterns. Once you know how to open, how to close and a handful of standard phrases, you can write a polite, natural email even with B1 Dutch. This guide shows you the patterns and gives you two complete examples.
Formal or informal?
Before you write a word, decide which register you need. The choice is the same as in speech: u for formal, je/jij for informal. Our post on formal and informal 'you' explains the details.
Use formal Dutch when you write to an organisation, a company, a government office, a landlord or someone you don't know. Use informal Dutch with friends, family and, in many Dutch workplaces, colleagues. Dutch working culture is fairly informal, so colleagues often switch to je quickly. A safe strategy: start formally, and follow the other person's lead when they reply.
How to open an email
| Opening | Register | When to use it |
|---|---|---|
| Geachte heer De Vries, | very formal | official letters and emails, a man whose surname you know |
| Geachte mevrouw Jansen, | very formal | the same, for a woman |
| Geachte heer, mevrouw, | very formal | you don't know who will read it |
| Beste heer De Vries, | polite, neutral | the most common choice in modern business email |
| Beste Anna, | neutral to friendly | colleagues, acquaintances, people you call by first name |
| Hoi Mark, / Hallo Mark, | informal | friends, family, close colleagues |
| Hallo allemaal, / Hoi allemaal, | informal | a group email |
A few notes:
- After Geachte you use the surname, never the first name. Geachte Anna sounds wrong.
- The prefix in a surname gets a capital letter when there's no first name or initial before it: Geachte heer Van Dijk, but Jan van Dijk.
- When you don't know the gender of the reader, you can write the full name: Geachte Sam de Boer, or Beste Sam de Boer,.
- Beste has become very common, even in fairly formal emails. If you're unsure, Beste + name is rarely a mistake.
Punctuation: comma, then a capital letter
In Dutch, you put a comma after the greeting and then start the email on a new line. Many English speakers expect the next word to be lowercase, but the Dutch convention is clear: the first sentence starts with a capital letter, because it's the start of a new paragraph.
Beste Anna,
Bedankt voor je bericht. — Dear Anna, Thanks for your message.
Leave an empty line between the greeting and the first sentence, and between paragraphs.
For the closing, write the closing phrase on its own line and your name on the next line. A comma after the closing phrase is optional; both styles are common.
How to close an email
| Closing | Register | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Met vriendelijke groet, | formal, standard | Kind regards |
| Met vriendelijke groeten, | formal | Kind regards |
| Hoogachtend, | very formal, old-fashioned | Yours faithfully |
| Hartelijke groet, | polite and warm | Warm regards |
| Groeten, | neutral, short | Regards |
| Groetjes, | informal | Bye / Love (friendly) |
| Liefs, | very informal | Love |
Met vriendelijke groet is the safe default for any formal email. Between colleagues you often see the abbreviation Mvg — fine with people you know, but don't use it in a first email to someone important. Groetjes and Liefs are for friends and family; Liefs is quite intimate, so don't use it with colleagues unless you're close.
Useful phrases
Starting the email
- Naar aanleiding van uw e-mail van 3 oktober wil ik u iets vragen. — Following your email of 3 October, I'd like to ask you something.
- Naar aanleiding van onze afspraak stuur ik u de gegevens. — Following our meeting, I'm sending you the details.
- Ik mail u over de vacature op uw website. — I'm emailing you about the vacancy on your website.
- Bedankt voor je snelle reactie. — Thanks for your quick reply.
The main message
- In de bijlage vindt u mijn cv. — Please find my CV attached.
- Ik wil graag een afspraak maken. — I would like to make an appointment.
- Zou u mij kunnen laten weten of dat mogelijk is? — Could you let me know whether that's possible?
- Helaas kan ik morgen niet aanwezig zijn. — Unfortunately I can't attend tomorrow.
Notice the word order in In de bijlage vindt u…: the sentence starts with In de bijlage, so the verb comes second and the subject u follows it. See Dutch word order if that still feels strange.
Ending the email
- Ik hoor graag van u. — I look forward to hearing from you.
- Alvast bedankt voor uw hulp. — Thanks in advance for your help.
- Als u nog vragen heeft, kunt u contact met mij opnemen. — If you have any questions, please contact me.
- Tot morgen! — See you tomorrow!
Alvast bedankt literally means "already thanks". It's very common and perfectly polite, even in formal emails.
Two example emails
A formal email
Here is an email to a landlord about a broken heater.
Onderwerp: Kapotte verwarming
Geachte heer Bakker,
Ik mail u omdat de verwarming in mijn appartement sinds zaterdag niet meer werkt. Het is erg koud in huis, vooral 's avonds.
Zou u zo snel mogelijk een monteur kunnen sturen? Ik ben deze week elke dag na vijf uur thuis. In de bijlage vindt u een foto van de ketel.
Alvast bedankt. Ik hoor graag van u.
Met vriendelijke groet,
Sara Ahmadi
Translation: Subject: Broken heating. Dear Mr Bakker, I'm emailing you because the heating in my flat has not been working since Saturday. It is very cold in the house, especially in the evening. Could you send an engineer as soon as possible? I'm home every day this week after five o'clock. Please find a photo of the boiler attached. Thanks in advance. I look forward to hearing from you. Kind regards, Sara Ahmadi
Notice how polite it is without being long: Zou u … kunnen …? is the classic polite request, and the closing phrases are standard.
An informal email
Here is an email to a friend about the weekend.
Hoi Mark,
Leuk dat je zaterdag naar Utrecht komt! Zullen we om twaalf uur afspreken bij het station? Dan kunnen we eerst ergens lunchen.
Neem je je fiets mee? Dan gaan we 's middags naar het park.
Laat maar even weten of dat goed is.
Groetjes,
Lisa
Translation: Hi Mark, Great that you're coming to Utrecht on Saturday! Shall we meet at the station at twelve? Then we can have lunch somewhere first. Are you bringing your bike? Then we'll go to the park in the afternoon. Just let me know if that's OK. Bye, Lisa
The informal email uses je, short sentences and the friendly particles maar even (see modal particles). For quick chat messages Dutch people go even further and use abbreviations — see Dutch texting abbreviations.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Mixing u and je in one email. Choose one and stick to it, including the possessives: uw with u, je/jouw with je.
- Writing Geachte + first name. Use Beste Anna instead.
- A lowercase letter after the greeting. In Dutch it's Beste Anna, / Bedankt voor…, with a capital B.
- Translating "Dear" as Lieve in formal email. Lieve is only for people you love: family, partners, close friends.
Quick summary
- Formal opening: Geachte heer/mevrouw + surname; neutral: Beste + name; informal: Hoi or Hallo.
- Put a comma after the greeting and start the first sentence on a new line with a capital letter.
- Formal closing: Met vriendelijke groet; warm: Hartelijke groet; informal: Groetjes.
- Key phrases: Naar aanleiding van…, In de bijlage vindt u…, Ik hoor graag van u, Alvast bedankt.
- Polite requests: Zou u … kunnen …?
- Pick u or je and stay consistent.
Practise it
Practise writing your own formal emails in Formal emails, then learn workplace vocabulary in Work and get ready for applications with Job interview.