What is B1 level Dutch? What you can do, with examples
Last checked: 29 October 2026
B1 level Dutch means you handle most everyday situations on your own. You follow the main points of clear Dutch about work and daily life, join a conversation on familiar topics without preparing, and can tell what happened and give a reason for your opinion. In the Netherlands, B1 is the level of the Nt2 state exam, Programme I.
| A2 | B1 | B2 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| In short | Simple, routine situations | Most everyday and work situations | Fluent on most topics |
| Speaking | Short answers about yourself | Tell a story, explain a plan, give reasons | Discuss and argue with ease |
| Writing | Short notes and forms | Connected text, letters about experiences | Clear, detailed texts |
| Dutch exam | Inburgering exam A2 (DUO) | Nt2 state exam, Programme I | Nt2 state exam, Programme II |
Sources: Erasmus University: CEFR levels (linked by DUO), DUO: Nt2 state exam.
More Dutch is not affiliated with DUO. The level descriptions come from the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR), the European scale that the Dutch exams use. The example sentences are ours.
B1 in the four skills
The CEFR describes B1 per skill. In plain words (Erasmus University):
- Speaking with others. You manage most situations you meet in daily life. You can join a conversation about family, hobbies, work, travel or the news without preparing it.
- Speaking on your own. You can describe experiences and plans, tell a story and briefly explain your opinion.
- Listening. You follow the main points of clear standard Dutch about familiar things at work, school or in your free time. You get the gist of radio or TV about current topics if the speech is fairly slow and clear.
- Reading. You understand texts in everyday or job-related language, and personal letters about events and feelings.
- Writing. You can write a simple connected text about familiar topics, such as a letter about what happened to you.
The key words are "connected", "explain" and "without preparing". At A2 you manage. At B1 you can link ideas together and say why.
A2 and B1 side by side
The same situation, at two levels. These are our own examples.
Calling in sick
- A2: Ik ben ziek. Ik kom vandaag niet. (I am ill. I am not coming today.)
- B1: Ik heb vannacht slecht geslapen en ik heb koorts, dus ik blijf vandaag thuis. Ik denk dat ik woensdag weer kan werken. (I slept badly last night and I have a fever, so I am staying home today. I think I can work again on Wednesday.)
Your weekend
- A2: Ik was in Utrecht. Het was leuk. (I was in Utrecht. It was nice.)
- B1: Zaterdag ben ik met mijn zus naar Utrecht gegaan. We hebben over de grachten gelopen en daarna hebben we bij een vriendin gegeten. (On Saturday I went to Utrecht with my sister. We walked along the canals and then we ate at a friend's place.)
An opinion
- A2: Thuiswerken is goed. (Working from home is good.)
- B1: Ik vind thuiswerken prettig, omdat ik dan geen tijd in de trein verlies. Maar ik mis soms mijn collega's. (I like working from home, because I don't lose time on the train. But I sometimes miss my colleagues.)
Notice what changes: past tenses (ben gegaan, hebben gelopen), linking words (dus, omdat, maar, daarna) and the verb at the end after omdat. That is B1 grammar in one picture.
The grammar you need for B1
You do not need perfect grammar at B1, but you need enough to build longer sentences:
- Word order in long sentences. The verb goes to the end after omdat, dat, als and toen. Our word order cheat sheet and conjunctions cheat sheet show how.
- The past tense and the perfect. Telling what happened is a B1 skill. See the past tense cheat sheet.
- Separable verbs. Ik bel je morgen op. They are everywhere in normal speech (separable verbs).
- Modal verbs. Ik moet, ik kan, ik wil, ik mag plus an infinitive at the end (modal verbs).
Where B1 Dutch counts in the Netherlands
- Integration under the 2021 law. On the B1 route your language exams are at B1: the Nt2 state exam, Programme I (inburgeren.nl). See the inburgering exam at B1.
- Work and MBO. Programme I is meant for work or study at MBO level 3 or 4. Programme II, at B2, is for HBO and university (DUO).
- Naturalisation. The level asked today is A2. A B1 Nt2 diploma also counts (IND).
All levels and their exams are compared in Dutch language exam levels. For every exam on the way to integration, see the inburgering exam guide.
How to tell if you are at B1
The honest test is an official practice exam. The College voor Toetsen en Examens has free practice tasks for all four parts of the B1 exam in its Nt2 practice environment. Do one part under the real time limit and see how far you get.
A quicker self-check. You are probably close to B1 if you can:
- tell someone in Dutch what you did last weekend for a minute without stopping,
- read a short news article and say what it is about,
- write an email to a school or employer that explains a problem and asks for something,
- follow the main points of the NOS Journaal for children (NOS Jeugdjournaal) without subtitles.
If two or more of these feel hard, you are still at A2. That is fine: most people need a long stretch of steady practice to move from A2 to B1. Under the 2021 law, the rule that you can ask to scale down to A2 after 600 hours of lessons gives a sense of how big the step is.
How to get from A2 to B1
- Words first. Everyday vocabulary carries most texts. Start with the 594 most common Dutch words, free.
- Then sentence building. Practise putting the verb in the right place with the sentence builder.
- Speak about the past. Every day, say three sentences about yesterday. It trains the perfect tense better than any list.
- Listen at normal speed. Dutch radio, podcasts and the news, a little every day.
For an exam plan, read how to pass the B1 Dutch exam. The exam itself is described in the Dutch B1 exam.
Frequently asked questions
What does B1 mean in Dutch?
B1 is the third of six CEFR levels, called "independent user". You manage most everyday situations, follow clear speech on familiar topics, and can give reasons for your opinions.
Is B1 Dutch fluent?
No. B1 is a solid working level, but you will still search for words and make mistakes. B2 is closer to what most people mean by fluent.
How long does it take to reach B1 in Dutch?
It depends on your start, your lessons and how much you practise. The step from A2 to B1 is bigger than the step from A1 to A2. Under the 2021 law, the 600-hour rule for scaling down to A2 gives a rough idea of how much study B1 can take.
What is a B1 example in Dutch?
Ik vind thuiswerken prettig, omdat ik dan geen tijd in de trein verlies. It gives an opinion with a reason, links two ideas with omdat, and sends the verb to the end.
Which exam proves B1 Dutch?
The Staatsexamen Nt2, Programme I. It has four parts: Reading, Listening, Writing and Speaking.
Is B1 needed for the inburgering exam?
Under the 2021 law, on the B1 route and the education route, yes. Under the 2013 law the exams are at A2.