Wat betekent “ga maar” in het Nederlands?

Ga maar is what a Dutch speaker says when they're freeing the listener to leave or to proceed. Where English uses "go ahead" for permission and "off you go" for dismissal, Dutch uses ga maar for both, and the meaning is read from context. A teacher dismissing a student to recess says ga maar; a host telling a guest they can head into the next room says ga maar.

The phrase is also the standard Dutch tool for getting out of someone's way. When two people meet in a doorway or on a stairwell, the one yielding will say ga maar — the equivalent of "after you." It carries no formality of na u or alstublieft but does the same social work.

A subtle pragmatic note: in some contexts ga maar edges into mild dismissal, the way English "off you go" can. Tone disambiguates. A Dutch parent at the school gate saying ga maar lieverd is warm; a Dutch official saying ga maar with a flat tone is closer to "you're done here."