Inburgering word list: is there one, and what to learn

By A.I. SoftwarePublished October 31, 2026How we research

Short answer

There is no official word list for the A2 inburgering exams: DUO publishes practice exams but no vocabulary list (checked 2026-10-31). For B1, the CvTE names A Frequency Dictionary of Dutch plus a short supplementary list as the word source. Without a list, learn high-frequency words first, then the words of the exam themes: municipality, housing, work, health and school. This page gives a themed starter list of about 130 words with de or het. PolyYapp follows no exam list: it teaches about 3,900 curated Dutch words (as of October 2026) in random order.

Key points

DUO publishes no vocabulary list for the A2 inburgering exams. Its free A2 practice exams on inburgeren.nl are the closest thing to an official guide to the words that come up.
For the B1 Staatsexamen Nt2 (Programme I), the CvTE's supplementary word list says tasks use only words from the Core and General lists of A Frequency Dictionary of Dutch plus its own list of just under 300 words; its main exam page says most words come from them.
Learn high-frequency words first, then the words of the exam themes: the gemeente, housing, work, health and school.
Learn every Dutch noun with its article (de or het); there is no rule that covers every noun.
The B1 and B2 Listening exams allow no dictionary, so train recognising each word by ear, not only on paper.
PolyYapp has no inburgering list, no themes and no exam mode. You can search its dictionary for the words below and add them to your own review list.

The exam facts on this page were checked on 31 October 2026 against inburgeren.nl (DUO), staatsexamensnt2.nl and the Besluit inburgering 2021 on wetten.overheid.nl. The article (de or het) of every noun in the word list was checked the same day against the Woordenlijst Nederlandse Taal at woordenlijst.org.

Is there an official word list for the inburgering exam?

There is no official inburgering word list for the A2 exams. DUO, which runs the inburgering exams, publishes free A2 practice exams for Writing, Speaking, Listening, Reading and Knowledge of Dutch Society (KNM) on inburgeren.nl, plus the exam regulations, and neither page links to a vocabulary list. A search of inburgeren.nl found none either (checked 2026-10-31).

One document there is called “Woordenlijst”, which is why people go looking. It belongs to the ONA exam (Orientation on the Dutch Labour Market) and explains the terms used on the ONA result cards, words such as arbeidsmarkt (labour market) and beroep (occupation), each with an example sentence. It is a glossary for that portfolio, not a list of words that the Reading or Listening exam draws on.

The B1 and B2 language exams are different, and the next section covers them.

Which words does the B1 exam use?

The B1 language exam has a published vocabulary basis. inburgeren.nl notes that the language exams at B1 and B2 are also known as the Staatsexamen Nt2 (Dutch as a second language state exam), and the Besluit inburgering 2021 (article 3.5) says the B1 language exam follows the state exam’s rules. A list published on staatsexamensnt2.nl by the College voor Toetsen en Examens (CvTE) says:

The exam uses the word lists of A Frequency Dictionary of Dutch (Tiberius and Schoonheim, 2013), a dictionary for learners of the 5,000 most used Dutch words, sorted into six lists: Core, Fiction, Newspapers, Spoken, Web and General.
Programme I (B1) tasks contain only words from the Core and General lists.
Programme II (B2) tasks can use words from all six lists, so the whole 5,000-word dictionary.
The CvTE adds a supplementary list of its own, just under 300 entries, whose words can also appear in both programmes. It includes gemeente, burgemeester, boete, handtekening, bankrekening, pinpas, rijbewijs, afzeggen and inschrijven.

The dictionary’s authors describe Core as the words that are frequent in all four of their genres (fiction, newspapers, spoken Dutch and the web) and General as the next band, frequent in at least three; the other four lists hold words that are frequent in one genre. The dictionary itself is a book in the Routledge Frequency Dictionaries series, according to the same authors; the CvTE publishes only its own supplementary list.

The CvTE’s main exam page, “Wat is het Staatsexamen Nt2?”, words this more loosely than the supplementary list does. It says most words in Programme I come from the Core and General lists or the supplementary list, and most words in Programme II come from the dictionary or the supplementary list. The two CvTE documents disagree on “only” against “most”, so read the lists as the exam’s word base rather than a hard limit.

The CvTE also says, in its answers to candidates’ questions, that some words in the exams are not in the permitted dictionary, that exam texts are written so that the meaning of a likely unknown word can be worked out from the text or is not needed for the answer, and that you do not need to know every word in an exam to answer the questions.

This table sets the four exams side by side. Only the B1 and B2 exams name a word source; the A2 language exams and KNM do not.

Exam	Published word source
A2 language exams (DUO): Reading, Listening, Speaking, Writing	None found on inburgeren.nl (checked 2026-10-31)
B1 Staatsexamen Nt2, Programme I	Core and General lists of A Frequency Dictionary of Dutch, plus the CvTE supplementary list (“only” in the list, “most words” on the CvTE’s main exam page)
B2 Staatsexamen Nt2, Programme II	Words from all six lists of A Frequency Dictionary of Dutch (the whole dictionary), plus the CvTE supplementary list (“only” in the list, “most words” on the main exam page)
Knowledge of Dutch Society (KNM)	No word list; the Besluit inburgering 2021 names eight subjects instead

Which level applies to you depends on when your obligation started and on your personal plan; the guide inburgering: A2 or B1? explains how to check, and the Staatsexamen Nt2 or inburgeringsexamen guide covers the exam rules, including the one dictionary allowed at B1 and B2.

Which Dutch words help most for Reading and Listening?

Two layers of vocabulary help most: the high-frequency everyday words every text is built from, and the words of the situations the exams keep returning to. Frequency comes first because the small words (omdat, maar, als, niet) appear in almost any text, whatever its subject, and the B1 word base is itself drawn from a frequency dictionary. The guide to the most common Dutch words covers that first layer.

The second layer is themed. The official sources name the situations:

KNM subjects. Article 3.4 of the Besluit inburgering 2021 lists eight: werk en inkomen (work and income), omgangsvormen, waarden en normen (manners, values and norms), wonen (housing), gezondheid en gezondheidszorg (health and health care), geschiedenis en geografie (history and geography), instanties (official bodies), staatsinrichting en rechtsstaat (government and the rule of law) and onderwijs en opvoeding (education and upbringing).
A2 Writing. inburgeren.nl describes four assignments, such as writing a short letter or filling in a form.
B1 and B2. staatsexamensnt2.nl says the Listening exam’s speakers talk about situations at work, in study or in daily life, and that most Writing assignments are about work or education.

KNM itself is a knowledge exam, and knowing the words for its subjects is not the same as knowing the answers. The themes are used here because the same vocabulary turns up in the letters, forms and conversations of the language exams.

A themed inburgering word list to start with

The list below is a starter set of about 130 words in nine groups, chosen for this page around the themes above. It is not an official list, and it does not replace the frequency layer. Every noun carries its article, checked against woordenlijst.org on 2026-10-31, because the article is part of the word: you say het huis and de woning, and the words around a noun change with it.

At the gemeente and in official letters

These are the words of appointments, registrations and post from the municipality or another official body.

Dutch	English
de gemeente	the municipality (your town or city council)
het gemeentehuis	the town hall
de afspraak	the appointment
het loket	the service desk or counter
het formulier	the form
de brief	the letter
de aanvraag	the application (for a permit or an allowance)
de inschrijving	the registration
het adres	the address
de handtekening	the signature
het identiteitsbewijs	the proof of identity
de verblijfsvergunning	the residence permit
de belasting	tax
de toeslag	the allowance (a government contribution, for example towards rent or care)
de boete	the fine

Housing (wonen)

These cover renting, neighbours and the things that break in a home.

Dutch	English
het huis	the house
de woning	the home, the dwelling (the word in official letters)
de huur	the rent
de huurder	the tenant
de verhuurder	the landlord
het huurcontract	the rental contract
de borg	the deposit
de woningcorporatie	the housing association
de buurt	the neighbourhood
de buurman / de buurvrouw	the neighbour (man / woman)
de verhuizing	the move (to a new home)
het huisvuil	household waste
de verwarming	the heating
de lekkage	the leak
de sleutel	the key
de rekening	the bill (also: the bank account)

Work and income (werk en inkomen)

These are the words of job adverts, contracts and payslips.

Dutch	English
het werk	work
de baan	the job
de werkgever	the employer
de werknemer	the employee
de collega	the colleague
het salaris	the salary
het loon	the wage
het contract	the contract
de vacature	the vacancy
de sollicitatie	the job application
het sollicitatiegesprek	the job interview
het uitzendbureau	the temp agency
de dienst	the shift (also: the service)
de uitkering	the benefit (social security payment)
de stage	the internship
de vrijwilliger	the volunteer

Health and care (gezondheid en zorg)

These are the words for the GP, the pharmacy and health insurance.

Dutch	English
de huisarts	the GP, the family doctor
de doktersassistent	the doctor’s assistant
het spreekuur	the consulting hours
de huisartsenpost	the out-of-hours GP service
het ziekenhuis	the hospital
de apotheek	the pharmacy
het recept	the prescription (also: the recipe)
de medicijnen	medicines (a plural, so always de)
de zorgverzekering	the health insurance
de tandarts	the dentist
de verloskundige	the midwife
de klacht	the complaint (a symptom, or a formal complaint)
de pijn	pain
de koorts	fever

School and children (onderwijs en opvoeding)

These are the words of school letters, parents’ evenings and childcare.

Dutch	English
de basisschool	the primary school
de school	the school
de leraar	the teacher
de klas	the class
het kind	the child (plural: de kinderen)
de ouder	the parent
het huiswerk	homework
het rapport	the school report
de kinderopvang	childcare
het consultatiebureau	the child health clinic (check-ups for babies and toddlers)
de leerplicht	compulsory schooling
de opleiding	the training, the course of study
de cursus	the course
het diploma	the diploma

Daily life and getting around

These are the words of shopping, transport and social life.

Dutch	English
de supermarkt	the supermarket
de boodschappen	the groceries (a plural, so always de)
de bon	the receipt
de pinpas	the debit card
het station	the station
de trein	the train
de bus	the bus
het kaartje	the ticket (a diminutive, so always het)
de fiets	the bicycle
het weer	the weather
de verjaardag	the birthday
het feest	the party

The country and the state

These cover the KNM subjects of history, geography, government and the rule of law.

Dutch	English
het land	the country
de provincie	the province
de regering	the government
de verkiezing	the election
de wet	the law
de grondwet	the constitution
de politie	the police
de rechter	the judge
de koning	the king
de geschiedenis	history
de vrijheid	freedom
de gelijkheid	equality
de discriminatie	discrimination
de dijk	the dike
het water	water

Verbs from letters and forms

Verbs have no article, but many are separable: the first part moves to the end of a short sentence (ik vul het formulier in). The separable ones are marked.

Dutch	English
aanvragen (separable)	to apply for
invullen (separable)	to fill in
ondertekenen	to sign
zich inschrijven (separable)	to register
afzeggen (separable)	to cancel (an appointment)
opzeggen (separable)	to end (a contract or subscription)
verlengen	to extend, to renew (a permit or contract)
betalen	to pay
verhuizen	to move house
solliciteren	to apply for a job
ophalen (separable)	to collect, to pick up
meenemen (separable)	to bring along
bellen	to phone

Small words that carry the meaning

Reading and Listening questions often turn on a condition, a reason or a deadline, and these words are where that lives in a sentence.

Dutch	English
omdat	because (the verb moves to the end of the clause)
want	because, for
maar	but
dus	so
daarom	that is why
toch	still, anyway, after all
behalve	except
alleen	only
niet meer	no longer
nog niet	not yet
uiterlijk	at the latest
vanaf	from (a date or time)
binnen	within
verplicht	compulsory
gratis	free of charge

How do you study an inburgering word list?

Study an inburgering word list a little every day rather than in long sessions, and test yourself on recall instead of rereading. Four habits do most of the work.

Learn every noun with its article. Memorise de huur and het huurcontract, never huur and huurcontract. No rule covers every noun; the guide to de or het covers the patterns that do exist.
Hear every word, and spell what you hear. The B1 and B2 Listening exams allow no dictionary, and no dictionary allowance was found in the A2 rules, so a word you can read but not catch by ear will not help you in Listening. Say each word aloud and write it down from audio.
Review on a schedule. Bring each word back just before you would forget it; the guide on how to learn Dutch words covers the method.
Add the words you actually meet. A letter from the gemeente, a rental contract or a DUO practice exam will contain words that no starter list has. Those are the ones worth adding, because they are the ones your life and your exam use.

Then do the official A2 practice exams on inburgeren.nl, or the B1 and B2 practice exams linked from the same page, early. They show which words cost you points, which no list can predict.

Does PolyYapp cover the inburgering word list?

Only partly, and by overlap rather than design. PolyYapp teaches about 3,900 curated Dutch words (as of October 2026) from one shared pool. New words arrive in random order, with no themes, no levels and no link to the frequency dictionary the B1 exam uses, so there is no way to choose “housing” or “work” and study only that. PolyYapp has no exam mode and does not cover KNM, Speaking or Writing.

What PolyYapp does fit is the study routine above. Its search matches Dutch words, so you can look up a word from these tables and, if it is in the dictionary, add it to your own review list; anyone can add a word that is in the dictionary, without an account. Creating a word that is not in the dictionary needs Sign in with Apple, up to 10 new words a day.

Searching the PolyYapp dictionary for Dutch words starting with 'afb', with English translations and add buttons — Searching the dictionary by Dutch word and adding results to your own list. PolyYapp’s own App Store screenshot. The figures in it are the screenshot’s, not a measurement. How we research.

PolyYapp shows the article (de or het) on nouns where its dictionary has it, plays text-to-speech audio in a Netherlands Dutch voice for every word, and has a listening exercise in which you hear the word and type it. It schedules reviews on a 14-level ladder and drills each word with 5 exercise types. PolyYapp is free with no in-app purchases and no ads today. It runs on iPhone and iPad, and on Apple-silicon Macs as the iPad app; there is no Android version, and it needs an internet connection.

For grammar, speaking and writing, a course or an inburgering school does what a vocabulary app cannot. The comparison of apps for inburgering sets out which tool covers which exam part.

Sources

All checked on 2026-10-31.

inburgeren.nl (DUO): Language exams A2, B1 and B2, the format of each A2 exam and the note that B1 and B2 are the Staatsexamen Nt2.
inburgeren.nl (DUO): Practicing for the exam, the A2 practice exams for Writing, Speaking, Listening, Reading and KNM.
inburgeren.nl (DUO): Knowledge exams, KNM and the ONA glossary (“Woordenlijst”).
inburgeren.nl (DUO): Examenreglement, the rules for the A2 exams, including that any aid not expressly allowed counts as an irregularity.
wetten.overheid.nl: Besluit inburgering 2021, article 3.4 (the eight KNM subjects) and article 3.5 (the B1 exam follows the Staatsexamen Nt2 rules).
staatsexamensnt2.nl: Aanvullende woordenlijst Staatsexamen Nt2, the CvTE’s statement of which frequency-dictionary lists each programme uses, and its supplementary list.
staatsexamensnt2.nl: Wat is het Staatsexamen Nt2?, which says most words in Programme I and II come from the frequency dictionary or the supplementary list.
Tiberius, Schoonheim and Kilgarriff, A Frequency Dictionary of Dutch (eLex 2013 paper), how the Core, General and genre lists are defined and the Routledge Frequency Dictionaries series.
staatsexamensnt2.nl: Hoe ziet het examen eruit? and Vragen van kandidaten, the dictionary rules per exam part and the note that you need not know every word.
Woordenlijst Nederlandse Taal, the article of every noun in the tables.

Questions

Does the Staatsexamen Nt2 have an official word list?

Partly. The College voor Toetsen en Examens (CvTE) names A Frequency Dictionary of Dutch (Tiberius and Schoonheim, 2013) as the word source and publishes a supplementary list of its own. Its two documents differ in strength: the supplementary list says B1 tasks use only words from the Core and General lists, while its main exam page says most words come from them. The dictionary itself is a commercially published book, not a free list.

How many Dutch words do I need for the inburgering exam?

No official number exists for the A2 exams. For B1, the CvTE points to the Core and General lists of a frequency dictionary of the 5,000 most used Dutch words, plus its supplementary list (only those words, says the list; most words, says its main exam page). It also states that you do not need to know every word in an exam text: unknown words are either explained by the context or not needed for the answer.

Can I use a dictionary during the inburgering exam?

At B1 and B2 (Staatsexamen Nt2), only the Van Dale Pocketwoordenboek Nederlands als tweede taal is allowed, and only in Reading and Writing. No dictionary is allowed in Listening or Speaking. DUO's A2 exam regulations treat any aid not expressly allowed in the assignment as an irregularity, and no dictionary permission was found in them, so check your exam invitation letter.

Which topics should an inburgering word list cover?

The Besluit inburgering 2021 names eight subjects for the KNM exam: work and income; manners, values and norms; housing; health and health care; history and geography; official bodies; government and the rule of law; and education and upbringing. Add the everyday situations the language exams use, such as letters, forms, appointments and shopping.

Does PolyYapp have an inburgering word list?

No. PolyYapp teaches about 3,900 curated Dutch words (as of October 2026) from one shared pool, and new words arrive in random order, with no themes or levels. What you can do is search for a Dutch word from a list like the one on this page and add it to your own review list. PolyYapp has no exam mode and does not cover KNM, Speaking or Writing.

Is the Woordenlijst PDF on inburgeren.nl a vocabulary list for the exam?

No. The PDF called "Woordenlijst" on inburgeren.nl belongs to the ONA exam (Orientation on the Dutch Labour Market) and explains terms used on the ONA result cards, such as arbeidsmarkt and beroep. It is a glossary for that portfolio, not a list of words for the Reading or Listening exam.