Old case forms in Dutch: 's avonds, ten slotte, ter plaatse and more
Why Dutch says 's avonds, ten slotte, ter plaatse and een der beste. A guide to the leftovers of the old Dutch case system, with clear rules.
Modern Dutch has no cases. De man is de man, whether he's the subject or the object. But Dutch used to have cases, like German, and they didn't vanish without a trace. They froze into dozens of fixed expressions you'll meet every day: 's avonds, ten slotte, ter plaatse, een der beste, Annes fiets.
You don't need the old case system to use these words, but knowing where they come from makes them much easier to spell, to recognise and to stop mixing up.
The system in one table
Dutch articles once changed form by case, like German der, des, dem, den. These are the forms that survive:
| Old form | Old function | Survives in | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| des | genitive (of), masculine/neuter | 's + time words, fixed phrases | 's morgens, des te beter |
| der | genitive (of), feminine and plural | formal phrases | een der beste |
| den | dative/accusative, masculine | place names, ten | Den Haag, ten slotte |
| der | dative, feminine | ter | ter plaatse |
| -s | genitive ending on a noun | names | Annes fiets |
Apart from the -s on names (see below), none of these are productive any more: you can't build new ones, you just learn the existing ones as vocabulary.
's ochtends, 's avonds: time with 's
The 's in 's avonds is a shortened des: originally des avonds, "of the evening". The noun also gets a genitive -s. Together they mean "in the …" or "every …".
- 's ochtends / 's morgens — in the morning
- 's middags — in the afternoon
- 's avonds — in the evening
- 's nachts — at night
- 's zomers — in summer
- 's winters — in winter
- 's maandags — on Mondays
These usually describe a habit or a general fact:
- 's Ochtends drink ik koffie, 's avonds thee. — In the morning I drink coffee, in the evening tea.
- 's Winters is het hier vroeg donker. — In winter it gets dark early here.
- 's Nachts slaap ik slecht. — At night I sleep badly.
Some notes:
- Spring and autumn don't have a common 's form. Say in de lente and in de herfst.
- At the start of a sentence, the 's stays lowercase and the next word gets the capital: 's Avonds kook ik. More on that in capital letters.
The same 's appears in a few place names: 's-Hertogenbosch ("the duke's forest", usually called Den Bosch) and 's-Gravenhage (the official name of The Hague, "the count's hedge"). In place names the 's is followed by a hyphen.
Ten and ter: te + an old article
Two very common little words are fusions of the preposition te with an old dative article: ten = te + den (masculine and neuter), ter = te + der (feminine). Which one you use was once decided by the gender of the noun. Today it's fixed per expression, so learn each phrase as a whole.
Expressions with ten
| Expression | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| ten eerste, ten tweede | firstly, secondly | Ten eerste is het te duur. — Firstly, it's too expensive. |
| ten slotte | finally, lastly | Ten slotte wil ik iedereen bedanken. — Finally, I'd like to thank everyone. |
| ten minste | at least (minimum amount) | Je moet ten minste drie jaar ervaring hebben. — You need at least three years of experience. |
| ten opzichte van | compared to, in relation to | De prijzen zijn gestegen ten opzichte van vorig jaar. — Prices have risen compared to last year. |
| ten noorden/westen van | north/west of | Haarlem ligt ten westen van Amsterdam. — Haarlem lies west of Amsterdam. |
| ten koste van | at the expense of | Dat gaat ten koste van je gezondheid. — That comes at the expense of your health. |
Ten minste or tenminste? Ten slotte or tenslotte?
These pairs are a classic trap, even for native speakers. The spelling changes the meaning:
- ten minste (two words) = at least, in the sense of "a minimum of": Het duurt ten minste een uur. — It takes at least an hour.
- tenminste (one word) = at least, in the sense of "anyway, or rather" (a correction or restriction): Hij komt morgen, tenminste, dat zei hij. — He's coming tomorrow, at least that's what he said.
- ten slotte (two words) = finally, lastly: Ten slotte gingen we naar huis. — Finally we went home.
- tenslotte (one word) = after all: Je moet het hem vergeven, hij is tenslotte je broer. — You should forgive him, he is your brother after all.
Tip: if you can replace it with minimaal, write ten minste. If you can replace it with in ieder geval or althans, write tenminste. If you can replace it with uiteindelijk or als laatste, write ten slotte; if per slot van rekening fits, write tenslotte.
Expressions with ter
| Expression | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| ter plaatse | on the spot, on site | De politie was snel ter plaatse. — The police were quickly on the scene. |
| ter gelegenheid van | on the occasion of | Ter gelegenheid van zijn verjaardag geven we een feest. — On the occasion of his birthday we're throwing a party. |
| ter informatie (informal: ter info) | for your information | Ter info: de vergadering begint om tien uur. — FYI: the meeting starts at ten. |
| ter wereld | in the world | Hij is de snelste man ter wereld. — He is the fastest man in the world. |
| ter sprake komen | to come up (in conversation) | Dat onderwerp kwam niet ter sprake. — That subject didn't come up. |
| ter beschikking stellen | to make available | Het bedrijf stelt een auto ter beschikking. — The company provides a car. |
| ter vergelijking | for comparison | Ter vergelijking: vorig jaar waren het er twintig. — For comparison: last year there were twenty. |
Des, der and den in fixed phrases
des
Apart from 's avonds, you'll find des in a handful of fixed expressions:
- hoe eerder, des te beter — the sooner, the better
- Hoe meer je oefent, des te makkelijker het wordt. — The more you practise, the easier it gets.
Des te is written as two words. Des is also hidden inside some everyday one-word adverbs: desondanks (despite that), desnoods (if need be), destijds (at the time), desgewenst (if desired) and desalniettemin (nevertheless). Don't confuse des te with temeer (all the more), which is written as one word: Ik blijf thuis, temeer omdat het regent. — I'm staying home, all the more because it's raining.
der
Der is the old genitive for feminine and plural nouns. It sounds formal or literary today:
- een der beste spelers — one of the best players (everyday: een van de beste spelers)
- het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden — the Kingdom of the Netherlands
In your own writing, een van de is always fine. Use der only when you're quoting a fixed name.
den
Den lives on in place names (Den Haag, Den Helder, Den Bosch) and in a few formal phrases like in den lande (in the country) and heden ten dage (nowadays). You'll also see frozen case endings (-e, -en, -er) in expressions such as te allen tijde (at all times), te zijner tijd (in due course, abbreviated t.z.t.) and in koelen bloede (in cold blood).
The genitive -s with names
The one case ending still used freely is the possessive -s on names, a bit like English 's. The big difference: Dutch normally doesn't use an apostrophe.
- Pieters fiets — Pieter's bike
- Annes moeder — Anne's mother
- Jans auto — Jan's car
You only add an apostrophe when it's needed for pronunciation or the name already ends in an s-sound:
| Name ends in… | Rule | Example |
|---|---|---|
| consonant or unstressed -e | just -s | Pieters, Annes |
| long vowel a, i, o, u, y | 's (keeps the vowel long) | Anna's fiets, Otto's huis |
| s, x or z sound | apostrophe only | Kees' broer, Max' kamer |
This -s also works with some family words, especially in speech: vaders auto (dad's car), moeders verjaardag (mum's birthday). With other nouns, use van: de fiets van mijn buurman — my neighbour's bike. In spoken Dutch, you'll also hear Jan z'n fiets and Anne d'r fiets. They're informal; don't use them in writing.
Wiens and wier
Two more genitive forms survive in relative clauses: wiens and wier, both meaning "whose".
- wiens refers back to a masculine (or neuter) singular person: De man wiens auto gestolen is, belde de politie. — The man whose car was stolen called the police.
- wier refers back to a feminine singular person or to a plural: De vrouw wier zoon hier werkt, is arts. — The woman whose son works here is a doctor. De buren wier hond altijd blaft, gaan verhuizen. — The neighbours whose dog always barks are moving.
Both are formal and mostly written. In speech, Dutch speakers prefer van wie:
- De man van wie de auto gestolen is, belde de politie. — The man whose car was stolen called the police.
For things rather than people, use waarvan: het huis waarvan het dak lekt — the house whose roof leaks. See relative pronouns for the full picture. As a question word, wiens is rare; just ask Van wie is deze jas? — Whose coat is this?
Quick summary
- Dutch lost its cases, but many fixed expressions keep the old forms.
- 's ochtends, 's middags, 's avonds, 's nachts, 's zomers, 's winters come from des; they describe habits.
- ten = te + den, ter = te + der. Learn each expression whole: ten eerste, ten slotte, ten opzichte van, ter plaatse, ter info.
- ten minste = a minimum of; tenminste = or rather, anyway. ten slotte = finally; tenslotte = after all.
- des te is two words (hoe meer, des te beter); temeer is one.
- der (een der beste) is formal; een van de is the everyday version.
- Names take -s without an apostrophe (Annes fiets), except after long vowels (Anna's) and s-sounds (Kees').
- wiens/wier are formal; say van wie in speech.
Practise it
These forms are typical of formal Dutch, so meet them in context in Formal register. For how fixed words are built, see Word formation, and for wiens, wier and van wie, try Relative clauses.