KNM Exam Study Guide

• de huisarts — the family doctor (GP)
• 112 — emergency number
• de apotheek — the pharmacy
• het recept — the prescription
• het consultatiebureau — the well-baby clinic

Where the book stops: A Dutch course teaches you to talk to a doctor. KNM tests the system around the appointment: that 112 and the non-urgent police line (0900-8844) are different numbers, and that seeing a specialist — including a mental-health service — needs a referral letter from your huisarts first, not a walk-in.

• het vast contract — the permanent contract
• het brutosalaris — the gross salary
• het nettosalaris — the net salary
• de sollicitatiebrief — the cover letter
• het uitzendbureau — the temp agency

Where the book stops: A general course gets you through a job interview. KNM tests the legal fine print: a contract of six months or less is not allowed to carry a trial period at all. And while you're on unemployment benefit, you must prove you're applying for work — usually four applications every four weeks — or the benefit is cut.

• de gemeente — the municipality
• DigiD — digital identity for government websites
• het BSN (burgerservicenummer) — the citizen service number
• de huurtoeslag — the rent allowance
• het rijbewijs — the driver's license

Where the book stops: This topic is barely about the Dutch language at all — it's a directory. KNM expects you to know which of a dozen agencies (gemeente, Belastingdienst, UWV, SVB, DUO, KvK…) handles a given request, and that DigiD alone doesn't identify you the way a BSN does, or the other way round.

• de sociale huurwoning — the social housing rental
• de makelaar — the real estate agent
• de woningcorporatie — the housing association
• het statiegeld — the deposit (on bottles/cans)
• het energiecontract — the energy contract

Where the book stops: Renting vocabulary is a general-course topic. Who is responsible for what is a KNM topic: small repairs (a new toilet seat, a tap washer) are the tenant's job, big repairs are the landlord's, and you can choose your energy company but not your drinking-water company — each region has exactly one supplier.

• de leerplicht — the compulsory education
• de basisschool — the primary school
• het VMBO — pre-vocational secondary education
• het HAVO — senior general secondary education
• het VWO — pre-university education

Where the book stops: The school system's abbreviations (VMBO, HAVO, VWO) are worth memorizing, but KNM also tests the law around raising children: hitting a child is illegal for parents and teachers alike, and at the end of primary school the teacher's own recommendation counts for more than the test score.

• de Tweede Kamer — the House of Representatives
• stemmen — to vote
• de gemeenteraadsverkiezingen — the municipal elections
• de rechter — the judge
• het actief kiesrecht — the right to vote

Where the book stops: This is civics, not conversation practice. The exam wants you to know a new Dutch law normally starts with a minister, not with parliament, and that residents can vote in waterschap (water board) elections too — a right most Dutch people themselves forget they have.

• bevrijdingsdag — Liberation Day
• dodenherdenking — Remembrance of the Dead
• de Deltawerken — the Delta Works
• de kolonie — the colony
• het volkslied — the national anthem

Where the book stops: A language course won't cover this at all. KNM tests specific dates: Indonesia declared its own independence in 1945, but the exam wants 1949 — the year the Netherlands formally transferred sovereignty. Getting the two dates confused is the single most common trap in this topic.

• Koningsdag — King's Day
• Sinterklaas — St. Nicholas
• de oliebol — the fried dough ball
• de pepernoot — the spiced cookie (pepernoot)
• Oud en Nieuw — New Year's Eve and Day

Where the book stops: Holiday names and foods are the easy half. The exam also tests that unmarried couples living together (samenwonen) is legal and needs no contract — but you still have to report the address change to the gemeente, the same as if you'd married.