r/learndutch • u/Magicfanny123 • 4d ago

Nog VS meer?

So I just learned recently that nog can be and is the correct way of saying more in Dutch as in. Ik wil nog 3 eieren. I always thought meer was the word for more. So when then would you use meer instead of nog?

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u/IrrationalDesign 4d ago

Meer is almost always 'more', like 

Ik wil meer - I want more

Ik weet het niet meer - I don't know anymore

Nog often functions to add intent to a sentence without adding specific meaning. When used together with an adjective, it increases it like 'even' would ('meer - more' becomes 'nog meer - even more', 'harder - louder' becomes 'nog harder - even louder'). When used without adjective, it often refers to something following another thing (in time) 

Turning 'kom je?' into 'kom je nog?' adds impatience to 'are you coming?' 

Turning 'weet je dat?' into 'weet je dag nog?' changes 'do you know that?' into 'do you know that still/do you remember?' 

Turning 'moet dat ook' into 'moet dat ook nog' changes 'does that have to be done' into 'does that too have to be done still?' 

'Dat is zo' - that's the case, becomes 'dat is nog zo' - that's still the case. Just to confuse you further, this 'nog' is often turned into 'nogsteeds', which has a pretty direct translation in 'still'

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u/Magicfanny123 4d ago

Interesting my Dutch teacher told me that nog has many functions and most of them are the word “still” that I get but he also said that nog is used very often in asking for more like the example above or like saying “ik heb nog bloem nodig” I need more flower. He also said that nog steeds is more of en emphasis on the still like saying “I STILL need to go to the gym” “Ik moet nog steeds naar de sportschool”

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u/IrrationalDesign 4d ago

He also said that nog steeds is more of en emphasis on the still like saying “I STILL need to go to the gym” “Ik moet nog steeds naar de sportschool” 

Yeah, there is an emphasis, but that emphasis can be flexible too, from 'do we still have to do that? We did all those other things already' to 'oh shit, I completely forgot, we still have to pick up Jimmy' to 'if we really squeeze, I think we can still fit one more in there'. Lots of different stills.