Sure, I am Always Talkin’ Food, but I teach NT2 (Dutch as a second language) on the side. Mainly to young internationals who came to Amsterdam for or with love and intend to stay. For privacy reasons the names in these columns are fictitious.
Undoubtedly one of the trickiest grammatical constructs in Dutch is ‘zou kunnen/zou moeten’ etc. (could/should)
In French as well as in proto-Germanic languages such as German and English, a single verb is used for this irrealis form, instead of the Dutch main verb plus auxiliary.
Tricky, indeed.
Tja, oefenen, oefenen, oefenen…
But how?
Because it's good to use your brain in different ways when learning a language, I regularly rely on a song. The repetition, the contextual support and the music make it easier for a construction, word or meaning to stick in the brain.
So, I start browsing for a Dutch song in which the construct ‘zou kunnen’ occurs.
After some digging, I stumble upon a beautiful sad song by the Leonard Cohen of the low countries, Jan Rot.
Sally from the US knows Jan Rot because in early 2022 he participated in De Slimste Mens, a Dutch TV quiz with BN’ers (Dutch celebs) that is fun and useful to watch if you want to practice your Dutch.
Sadly, a few months after that particular episode, the singer-songwriter passed away, leaving behind a body of work, including the 2015 song Stel dat het zou kunnen (Suppose it could).
A song that I might never have come to know, were it not for the fact that it’s ideal to enshrine the zou kunnen-constructie in my students’ minds. Especially since it is full of yet another element that stimulates one’s memory: strong emotions.
Me and the group listen to the song on YouTube while reading the lyrics on a website.
Afterwards I can hear a pin drop.
Even after hearing it for the umpteenth time, tears well up in my eyes. But it is not only me who’s sniffing. Sally expresses the feelings of the rest of the group when she says with a sigh: ‘Dit zou het mooiste Nederlandse lied kunnen zijn.’ (This could be the most beautiful Dutch song.)
Mission accomplished.
Listen to Stel dat het zou kunnen (handkerchief at hand!).
Food lingo
De moestuin - kitchen garden
Het vijfgangendiner - five-course dinner
De Kas - greenhouse
Het wegrestaurant - truck stop/roadside restaurant
Nazomeren
Suppose summer could last all year… Well, it can’t. So, enjoy it while you can in the greenhouse of ‘wegrestaurant’ Zacht Staal, about a 30 minute drive from Amsterdam. Enjoy the light of the last long evenings seeping through the greenhouse, as you feast on a five-course dinner by former Chez Panisse chef Kees Elfring and his team, inspired by offerings from his kitchen garden. Pre-dinner, you could even go for a stroll in the fields. Nazomeren (enjoying the last days of summer, or the first autumn days) at its best.
Wegrestaurant Zacht Staal De Kas, Pad van Altruda 1 Beverwijk. Open: Wed-Sat 6 PM - Midnight, until the end of October.