No. 600 in Dutch
zou
The Dutch word "zou" is the past tense of "zal" and translates to "would" in English, used for conditional or polite expressions.
In a sentence
Ik zou graag naar het concert gaan.
I would like to go to the concert.
The word 'zou' is used here to express a hypothetical wish or polite desire.
Hij zei dat hij zou komen, maar hij is er niet.
He said he would come, but he is not here.
'Zou' is used to indicate reported or indirect speech in the past.
Je zou het boek lezen, maar blijkbaar had je geen tijd.
You were supposed to read the book, but apparently you didn't have time.
The word 'zou' in this context is used to express an expectation or intention that was not fulfilled.
Hear it in real podcasts
The recording above is a synthetic voice. Hear how people say “zou” in actual Dutch podcasts.
Find “zou” in podcastsLearn it from shows you like
LangTurbo plays Dutch podcasts with a transcript and the English under every line. Tap a word like this one and it tells you what it means right there. For iPhone, iPad and Android.
Learning English?
LangTurbo plays real English podcasts with every line translated into Nederlands, and tells you what any word means in that sentence. For iPhone, iPad and Android.
Dutch books and courses on Amazon (an affiliate link: a purchase through it supports this site).