Tap through 15 Dutch words sampled from A1 to B1 level. You'll get an instant estimate of your vocabulary size and CEFR level. Free, no signup, ~3 minutes.
How many words are there in Dutch? Around 400,000 are documented in the Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal, the largest dictionary in the world, and about 240,000 in the Dikke Van Dale. You need a tiny fraction of that: roughly 500 words covers A1 basics and about 4,000 puts you at B2 fluency. This test estimates how many you already know.
15 words · 2–3 minutes · be honest — only count words you could actually translate
Tip: use ← (don't know) and → (know) on a keyboard
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Roughly 500 words covers A1, 2,500 gets you to B1 independence, and about 4,000 frequency-ordered words is B2 fluency in Dutch. Counts are approximate and frequency-ordered, so the earliest thousands do most of the work.
| CEFR level | Dutch words needed | What you can actually do |
|---|---|---|
| A1 | ~500 | Greetings, basic needs, and simple set phrases |
| A2 | ~1,200 | Everyday topics, shopping, simple past and future |
| B1 | ~2,500 | Independent: travel, opinions, following the gist of media |
| B2 | ~4,000 | Fluent: follow news and film, hold real conversations, work in the language |
| C1 | ~8,000 | Nuance, idiom, and professional or academic use |
| C2 | ~16,000 | Near-native: subtle register, humour, and specialised vocabulary |
For the same numbers across every language, plus how many words each language actually contains, see the vocabulary size reference.
There is no single official count, but the reference points are striking: the historical Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal documents around 400,000 words (making it the largest dictionary in the world), while the modern Dikke Van Dale lists roughly 240,000. And because Dutch forms compounds freely — ziekenhuisparkeerplaats ("hospital parking lot") is a single word — the true total is effectively open-ended. For learners the practical numbers are far smaller: the 3,000 to 5,000 most frequent words cover the bulk of everyday Dutch, which is why frequency-ordered decks like our Dutch A1 Essentials are the fastest way in. For how word counts map to CEFR levels across languages, see how many words you need to speak a language.
Vocabulary research maps CEFR levels to approximate word counts: ~500 words for A1, ~1,200 for A2, ~2,500 for B1, ~4,000 for B2, and 6,000–8,000+ for C1/C2. The test shows you a random sample of words from each level's decks; the share you recognize at each level estimates how much of that level's vocabulary you own. Curious how we schedule reviews after the test? See the interactive forgetting-curve simulator.
A few of the Dutch words the test draws on at each level:
| A1 | hallo, dag, goedemorgen, goedemiddag |
| A2 | het gesprek, de mening, het idee, de afspraak |
| B1 | de carrière, het sollicitatiegesprek, het cv, de motivatiebrief |
The test samples words from CEFR-leveled decks (A1, A2, B1) and estimates your vocabulary size from how many you recognize at each level. It's a directional estimate, good for choosing where to start studying, not a certified assessment. Retaking it gives you a fresh random sample.
Take this free test: you tap through a sample of Dutch words from A1 to C2, marking each as known or unknown, and it estimates your total vocabulary size and CEFR level in about 3 minutes. No signup is needed, and you can retake it any time for a fresh sample.
Roughly 500 words covers A1 basics, 1,200 gets you to A2, 2,500 to B1 independence, 4,000 to B2 fluency in most conversations, and 6,000 to 8,000+ to C1/C2 mastery. Frequency matters more than raw count; the most common words do most of the work.
An educated native speaker typically knows tens of thousands of words, but you need far fewer to communicate well. Around 3,000 to 5,000 well-chosen words cover most everyday conversation, which is why frequency-based study is so efficient.
Start studying at the level where you stopped recognizing words. All our Dutch decks are free, so copy one to your library and review with FSRS spaced repetition, which schedules each word right before you'd forget it.
The Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal, the largest dictionary in the world, documents around 400,000 Dutch words, and the current Dikke Van Dale lists roughly 240,000 entries. There is no fixed total, because Dutch builds new compound words freely (ziekenhuisparkeerplaats, "hospital parking lot", is one word). In practice the number that matters is much smaller: an educated native speaker knows tens of thousands of words, and a few thousand well-chosen ones cover most everyday Dutch.
Educated native Dutch speakers know tens of thousands of words, but learners need far fewer to function: about 500 words covers A1 basics, 1,200 reaches A2, 2,500 gives you B1 independence, and around 4,000 frequency-ordered words puts you at B2, where you can follow Dutch TV and hold real conversations. This test estimates where you currently sit on that scale.
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