Adjusting a Chair's Height | Learn Dutch in English

Sentence explanations

1. Deze stoel is te laag.

   This chair is too low.

   Deze

   this

   stoel

   chair

   is

   is

   te

   too

   laag

   low

   More detail

   Deze means “this” and points to one nearby or otherwise identifiable noun. In Dutch, deze is used with a singular noun of the common-gender type and with plural nouns; the corresponding form for a singular neuter noun is dit. Example: Deze tafel is groot. — “This table is big.” stoel means “chair.” Its plural is stoelen. Dutch nouns can have an article and a plural form that must be learned with the noun; stoel is a common-gender noun, so deze stoel is the matching demonstrative-noun combination here. Example: De stoelen zijn hoog. — “The chairs are high.” is is the present-tense form of zijn (“to be”) for a singular subject. It links Deze stoel to the description that follows. Example: De stoel is nieuw. — “The chair is new.” te before an adjective means “too,” indicating that a degree exceeds what is suitable or wanted. It is different from heel (“very”): heel laag means “very low,” while te laag means “too low.” Example: De tafel is te hoog. — “The table is too high.” laag means “low.” Its comparative is lager (“lower”), and its superlative is laagst (“lowest”). In this sentence, laag describes the height of the chair; with te, it expresses an excessive degree. Example: Deze stoel is lager. — “This chair is lower.” Together, Deze stoel identifies one chair, is links it to the adjective, and te laag says that its height is below the suitable level: “This chair is too low.”

2. Je kunt de hoogte veranderen.

   You can change the height.

   Je kunt

   you can

   hoogte

   height

   veranderen

   to change

   More detail

   Je kunt means “you can” here. Je is the informal singular subject pronoun “you”; it does not function as the ordinary plural “you” pronoun, which is jullie. Kunt is a present-tense form of kunnen (“can, be able to”) used with je/jij and u. With plural jullie, the form is kunnen. After a modal verb such as kunnen, the other verb normally stays in the infinitive and comes later in the clause. Example: Je kunt wachten. — “You can wait.” Hoogte means “height.” Its usual article is de: de hoogte. It names a vertical measurement or level. Example: De hoogte is goed. — “The height is good.” Veranderen means “to change.” This is the infinitive form required here after kunt. With a singular third-person subject in the present tense, the related form is verandert: De kleur verandert. — “The color changes.” Together, Je kunt + de hoogte + veranderen gives “You can change the height.” The modal expresses ability or possibility, de hoogte is the thing being changed, and veranderen is the action. The sentence is a reusable pattern: Je kunt [object] [infinitive], meaning “You can [verb] [object].”

3. Hoe doe ik dat?

   How do I do that?

   Hoe

   how

   doe

   do

   ik

   I

   dat

   that

   More detail

   Hoe asks about the manner or method: “how”. It can introduce a reusable question pattern, Hoe + verb + subject? — for example, Hoe werkt dat? means “How does that work?” doe is the present-tense form of doen (“to do”) used with ik. In this question, the verb comes before the subject because Dutch places the finite verb first in a main-clause question: Hoe doe ik ...? The form doe is therefore not an imperative here; Doe dat! would mean “Do that!” ik means “I”. In the question, it is the subject—the person asking how to perform the action. Dutch uses ik for the first-person singular subject; after the finite verb in this question, it still keeps that same form. dat means “that”. Here it is a demonstrative pronoun referring to the action or task already understood from the context, rather than naming the task again. As a demonstrative, dat is used for a singular neuter referent; the corresponding form for a singular common-gender referent is die. Together, Hoe doe ik dat? means “How do I do that?” The pattern Hoe + finite verb + subject + object? is reusable when asking how to carry out an identified action.

4. Druk op de knop onder de zitting.

   Press the button under the seat.

   Druk

   press

   op

   on

   knop

   button

   onder

   under

   zitting

   seat

   More detail

   Druk means “press” here. It is the imperative form of drukken (“to press”): druk! gives a direct instruction, with the subject normally left unstated. Example: Druk hier. — “Press here.” op means “on” in this use. With an action such as pressing, Dutch commonly uses the pattern drukken op + object: Druk op de knop. — “Press the button.” The preposition combines with the following noun phrase; op itself does not mean “button.” knop means “button.” It is a common noun; with the definite article, de knop means “the button.” Example: De knop is rood. — “The button is red.” onder means “under” or “beneath.” It introduces the location of the button relative to another object: onder de tafel means “under the table.” zitting means “seat,” specifically the part of a chair or similar object intended for sitting. de zitting means “the seat.” This noun is different from the more general stoel (“chair”): a chair can have a zitting, but zitting names the seating part. Together, op de knop means “on the button,” as the object of druk; onder de zitting specifies which button by locating it under the seat. The whole utterance is therefore the direct instruction “Press the button under the seat.”

5. Dat is beter. Dank je wel.

   That is better. Thank you.

   Dat

   that

   beter

   better

   Dank je wel

   thank you

   More detail

   Dat means “that” here and points to an understood situation, result, or thing. In Dutch, dat is the demonstrative form used with a singular neuter noun and is also used independently as a pronoun. In this sentence, the translation supports the general pointing meaning, but does not identify a more specific noun that it replaces. Compare dit for “this” and dat for “that.” Example: Dat is goed. — “That is good.” beter means “better” and is the comparative form of goed (“good”): goed → beter → best (“best”). It compares the situation referred to by dat with an earlier state or alternative; the sentence does not specify exactly what the comparison is. Example: Dit werkt beter. — “This works better.” Dank je wel is a common informal way to say “thank you.” It is a fixed expression, and je is the informal “you” form in this expression. A more formal or plural “you” form can be Dank u wel. Example: Dank je wel voor je hulp. — “Thank you for your help.” Together, Dat is beter says “That is better”: the pointed-to situation or result has improved relative to an earlier state or alternative. Dank je wel then expresses thanks, giving the complete meaning: “That is better. Thank you.”

6. Zeg het me als het nog niet goed is.

   Tell me if it is still not right.

   Zeg

   tell

   het

   it

   me

   me

   als

   if

   nog niet

   still not

   goed

   right

   is

   is

   More detail

   Zeg is the imperative of zeggen (“to say/tell”). The imperative uses the verb stem here: zeg. In Zeg het me, it gives a direct instruction to tell the speaker something. het is a neuter singular object pronoun meaning “it” here; the fixed translation identifies its intended meaning as “it,” although it does not specify exactly what “it” refers to. It is a pronoun in this sentence, not the definite article “the.” me is the unstressed first-person singular object pronoun, “me.” Its stressed counterpart is mij; for example, Zeg het míj can contrast “tell it to me.” In Zeg het me, het is what is to be told and me is the recipient. als introduces the condition “if.” It begins the subordinate clause als het nog niet goed is. Dutch als can also mean “when” in other contexts, but the fixed translation gives the conditional reading here. nog niet expresses a continuing negative state: “still not.” In some contexts, nog niet is naturally translated as “not yet”; here the intended meaning is that the situation remains not right. goed is the adjective goed, meaning “right” or “correct” in this sentence. It is used predicatively after zijn, so it appears as goed: Het antwoord is goed means “The answer is correct.” The same adjective can mean “good” in other contexts. When it directly modifies a noun, Dutch may use goed or goede depending on the noun phrase, but that attributive pattern is not being used here. is is the third-person singular present form of zijn, “to be.” Its infinitive is zijn; the form agrees with singular het. In the subordinate clause, the finite verb comes at the end: als het nog niet goed is. Together, Zeg het me means “Tell me” in this context. The condition als het nog niet goed is means “if it is still not right.” The complete utterance is therefore: “Tell me if it is still not right.”