If you spend time in Flanders, you’ll eventually hear the verb “kuisen.” At first, it might puzzle Dutch learners, because in the Netherlands, people typically say “poetsen” for the same action. But in Belgium, kuisen is the go-to word for cleaning.
You might hear: “Ik moet mijn kamer kuisen” (I have to clean my room), or “Zij kuist het huis op zondag” (She cleans the house on Sunday). It’s a perfectly ordinary word in Belgian Dutch, yet it instantly marks someone as being from Flanders.
Interestingly, kuisen comes from the same root as the English word “to cull” or “to make pure,” which hints at its older, somewhat more formal origin. In the Netherlands today, it can sound old-fashioned or even archaic, but in Flanders it’s alive and well, part of everyday speech.
So if you want to sound more like a local in Belgium, don’t say “poetsen” when you talk about scrubbing the kitchen or tidying up. Just go with kuisen. It’s simple, authentic, and a word that connects you instantly to daily Flemish life.
See all our previous ‘Belgian word of the day’ features here.
