- Forum >
- Topic: Dutch >
- "Het restaurant is boven het …
19 Comments
Boven is simply above, like above ground Bovenaan is at the top, like at the top of a list Bovenop is on top, like on top of the table
So, can I take Bovenop as a physical description, while Bovenaan an abstract one? In the mean time, Boven is also physical however suggesting relative altitude?
You would for literal translations, but if I were talking to someone "above" and "on top of" would mean the exact same thing to me. So is this more about understanding what is being said, or being literal?
yeah can say op het hotel I mean it's the same thing but what if it was floating over the hotel or something like yeah
I interpreted it as the hotel and restaurant being in the same building and the restaurant upstairs. But to be fair, a restaurant downstairs seems more likely to me.
I get the impression the restaurant is uphill from the hotel. Nearby but separate from the hotel. I searched Google and could only find a handful of descriptions of something being "boven het hotel":
Het hotel is dicht bij Charles de Gaulle, de vliegroute is boven het hotel. This means the planes fly directly over the hotel.
Ons kantoor is boven het hotel. Here I get the impression that the office is not located in the hotel, but just up the hill from the hotel.
De bungalows zijn boven het hotel in een park. again uphill
OK. Well, I will defer to you on this one as you're more familiar with prepositions than I am. What preposition would you use for the sense upstairs?
That's a good question. 'Boven' can still indicate upstairs: het restaurant is boven, beneden is een loungebar met terras en eigen sfeer = the restaurant is upstairs; downstairs is a lounge bar with a terrace and its own private atmosphere
But not in the way it is used here, I don't think: Het restaurant is boven het hotel. The restaurant is above the hotel. I think this would indicate up from, uphill from, overlooking, something to that effect.
I think if a restaurant were in the upper part of a hotel, one would tend to use "op."
It would be "op de top verdieping" (on the top floor): Het restaurant bevindt zich op de top verdieping = The restaurant is located on the top floor
or "op de bovenste verdieping" (on the topmost level, which can indicate the roof or part of the rooftop structure):
Het panoramische terras op de bovenste verdieping van Hotel Kraft is voorzien van een daktuin, een zwembad en een restaurant = The panoramic terrace on the topmost level of Hotel Kraft is decked out with a roof garden, a swimming pool and a restaurant.
or "boven op het hotel" (on the top of the hotel, also indicating the roof or part of the rooftop structure): Er is een leuk restaurant boven op het hotel = There is a nice restaurant on the top of the hotel
That's not to say that part of the hotel could not be "boven" another part of the hotel:
het restaurant bevindt zich boven de centrale lobby en serveert authentieke gerechten uit Europa en Azië = the restaurant is located above the main lobby and serves authentic European and Asian dishes
het hotelgedeelte is boven het restaurant = the hotel part is above the restaurant
het penthouse is boven het restaurant = the penthouse is above the restaurant
Here are some more examples of upstairs:
hij bleef boven = he stayed upstairs
zij naam ons mee naar boven = she took us upstairs
ik vroeg haar mee naar boven te gaan = I asked her to come upstairs with me / I invited her upstairs
ik moet nog een aantal dingen verhuizen van de kelder naar boven = I still have a number of things in the basement that I need to move upstairs
What about 'over' in Dutch then? Doesn't it mean the same as boven and rather sounds more relevant?
I wanted to use Atop because I like the word and also it's fewer keystrokes. In the end, I didn't because, to be fair, Atop sounds a little stilted to me...unless you're writing poetry.
Personally, I would use 'zit' instead of 'ligt', but 'ligt' is accepted as well. ;)
