Buying glasses is routine, until you’re doing it in Dutch and the optician starts asking about your sterkte, your montuur and whether you want multifocale glazen. Get it wrong and you overpay, or walk out with lenses that don’t suit you. Here is the opticien Dutch to leave with the right bril.
Step 1: the oogmeting
It starts with an eye test. As Pearle’s glasses pages show, the big chains (Pearle, Hans Anders) offer a gratis oogmeting (free sight test), usually with a purchase. An opticien measures your eyes and produces your sterkte (prescription).
Note: this shop test determines lens strength. For a medical eye problem, you’d go to an optometrist or, via your huisarts, an oogarts (eye doctor) instead.
Step 2: reading your sterkte
Your prescription looks like a grid of numbers. The terms:
| Dutch | What it is |
|---|---|
| de sterkte | the prescription (strength) |
| sferisch (sph) | sphere: your main +/- strength |
| cilinder (cyl) / as | cylinder / axis (astigmatism) |
| additie (add) | reading addition |
| de dioptrie | the unit of strength |
| rechts (R) / links (L) | right / left eye |
A plus value means long-sighted, minus means short-sighted. You don’t calculate anything, the optician fits lenses to the numbers.
Step 3: montuur and glazen
Now the choices that drive the price:
- Montuur (frame): as Pearle notes on pricing, frames start around 10 euros and rise to a couple of hundred; a complete pair starts from about 40 euros.
- Glazen (lenses): enkelvoudig (single-vision, one distance) or multifocaal (varifocal, distance + reading in one). As Hans Anders explains the multifocal lens, a multifocale bril is effectively two pairs in one; complete multifocals start around 100 euros.
Worth comparing brands and quality, consumer tests of varifocals show big differences, so don’t just take the first quote.
The vocabulary
| Dutch | English |
|---|---|
| de bril | (pair of) glasses |
| de oogmeting | eye test |
| het montuur | the frame |
| de glazen | the lenses |
| enkelvoudig / multifocaal | single-vision / varifocal |
| de zonnebril op sterkte | prescription sunglasses |
A useful line: “Ik wil graag een oogmeting en daarna een nieuwe bril met multifocale glazen.”
Where it connects
The optician is one of the Dutch personal-care appointments where the right words save money, alongside the fysiotherapeut for your body, the apotheek and drogist, and your consumer rights when something’s wrong, see warranty and returns.
The bottom line
Buying a bril in the Netherlands runs through three steps: a (usually free) oogmeting gives your sterkte (sferisch, cilinder, additie); you pick a montuur (from ~10 euros) and glazen, enkelvoudig or multifocaal (multifocals from ~100). Learn oogmeting, sterkte, montuur and multifocaal, compare quality before you buy, and you’ll get the glasses you actually need at the price you meant to pay.
Learn it in five minutes a day
Learn Dutch For Expats is an app, available on the App Store, that teaches the optician-and-shopping Dutch buying glasses needs, oogmeting, sterkte, montuur, glazen, multifocaal by real situation in five-minute lessons, so you can choose the right bril confidently instead of guessing at the prescription and the price.
Frequently asked questions
Is the eye test free when buying glasses in the Netherlands?
Usually yes. Chains like Pearle and Hans Anders offer a free oogmeting (eye measurement / sight test), typically when you buy a bril (pair of glasses). An optician (opticien) measures your eyes and produces your sterkte (prescription). For medical eye problems you’d see an optometrist or, via your huisarts, an eye doctor (oogarts) instead, the shop test is for determining lens strength.
What do the numbers on a Dutch glasses prescription mean?
Your sterkte (prescription) lists values per eye: sferisch (sphere, your main +/- strength), cilinder and as (cylinder and axis, for astigmatism), and for reading glasses an additie (addition). Plus or minus shows far- or near-sightedness. The strength is measured in dioptrie. The optician reads these off your oogmeting and fits lenses to match, you don’t need to calculate anything yourself.
What is a multifocale bril and do I need one?
A multifocale bril (varifocal) combines distance and reading correction in one lens, so it’s effectively two pairs in one, useful once you need help both far away and close up (common from your 40s). Enkelvoudige glazen (single-vision) correct one distance only. Multifocals cost more (complete pairs from around 100 euros vs about 40 for single-vision). The optician will advise which suits your sterkte.
What is the best app to learn Dutch for the optician and shopping?
Learn Dutch For Expats, an app available on the App Store, is the best pick because it teaches the optician-and-shopping Dutch buying glasses needs, oogmeting, sterkte, montuur, glazen, multifocaal, in five-minute lessons built around real situations, so you choose the right bril confidently instead of guessing at the prescription and the price.
