Moeite

Moeite is a Dutch noun that denotes effort, trouble, or exertion required to achieve something, as well as the general sense of difficulty involved in a task. It can refer to physical or mental energy expended and is commonly used to talk about costs, challenges, or acts that demand attention and perseverance. Typical expressions include veel moeite kosten (to cost a lot of trouble), veel moeite doen (to go to a lot of trouble), and zich moeite nemen (to take the trouble to do something). With the phrase met moeite, the sense is “with difficulty.”

Etymology and related terms: Moeite originates from older Dutch forms such as moeite or motë and is related to cognates in other Germanic languages, notably German Mühe, which carries a closely aligned meaning of effort or exertion. In Dutch, the expression de moeite waard means “worth the trouble” or “worthwhile,” underscoring a positive appraisal of the effort involved. The word is generally used in singular form in common phrases, though the plural moeiten appears in some dialectal or specialized constructions.

Usage notes: In everyday speech, er geen moeite mee hebben means “to have no trouble with it” or “to not mind it.” Met moeite indicates that something is achieved only with effort or difficulty. The term is versatile in both informal conversation and formal writing, typically without strong emotional judgment, though phrases like veel moeite can emphasize the magnitude of the challenge.

See also: Inspanning, moeite, Mühe (German), effort-related terms.