Finding the Restroom During a Break | Learn Dutch in English

Sentence explanations

1. Hoe lang duurt de pauze?

   How long is the break?

   Hoe lang

   how long

   duurt

   lasts

   pauze

   break

   More detail

   Hoe lang asks about duration: “how long.” It is a reusable question pattern, not a question about distance. For example, Hoe lang duurt de film? means “How long does the film last?” duurt is the present-tense form of duren (“to last”) for a third-person singular subject. The subject here is de pauze, so Dutch uses duurt. In a question, the finite verb comes before the subject: Hoe lang duurt ...? The statement in the supplied context shows the same verb in normal order: De pauze duurt tien minuten. (“The break lasts ten minutes.”) pauze is the noun “break,” here referring to the break whose duration is being asked about. Its plural is pauzes (“breaks”). The article de in de pauze is the definite article used with this noun; it does not itself express duration. Together, Hoe lang + duurt + de pauze asks for the length of time that the break lasts: “How long is the break?”

2. De pauze duurt tien minuten.

   The break is ten minutes long.

   pauze

   break

   duurt

   lasts

   tien

   ten

   minuten

   minutes

   More detail

   pauze means “break” here. Its base form is pauze; the plural is pauzes. Example: De pauze begint om twaalf uur. — “The break starts at twelve o’clock.” duurt comes from duren, “to last.” It is the present-tense form used with a singular subject such as de pauze: de pauze duurt. The infinitive is duren, and the form with a plural subject is also duren, as in De lessen duren een uur. — “The lessons last an hour.” tien is the number “ten.” Dutch number words do not change for singular or plural. It specifies the length together with the following time unit. minuten is the plural of minuut, “minute.” After tien, the plural form is used: tien minuten. Example: De les duurt vijf minuten. — “The lesson lasts five minutes.” Together, De pauze duurt tien minuten. says that the break lasts ten minutes, or equivalently, that it is ten minutes long. De is the definite article here; pauze is singular, and duurt agrees with that singular subject. The pattern X duurt Y minuten is reusable for stating how long something lasts.

3. Waar is het toilet?

   Where is the restroom?

   Waar

   where

   is

   is

   toilet

   restroom

   More detail

   Waar means “where” and asks about a place or location. It is a question adverb, not a pronoun referring to a specific person or object. Compare waar? (“where?”) with wanneer? (“when?”). is is the present-tense third-person singular form of zijn, “to be.” The same form can be used with a singular subject whose grammatical gender is not relevant here: Waar is de kamer? means “Where is the room?” toilet is the noun for “toilet” or “restroom.” In this sentence it appears with the definite article het: het toilet. The article is part of the noun phrase; toilet itself is the lexical noun. A useful related phrase is naar het toilet, “to the restroom.” Together, Waar is asks for a location, and het toilet supplies the place being located. The whole utterance means “Where is the restroom?” This is a short, ordinary way to ask for the restroom’s location.

4. Ga de kamer uit en ga naar rechts.

   Go out of the room and turn right.

   Ga

   go

   kamer

   room

   uit

   out of

   ga

   go

   naar rechts

   to the right

   More detail

   Ga is the imperative of gaan (“to go”). In Dutch, this imperative form does not itself mark whether the instruction is addressed to one person or to several people. The same form can also occur as present tense with a singular subject, but here it is an instruction because it begins a direction. kamer means “room.” Its plural is kamers. In de kamer, de is the definite article, meaning “the”; the phrase therefore identifies a particular room rather than asserting a quantity. uit means “out” and, with a place expressed by uit ..., indicates movement out of that place. The words de kamer uit form the pattern “out of the room.” Here uit follows the noun phrase, which is a normal Dutch placement in this directional construction. ga is again the imperative of gaan. Repeating it starts a second coordinated instruction. en means “and,” linking the two instructions without changing their sequence. naar rechts means “to the right.” naar marks movement or direction toward a place or direction, while rechts means “right.” A useful contrast is naar links = “to the left.” Together, Ga de kamer uit means “Go out of the room,” and ga naar rechts means “go to the right.” Joined by en, the utterance gives two sequential directions: first leave the room, then go or turn to the right. This produces the fixed translation: “Go out of the room and turn right.”

5. Ik denk dat ik het kan vinden.

   I think I can find it.

   Ik

   I

   denk

   think

   het

   it

   kan

   can

   vinden

   find

   More detail

   Ik is the subject pronoun meaning “I.” Its object form is mij (“me”), so Dutch distinguishes Ik from mij by grammatical role. Example: Ik zie hem. — “I see him.” denk is the present-tense form of denken (“to think”) for ik: ik denk. The clause introduced by dat expresses what the speaker thinks. Example: Ik denk dat het goed is. — “I think that it is good.” het is the Dutch third-person singular neuter pronoun used here as the object corresponding to “it.” The supplied sentence does not identify exactly what het refers to, so its grammatical role is clear even though its specific referent is not. Example: Ik zie het. — “I see it.” kan is the first-person singular present form of the modal verb kunnen, meaning “can” here. The useful present-tense contrast is ik kan but wij kunnen; kan is the form with the singular subject ik in this sentence. A modal is followed by an infinitive: Ik kan komen. — “I can come.” vinden is the infinitive of “to find.” After the modal kan, it remains in the infinitive rather than changing to a finite form. Example: Ik kan de sleutel vinden. — “I can find the key.” The sentence has the reusable pattern Ik denk dat ...: “I think that ...”. Inside the dat-clause, the subject ik is followed by the modal kan, the object het, and the infinitive vinden. Together, Ik denk dat ik het kan vinden. means “I think I can find it.”

6. Ik wacht hier voordat de les weer begint.

   I will wait here before class starts again.

   wacht

   wait

   hier

   here

   voordat

   before

   les

   class

   weer

   again

   begint

   starts

   More detail

   wacht means “wait” here. Its base form is wachten; with the subject ik (“I”), the present-tense form is wacht: ik wacht. This present form can describe an action happening now or a planned near-future action, as in the fixed translation “I will wait.” Example: Ik wacht op de bus. — “I am waiting for the bus.” hier means “here,” referring to the speaker’s location. It is a place adverb and does not change for number or gender. Example: Wacht hier. — “Wait here.” voordat introduces a time relation meaning “before.” It links the waiting to the later event in the subordinate clause. In Dutch, a clause introduced by voordat normally places its finite verb at the end: voordat de les begint — “before class starts.” This is a conjunction, not the preposition used in every possible English “before” expression. les means “class” or “lesson” here. Its base form is also les; the definite article de marks this noun phrase as definite: de les means “the class.” Example: De les begint om negen uur. — “The class starts at nine o’clock.” weer means “again,” indicating that the class starts another time or resumes after having started previously. It modifies the event begint, rather than changing the form of the noun les. begint means “starts” here. Its base form is beginnen. With the singular subject de les, the present-tense form is begint; the verb carries the singular agreement, not the noun’s article: de les begint. Example: De film begint weer. — “The film starts again.” Together, Ik wacht hier gives “I will wait here,” and voordat de les weer begint gives “before class starts again.” The complete utterance is therefore: “I will wait here before class starts again.”