zoveel

Zoveel is a Dutch word that functions as a determiner and a pronoun to express quantity or extent. It roughly corresponds to the English "so much" or "so many," depending on the noun it accompanies. The word is formed from zo meaning "so" and veel meaning "much" or "many."

As a determiner, zoveel precedes the noun it modifies: daarvoor geld? "zoveel geld" (so much money), "zoveel mensen" (so many people). It can also stand alone as a pronoun: "Ik heb niet zoveel." In fixed phrases, it appears in zoveel mogelijk, meaning "as much as possible." It is also used in negation constructions such as niet zoveel, meaning "not that much," to downplay quantity.

Usage and grammar notes: Zoveel does not inflect for gender or number; it can pair with both mass nouns and count nouns. It is common in both standard Dutch spoken in the Netherlands and in Belgian Dutch. In everyday language, its meaning is approximate rather than exact, signaling an unspecified magnitude rather than a precise figure. For emphasis or comparison, writers and speakers may combine zoveel with other quantifiers or with the phrase zoveel mogelijk to indicate a maximum effort or extent.

Examples: Er zijn niet zoveel mensen als vorig jaar. (There aren’t that many people as last year.) Je hebt zoveel geld genoeg. (You have so much money.) We moeten zoveel mogelijk mensen hiermee helpen. (We should help as many people as possible with this.) Zoveel is therefore a versatile quantifier and pronoun in Dutch, widely used to convey approximate quantity in a concise form.