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Introducing yourself in Dutch

A Dutch self-introduction is short and factual: your name, where you’re from, what you do, and one or two things you like. The single sentence that unlocks it all is Ik ben… or Ik heet… (“I’m… / My name is…”). This page gives you the phrases stage by stage, a full model introduction with a word-for-word gloss, and the questions that keep a first conversation moving.

Saying your name

Pronunciation hints below are rough English approximations; “kh” is the throaty Dutch g from the g-sound guide.

Where you’re from

Two verbs do the work: komen (“to come”) for your country of origin and wonen (“to live”) for where you live now. Dutch distinguishes them cleanly, so a common self-intro uses both.

Work and study

Hobbies and small extras

A model self-introduction

Here is a complete, natural introduction you can adapt by swapping in your own details. It stays deliberately simple — present tense, short sentences — which is exactly how a beginner should sound.

Notice the word order: after the time phrase In mijn vrije tijd the verb comes before the subject (hou ik, not ik hou). That inversion is the verb-second rule at work — the single most important pattern in Dutch, explained in word order. Ending on En jij? (“And you?”) hands the conversation back, which the Dutch appreciate.

Responding when you’re introduced

When someone introduces themselves to you, the expected reflex is to give your name and one warm phrase back:

Insgelijks (“likewise”) is the neat one-word answer to any “nice to meet you” and makes you sound at ease.

U or je? The choice that colours the whole introduction

Every question above comes in two forms: informal (hoe heet je?, waar woon je?) and formal (hoe heet u?, waar woont u?). Note the small grammar shift — with u the verb keeps its -t (u woont), while inverted je drops it (woon je). For a first meeting with a peer, a colleague or anyone roughly your age, je is now the Netherlands default and starting formal can even feel stiff. Reserve u for clearly older strangers, officials and formal business settings. In Flanders, lean to u a little longer with new acquaintances; Belgians also use gij/ge in casual speech, which sounds informal there but archaic in the Netherlands. The complete pronoun system is in Dutch pronouns.