Contents · 8 sections
This is a word list for Dutch holidays. For each word you get de or het, the plural where it matters, and an example sentence. You will also find greetings to say on each holiday and the words that appear on work and school calendars. For the meaning and the traditions behind the days, read our guide to Dutch holidays and their meaning.
How to read the lists: the article comes first, then the word, then the plural in brackets. A word without a plural has none in everyday use.
Easter in Dutch: Pasen
Easter in Dutch is Pasen. It has no article: you say met Pasen (at Easter). The Easter weekend begins with Goede Vrijdag (Good Friday), but most people work that day. The Eerste en Tweede Paasdag (Easter Sunday and Easter Monday) are the public holidays. The date changes every year.
- het paasei (de paaseieren): Easter egg
- de paashaas (de paashazen): Easter bunny
- het paasontbijt: Easter breakfast
- het paasvuur (de paasvuren): Easter bonfire
- de paasstol (de paasstollen): sweet Easter bread with fruit and almond paste
- de kerkdienst (de kerkdiensten): church service
Met Pasen eten wij een paasontbijt. (At Easter we eat an Easter breakfast.)
Op Eerste Paasdag zijn de meeste winkels gesloten. (On Easter Sunday most shops are closed.)
Hemelvaart and Pinksteren: the Pentecost holiday in the Netherlands
Hemelvaartsdag (Ascension Day) is a Christian holiday. It falls 39 days after Easter Sunday, so it is always a donderdag (Thursday). Pinksteren (Pentecost) comes ten days later, on the fiftieth day counting Easter Sunday as day one. Like Pasen, it has no article.
The Pentecost holiday in the Netherlands has two days. Eerste Pinksterdag is Whit Sunday and Tweede Pinksterdag is Whit Monday. Hemelvaartsdag and both Pinksterdagen are official holidays; Tweede Pinksterdag is the one that falls on a working day. Our guide to Hemelvaart and Pinksteren shows the dates.
- de brugdag (de brugdagen): bridge day, a day off between a holiday and the weekend
- het weekend (de weekenden): weekend
- het Pinksterweekend: Pentecost weekend
- dauwtrappen: walking or cycling early in the morning on Hemelvaartsdag
Hemelvaartsdag valt altijd op een donderdag. (Ascension Day always falls on a Thursday.)
Veel mensen nemen de vrijdag erna vrij. (Many people take the Friday after it off.)
Koningsdag, 4 mei and 5 mei
- Koningsdag (King's Day): 27 April, the birthday of the King
- de vlag (de vlaggen): flag
- de vrijmarkt (de vrijmarkten): free market where people sell second-hand things
- de Dodenherdenking: the remembrance of the dead on 4 May
- de stilte: the silence
- de herdenking (de herdenkingen): remembrance
- Bevrijdingsdag (Liberation Day): 5 May
- de bevrijding: liberation
- de bezetting: occupation
Op 4 mei zijn we om acht uur twee minuten stil. (On 4 May we are silent for two minutes at eight o'clock.)
Op Koningsdag hangt overal de vlag uit. (On King's Day the flag hangs out everywhere.)
For the full story of these days, see Koningsdag and Bevrijdingsdag explained.
Sinterklaas, Sint Maarten, Kerst and Oud en Nieuw
- de schoen (de schoenen): shoe, set out for Sinterklaas
- het cadeau (de cadeaus): present
- het gedicht (de gedichten): poem
- de pepernoot (de pepernoten): small spiced Sinterklaas biscuit
- de lantaarn (de lantaarns): lantern for Sint Maarten
- de kerstboom (de kerstbomen): Christmas tree
- het kerstdiner: Christmas dinner
- Eerste en Tweede Kerstdag: Christmas Day and Boxing Day, 25 and 26 December
- de oliebol (de oliebollen): deep-fried dough ball for New Year's Eve
- het vuurwerk: fireworks
Kinderen zetten hun schoen voor Sinterklaas. (Children put out their shoe for Sinterklaas.)
Greetings for every holiday
Most greetings start with Fijne (happy, nice) or Prettige (pleasant). The answer is usually Jij ook! (You too!).
- Fijne feestdagen! Happy holidays!
- Vrolijk Pasen! or Fijne Pasen! Happy Easter!
- Fijn Pinksterweekend! Have a nice Pentecost weekend!
- Fijne Koningsdag! Happy King's Day!
- Prettige kerstdagen! or Fijne kerst! Merry Christmas!
- Een goed uiteinde! Have a good end of the year! People say this before 1 January.
- Gelukkig nieuwjaar! Happy New Year!
- Fijne vakantie! Have a nice holiday!
Work calendar words
Dutch law gives no general right to a day off on a public holiday. Your cao or contract decides. These words matter when you check your calendar:
- de cao (de cao's): collective labour agreement
- het arbeidscontract (de arbeidscontracten): employment contract
- de vrije dag (de vrije dagen): day off
- het lustrumjaar (de lustrumjaren): five-year anniversary year, when many cao's give a day off on 5 May
- de toeslag (de toeslagen): extra pay for working on a holiday
- gesloten and open: closed and open
- de dienstregeling (de dienstregelingen): timetable of trains and buses
- de huisartsenpost: out-of-hours GP service
Heb ik vrij op Tweede Pinksterdag? Dat staat in mijn arbeidscontract. (Am I off on Whit Monday? That is in my employment contract.)
See our cao guide and the overview of Dutch public holidays and days off.
School holiday words
- de schoolvakantie (de schoolvakanties): school holiday
- de herfstvakantie: autumn holiday in October
- de kerstvakantie: Christmas holiday
- de zomervakantie: summer holiday
Some school holidays differ per region: noord, midden and zuid. The herfstvakantie is one of them. In 2026 it ran from 10 to 18 October in the north and from 17 to 25 October in the middle and the south. The kerstvakantie is the same everywhere. This year it runs from 19 December 2026 to 3 January 2027. The autumn dates are advice from the Rijksoverheid, so schools may change them. The kerstvakantie dates are fixed for the whole country. Check your school's website.
Keep practising
Learn ten words a day and say the example sentences out loud. For parties and invitations, use the celebrations vocabulary. Then check your knowledge with the KNM practice questions.
Studying for the A2 exam? Practise every section in the real DUO format, with AI-scored writing and speaking.
Try the exam simulator →
