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balen. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
balen, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
balen in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
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Dutch
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
From baal (“bale”) + -en or rather balen (“bales”), used in ironic expressions with tabak (“tobacco; something excellent”) to express frustration or annoyance; compare tabak hebben van. The reanalysis as a verb probably developed from phrases like het is balen (“it is frustrating”).
Verb
balen
- (intransitive) to be annoyed, frustrated or fed up
Niemand vond het erg dat de kelner de verkeerde aanspreektitel gebruikte, maar hij baalt wel van de vergissing.- Nobody minded that the waiter used the incorrect titel of address, but he certainly does resent his own mistake.
Dat de brug nu al weken kapot is, is balen.- It is so annoying that the bridge has been out of order for weeks.
Eerst kom je te laat en nu heb jij het cadeau vergeten? Ja, daar baal ik wel van!- First you showed up too late and now you forgot to bring the present? Yes, you bet I am fed up with that!
- (intransitive, Suriname) to be bored; to be mildly annoyed through having nothing to do
Hij baalde thuis dus hij ging buiten de stad om te gaan zwemmen.- He was bored at home, so he went out of town to go swimming.
Usage notes
Prepositional phrases with van are reserved for nominal and pronominal arguments, including dummy objects:
- Inwoners balen van de trage voortgang. ― Residents are annoyed by the slow-going progress.
- Haar baas baalt van jou. ― Her boss is fed up with you.
Dat and hoe are used for clauses; the adverb ervan may be used in the governing clause as a dummy object:
De ouders baalden ervan, dat de toetsuitslagen ongeldig verklaard werden.- The parents were annoyed that the test results were declared invalid.
Ik baal ervan, hoe je me steeds weer weet over te halen.- I am sick of how you manage to persuade me time and again.
Conjugation
Derived terms
Etymology 2
Gerund of the verb balen.
Interjection
balen
- (informal) too bad, that sucks
Etymology 3
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
Noun
balen
- plural of baal
Kapampangan
Etymology
Contraction of balayan (“place of houses”), from bale + -an. The final vowel "-e" morphs to "-ay" before suffixes. Compare Tagalog bayan.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /bəˈlen/
- Hyphenation: ba‧len
Noun
balén
- town
Derived terms
Spanish
Verb
balen
- inflection of balar:
- third-person plural present subjunctive
- third-person plural imperative
Swedish
Noun
balen
- definite singular of bal