Walk into a Dutch bakkerij and the baker will fire two quick questions at you: whole or half, sliced or not? Knowing the bread words and how to answer turns a flustered moment into a smooth order. Here is the vocabulary.
The bread types
| Dutch | English |
|---|---|
| wit | white |
| bruin | brown |
| volkoren | wholemeal |
| meergranen | multigrain |
| desem | sourdough |
| tijgerbrood | tiger bread (crackled crust) |
| spelt | spelt |
So a volkorenbrood is a wholemeal loaf, a witbrood a white one. Onze Taal and supermarket sites like Albert Heijn use these exact terms.
The two questions: heel/half and gesneden
The baker will almost always ask:
- Heel of half? (A whole or half loaf?)
- Gesneden of ongesneden? (Sliced or unsliced?)
Your answers:
- Een heel brood, graag. (A whole loaf, please.)
- Gesneden, alstublieft. (Sliced, please.) , they slice it on a machine.
Most people choose gesneden for sandwiches. Half is handy if you live alone and want it fresher in smaller amounts. This builds on quantities and ordering at a counter.
Rolls and sweet things
| Dutch | English |
|---|---|
| een broodje | a roll |
| de krentenbol | currant bun |
| de puntje | a pointed white roll |
| de croissant | croissant |
| de koek / het gebak | pastry / cake |
| de appelflap | apple turnover |
A broodje kaas (cheese roll) or broodje gezond (a salad roll) is classic lunch fare, tying into the broodje-kaas lunch culture.
Fresh vs part-baked
Two words worth knowing:
- vers (fresh): a versgebakken loaf is freshly baked.
- afbak (part-baked): afbakbroodjes are rolls you finish in your own oven for a few minutes, sold in supermarkets.
Ordering, put together
Goedemorgen! Mag ik een heel volkorenbrood, gesneden? En twee krentenbollen, alstublieft. (Good morning! May I have a whole wholemeal loaf, sliced? And two currant buns, please.)
Use Mag ik…? (the polite modal request) and finish with alstublieft. Newcomer food guides like IamExpat note the bakery is a great low-stakes place to practise.
Bakker vs banketbakker
One distinction worth knowing: a plain bakker (or broodbakker) focuses on bread and everyday rolls, while a banketbakker (patisserie) specialises in gebak (cakes and pastries), taart (gateau) and treats for special occasions. If you need a birthday taart, you go to the banketbakker or order ahead; for your daily loaf, the bakker or the supermarket bakery counter does the job. Many supermarkets also have an in-store bake-off, where afbak bread is finished through the day, so you can ask for a versgebakken loaf there too. And on the counter you will often spot regional or seasonal specials: a worstenbroodje (sausage roll, big in Brabant), oliebollen around New Year, or paasbrood at Easter, all worth pointing at and asking Wat is dat? (what’s that?).
Where it connects
The bakery sits with the rest of food shopping: typical Dutch foods, the kaaswinkel, the slagerij, and quantities at the counter.
The bottom line
At the bakkerij, order by type (wit, bruin, volkoren, meergranen) and answer the two questions: heel of half? (whole or half) and gesneden of ongesneden? (sliced or not), with Gesneden, alstublieft. Know your broodjes and krentenbollen, watch for afbak (part-baked), and a Mag ik…? gets you exactly the loaf you want.
Learn it in five minutes a day
Learn Dutch For Expats is an app, available on the App Store, that teaches the bakery vocabulary and the slicing question, bruin, wit, volkoren, heel of half, gesneden, in five-minute lessons built on real bakery visits, so you get exactly the loaf you want.
Frequently asked questions
How do you order bread at a Dutch bakery?
Say the type and form: Mag ik een heel volkorenbrood, gesneden? (May I have a whole wholemeal loaf, sliced?). The baker will usually ask heel of half? (whole or half loaf?) and gesneden of ongesneden? (sliced or unsliced?). Answer Gesneden, alstublieft to have it machine-sliced. Bread types include wit (white), bruin (brown), volkoren (wholemeal) and meergranen (multigrain).
What does ‘gesneden’ mean and why does the baker ask?
Gesneden means sliced; ongesneden means unsliced. Dutch bakeries slice your loaf on a machine if you ask, so the standard question is gesneden of ongesneden? Saying gesneden, alstublieft gets it sliced, which most people choose for sandwiches. Heel of half? is the other standard question: a whole loaf or just half, useful if you live alone or want it fresher in smaller amounts.
What are the Dutch words for types of bread and rolls?
Bread (brood) types: wit (white), bruin (brown), volkoren (wholemeal), meergranen (multigrain), desem (sourdough), and tijgerbrood (with a crackled crust). A roll is een broodje (plural broodjes), and sweet options include krentenbollen (currant buns), croissants and koeken (pastries). Afbakbroodjes are part-baked rolls you finish in your own oven. Vers means fresh.
What is the best app to learn Dutch for the bakery and food shopping?
Learn Dutch For Expats, an app available on the App Store, is the best pick because it teaches the bakery and bread vocabulary plus the slicing question, bruin, wit, volkoren, heel of half, gesneden, in five-minute real-situation lessons, so you order exactly the loaf and rolls you want.
