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Business Dutch

Professional Dutch runs on a few fixed formulas. Master Geachte… to open a formal email and Met vriendelijke groet to close it, keep the formal u until invited otherwise, and you already sound competent. This page gives you the email openings and sign-offs, meeting and phone language — and an honest note on when Dutch offices simply switch to English.

Pronunciation hints are rough English approximations; the hard g is written “kh” (see the Dutch g guide).

Formal email: openings and sign-offs

Dutch business email is more formal on the page than the spoken culture would suggest. The opening salutation is Geachte (“esteemed”) plus title and surname when you don't know the person; Beste (“dear”, more neutral) once there's some familiarity. Match the sign-off to the opening.

Email body phrases

Meetings

Dutch meeting culture is famously flat and consensus-driven — the celebrated overleg (consultation) and the “polder model” of talking until everyone agrees. Junior people are expected to speak up, and disagreement is voiced openly and without ceremony (see Dutch directness). Useful meeting language:

On the phone

The Dutch answer the phone by stating their own name, not with “hello” — Met Anna de Vries (“[You're speaking] with Anna de Vries”). Callers do the same. A short phone script:

U or je? Getting the register right

Professional Dutch is the last real stronghold of the formal u. Default to u in a first email, with clients, with anyone senior, and on a cold call: Kunt u mij daarmee helpen? Inside many modern, especially tech and creative, companies the culture is je from day one, even to the boss — but let the other side set that. The switch is often made explicit: zeg maar je (“just use je”). Getting this wrong in the safe direction (too formal) costs nothing; the full system is in Dutch pronouns.

The English-at-work reality

Be honest with yourself about this: the Netherlands ranks among the strongest non-native English-speaking countries in the world, and in many offices — multinationals, startups, universities, anything with international staff — the working language is simply English. Your Dutch colleagues will often switch to English the moment they detect you're a learner, which is kind but frustrating for practice. Business Dutch still matters for internal-only firms, government, healthcare, law, client-facing roles, and for reading the contracts and HR emails that stay stubbornly in Dutch. A good tactic: ask explicitly, Mogen we Nederlands blijven praten? Ik wil het graag oefenen. (“Can we keep speaking Dutch? I'd like to practise.”)