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fersalted
6 Jan 2015

  • Spanish (Spain)
  • English (US)
  • Dutch
  • French (France)
  • German
Question about Dutch

What is the difference between enkel and wat ?Feel free to just provide example sentences.

Wanneer gebruik je ze precies als je 'some' met een substantief wil zeggen?
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dutch-dmr
8 Jan 2015

  • Dutch

Enkel = "this only"
Wat = "something of this"

Victoria34
14 Jan 2015

  • Dutch
  • English (UK)
While both words have multiple grammatical functions and meanings, you are specifically referring to their use as cardinals. It makes sense to also take ‘een paar’ into account. I think the translations and functions are as following (keep in mind that my Spanish is limited, so I might make mistakes there): ENKEL(E) = 1. A few (Spanish: alguno(s)) - used with countable noun 2. Sole, single (Spanish: solo) - used with countable noun WAT = 1. A few (Spanish: algo) - used with plural form of countable noun 2. A bit (of), a little, some (Spanish: un poco) - used with non-countable noun EEN PAAR = A couple (of) (Spanish: unos) - used with countable noun Let’s look are some examples, using similar sentences. I hope this makes things clearer. It matters if the noun is countable or not. Cookies are countable, coffee is not (at least strictly speaking, I’ll get back to that later). With countable nouns, we can use ‘wat’, 'enkel(e)' or ‘een paar’ combined with the plural form of the noun to express ‘some’/’a few’. Hij at wat koekjes. (WAT-1) OR Hij at enkele koekjes. (ENKELE-1) OR Hij at een paar koekjes. He ate some/a few cookies. My guess is that ‘een paar’ is the most commonly used expression of the three. You cannot combine ‘wat’ or ‘een paar’ with the singular form of a countable noun (the * before the sentence indicates it is ungrammatical): * Hij at (een) wat koekje * Hij at een paar koekje However, this is possible with ‘enkel(e)’, but an article needs to be added (‘een’), and it is not clear whether he ate one or a few cookies: Hij at een enkel koekje. (ENKELE-1 or 2) He ate some cookies. OR He ate one (single) cookie. And if you use 'Ă©Ă©n' (one) instead of the 'een' (a(n)), it is clear that it is meaning 2: Hij at Ă©Ă©n enkel koekje. (ENKELE- 2) He ate one (single) cookie. When it comes to non-countable nouns, you can combine these with ‘wat’ to express ‘some’. Hij dronk wat koffie. (WAT- 2) He drank some coffee. Because 'koffie' is not a countable noun, the sentences below are not correct. I think sometimes people do use ‘coffee’ as a countable noun, but to me this doesn't sound right. So I would consider the following sentences ungrammatical, or certainly less correct, especially the ones using the plural form ‘koffies’: * Hij dronk wat koffies. (WAT-1) *Hij dronk enkele koffies. (ENKELE-1) *Hij dronk een paar koffies. *Hij dronk een enkele koffie. (ENKELE-1 or 2) (Actually, this sentence does work if you mean that he had a single coffee rather than a double one! But do not use it to express the concept of ‘some’/’a few’) *Na Ă©Ă©n enkele koffie kan ik al niet slapen. (ENKELE-2) By contrast, cups of coffee are countable, so when you use the cups as counters, it works like any countable noun: Hij dronk enkele kopjes koffie. (ENKELE-1) Hij dronk wat kopjes koffie. (WAT-1) (although this seems a bit unnatural as there’s the shorter ‘Hij dronk wat koffie’). Hij dronk een paar kopjes koffie. He drank a few cups of coffee. Hij dronk een enkel kopje koffie. (ENKELE-1 or 2) He drank a few cups of coffee OR He drank one (single) cup of coffee. Na Ă©Ă©n enkel kopje koffie kan ik al niet slapen. (ENKELE-2) After just one single cup of coffee I can't sleep.

While both words have multiple grammatical functions and meanings, you are specifically referring to their use as cardinals. It makes sense to also take ‘een paar’ into account.
I think the translations and functions are as following (keep in mind that my Spanish is limited, so I might make mistakes there):
ENKEL(E) =
1. A few (Spanish: alguno(s)) - used with countable noun
2. Sole, single (Spanish: solo) - used with countable noun
WAT =
1. A few (Spanish: algo) - used with plural form of countable noun
2. A bit (of), a little, some (Spanish: un poco) - used with non-countable noun
EEN PAAR =
A couple (of) (Spanish: unos) - used with countable noun

Let’s look are some examples, using similar sentences. I hope this makes things clearer. It matters if the noun is countable or not. Cookies are countable, coffee is not (at least strictly speaking, I’ll get back to that later).

With countable nouns, we can use ‘wat’, 'enkel(e)' or ‘een paar’ combined with the plural form of the noun to express ‘some’/’a few’.
Hij at wat koekjes. (WAT-1) OR Hij at enkele koekjes. (ENKELE-1) OR Hij at een paar koekjes.
He ate some/a few cookies.
My guess is that ‘een paar’ is the most commonly used expression of the three.
You cannot combine ‘wat’ or ‘een paar’ with the singular form of a countable noun (the * before the sentence indicates it is ungrammatical):
* Hij at (een) wat koekje
* Hij at een paar koekje
However, this is possible with ‘enkel(e)’, but an article needs to be added (‘een’), and it is not clear whether he ate one or a few cookies:
Hij at een enkel koekje. (ENKELE-1 or 2)
He ate some cookies. OR He ate one (single) cookie.
And if you use 'Ă©Ă©n' (one) instead of the 'een' (a(n)), it is clear that it is meaning 2:
Hij at Ă©Ă©n enkel koekje. (ENKELE- 2)
He ate one (single) cookie.

When it comes to non-countable nouns, you can combine these with ‘wat’ to express ‘some’.
Hij dronk wat koffie. (WAT- 2)
He drank some coffee.
Because 'koffie' is not a countable noun, the sentences below are not correct. I think sometimes people do use ‘coffee’ as a countable noun, but to me this doesn't sound right. So I would consider the following sentences ungrammatical, or certainly less correct, especially the ones using the plural form ‘koffies’:
* Hij dronk wat koffies. (WAT-1)
*Hij dronk enkele koffies. (ENKELE-1)
*Hij dronk een paar koffies.
*Hij dronk een enkele koffie. (ENKELE-1 or 2) (Actually, this sentence does work if you mean that he had a single coffee rather than a double one! But do not use it to express the concept of ‘some’/’a few’)
*Na Ă©Ă©n enkele koffie kan ik al niet slapen. (ENKELE-2)

By contrast, cups of coffee are countable, so when you use the cups as counters, it works like any countable noun:
Hij dronk enkele kopjes koffie. (ENKELE-1)
Hij dronk wat kopjes koffie. (WAT-1) (although this seems a bit unnatural as there’s the shorter ‘Hij dronk wat koffie’).
Hij dronk een paar kopjes koffie.
He drank a few cups of coffee.
Hij dronk een enkel kopje koffie. (ENKELE-1 or 2)
He drank a few cups of coffee OR He drank one (single) cup of coffee.
Na Ă©Ă©n enkel kopje koffie kan ik al niet slapen. (ENKELE-2)
After just one single cup of coffee I can't sleep.

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