Finding seats and resting on a train | Learn Dutch in English

Sentence explanations

1. Het is koel in de trein.

   It feels cool inside the train.

   Het is

   it is

   koel

   cool

   in

   in

   trein

   train

   More detail

   Het is is the common Dutch pattern for stating a general situation or condition. Here, het is an impersonal subject: it does not identify a particular thing, and is is the present-tense form of zijn (“to be”) for het and other singular subjects. For example: Het is warm. — “It is warm.” koel means “cool” here, describing the temperature as felt inside the train. It is an adjective, and in this sentence it appears in its basic form after is. A useful contrast is warm — “warm.” Example: De kamer is koel. — “The room is cool.” in is the preposition meaning “in” or “inside.” It introduces the place where the cool condition is experienced. Example: Ik zit in de trein. — “I am sitting in the train.” trein means “train.” The observed noun occurs in the phrase de trein: de is the definite article, and trein is a common-gender singular noun. Its plural is treinen (“trains”); the article changes to de treinen (“the trains”). Together, Het is koel states that the temperature feels cool, and in de trein locates that experience inside the train. The complete meaning is: “It feels cool inside the train.”

2. Verderop zijn vrije zitplaatsen.

   There are open seats farther in.

   Verderop

   farther on; farther in

   zijn

   are; exist

   vrije

   open; available

   zitplaatsen

   seats

   More detail

   Verderop means “farther on” or “farther in” and points to a location farther along the route or inside the place being discussed. It is an adverb, so it does not change for number or gender. Example: Verderop is een uitgang. — “There is an exit farther on.” zijn is the present-tense plural form of zijn, “to be.” Here it is used existentially: it presents something that exists or is available in a location, corresponding to “there are.” The singular counterpart is is: Verderop is een stoel. — “There is a chair farther on.” The plural form appears here because zitplaatsen is plural. vrije means “open” or “available” here, describing seats that can be used. Its base form is vrij. Before a plural noun, the adjective has the form vrije: vrije stoelen — “available chairs.” In this sentence, it is the adjective vrije, not the noun, that carries this form. zitplaatsen means “seats.” It is the plural of zitplaats, a compound noun referring to a place where someone can sit. Example: Deze zitplaats is vrij. — “This seat is available.” Together, Verderop zijn presents what is available farther along, and vrije zitplaatsen identifies those available items as seats. The complete utterance means: “There are open seats farther in.”

3. Ik wil zitten na al dat lopen.

   I want to sit after all that walking.

   Ik wil

   I want

   zitten

   sit

   na

   after

   al dat

   all that

   lopen

   walking

   More detail

   Ik wil expresses the speaker’s wish: “I want.” wil is the first-person singular present form of willen (“to want”); the subject is ik. Dutch normally puts an infinitive after willen: Ik wil ... (“I want to ...”). Example: Ik wil lezen. — “I want to read.” zitten means “to sit” here. It is the infinitive, so it does not show a person or number. The infinitive is also used after wil: Ik wil zitten — “I want to sit.” na means “after” and introduces the time or sequence that follows. Example: Na het werk rust ik. — “I rest after work.” al dat means “all that.” al presents the following thing as a whole amount or total, while dat is the demonstrative form used here with the neuter singular noun-like expression lopen. This does not by itself state a numerical count. Compare al die dagen — “all those days,” where die is used with a plural noun. lopen means “walking” in this sentence. Its basic verb is lopen, “to walk”; here the infinitive is used as a noun-like activity after dat, giving dat lopen — “that walking.” Example: Na het lopen drink ik water. — “After walking, I drink water.” Together, na al dat lopen means “after all that walking.” The complete structure is Ik wil + zitten + na al dat lopen: the speaker wants to sit, with the walking providing the temporal context for that wish. Thus the utterance means, “I want to sit after all that walking.”

4. Deze stoelen zijn comfortabel.

   These seats are comfortable.

   Deze

   these

   stoelen

   seats

   zijn

   are

   comfortabel

   comfortable

   More detail

   Deze means “these” here and points to more than one item. In Dutch, deze is used with plural nouns; it is also used with singular de-words, while dit is used with singular het-words. Example: Deze boeken zijn nieuw. — “These books are new.” stoelen means “seats” here. Its base form is stoel (“seat”); stoelen is the plural form. The ending -en is a common way to form Dutch plurals, though not every noun uses that ending. Example: De stoelen staan buiten. — “The seats are outside.” zijn is the present-tense form of zijn (“to be”) used with a plural subject, such as stoelen. In this sentence it means “are,” linking the subject to its description. Example: De tafels zijn groot. — “The tables are large.” comfortabel means “comfortable.” It is a descriptive adjective; after zijn, as here, it appears as a predicate adjective and does not take an ending for this plural subject. Example: De stoelen zijn zacht. — “The seats are soft.” Together, Deze stoelen identifies the seats as “these seats,” and zijn comfortabel says that they are comfortable. The complete utterance therefore means “These seats are comfortable.”

5. De rit is ook rustig.

   The ride feels quiet too.

   rit

   ride

   ook

   too; also

   rustig

   quiet

   More detail

   rit is a noun meaning a ride or trip, here referring to the ride itself. Its plural is ritten; Dutch forms this plural with -en, and the t is doubled in the spelling to keep the short vowel pronunciation. Example: De rit duurt lang. — “The ride takes a long time.” ook adds another item or situation to the statement: “too” or “also.” In this sentence it follows is, but its position can vary depending on what is being emphasized. Example: Ik kom ook. — “I’m coming too.” rustig is a descriptive adjective meaning quiet or calm here. With zijn (“to be”), it is used predicatively after the verb and does not receive an ending: De rit is rustig. — “The ride is quiet.” The same adjective can describe a calm atmosphere or situation; here it describes the ride as quiet. Together, De rit means “the ride,” is rustig says that it is quiet, and ook adds this as another matching observation. The whole utterance means “The ride feels quiet too,” naturally understood as “The ride is quiet as well.”

6. Kun je vanaf daar het stationsscherm zien?

   Can you see the station display from there?

   Kun je

   can you

   vanaf daar

   from there

   het

   the

   stationsscherm

   station display

   zien

   see

   More detail

   Kun je places the verb kun before the subject je because this is a yes/no question. kunnen is the base form meaning “to be able to” or “can”; kun is its present-tense form with je in this inverted question order. The pattern Kun je ...? is a reusable way to ask whether someone can do something. For example: Kun je wachten? — “Can you wait?” vanaf daar means “from there.” Vanaf marks the starting point of a distance, time span, or position, and daar refers to a place already identifiable in the situation. The phrase therefore asks about visibility from that location, without identifying the location more specifically here. het is the definite article used here with the noun stationsscherm. Dutch definite articles are de and het; the article must be learned with the noun rather than inferred from the English equivalent. In this phrase, het does not itself state a number. stationsscherm is a compound noun: station + scherm, literally a screen/display associated with a station. Its meaning here is the station display. Dutch compounds are written as one word, and the final part, scherm, is the head that determines the core noun category. A related noun is informatiescherm — “information display.” zien is the infinitive “to see.” After the modal verb kunnen, Dutch uses the infinitive: Je kunt het scherm zien — “You can see the display.” In the question, kun carries the finite verb position and zien names the action that may be possible. Together, Kun je asks about ability or possibility, vanaf daar specifies the viewing position, het stationsscherm identifies what is viewed, and zien supplies the action. The whole utterance means: “Can you see the station display from there?”

7. We hebben nog drie haltes.

   We have three more stops.

   hebben

   have

   nog

   more

   drie

   three

   haltes

   stops

   More detail

   hebben means “have” here. It is the present-tense form of hebben for we, you plural/formal, and they; the subject we is expressed separately in We hebben. The singular form is heeft, as in Zij heeft drie haltes (“She has three stops”). nog means “more” in this sentence: it indicates that three stops remain in addition to the stops already covered. Its meaning changes with context; for example, Wacht nog even means “Wait a little longer,” where it refers to continuation rather than a counted remainder. drie is the cardinal number “three.” Dutch cardinal numbers normally do not change for grammatical gender or case. It directly states the number of stops here. haltes means “stops.” It is the plural of halte, “stop,” in the transport sense. The plural ending is -s: één halte (“one stop”), but drie haltes (“three stops”). Together, We hebben nog drie haltes means “We have three more stops.” We hebben identifies the participants as “we,” nog drie marks a remaining quantity of three, and haltes names what remains. The following context about resting before getting off supports this travel-related reading.

8. Dan kunnen we een beetje uitrusten voordat we uitstappen.

   Then we can rest a little before we get off.

   Dan

   then

   kunnen we

   we can

   een beetje

   a little

   uitrusten

   rest

   voordat

   before

   uitstappen

   get off

   More detail

   Dan means “then” here and links this sentence to the preceding situation. It can introduce a consequence or next step: Dan gaan we. — “Then we go.” kunnen we combines kunnen (“can/be able to”) with we (“we”). kunnen is a modal verb; here it expresses that the speakers are able to rest, not that resting is certain. In the main clause We kunnen rusten., the subject comes before the conjugated modal. Because Dan occupies the first position here, Dutch places the conjugated verb before the subject: Dan kunnen we rusten. — “Then we can rest.” In the question Kunnen we rusten?, the verb also comes first. een beetje means “a little” and indicates a small amount or degree. It does not by itself assert a precise quantity. It can modify an activity: Ik wil een beetje lezen. — “I want to read a little.” uitrusten is the infinitive “to rest.” Its base form is uitrusten; after the modal kunnen, the infinitive remains unchanged and appears later in the clause: We kunnen uitrusten. — “We can rest.” It is a separable verb in finite main-clause use: We rusten uit. — “We rest.” Here it stays together because it is an infinitive after kunnen. voordat means “before” and introduces a subordinate clause. In Dutch, the finite verb in this kind of subordinate clause typically comes at the end: voordat we vertrekken — “before we leave.” uitstappen is the verb “to get off,” matching the supplied translation in this context. Its infinitive is also uitstappen. It is a separable verb: in a finite main clause, We stappen uit. means “We get off.” In voordat we uitstappen, uitstappen is the present-tense finite form for plural subject we; it has the same spelling as the infinitive and stands at the end of the subordinate clause. The clause means “before we get off.” Together, Dan kunnen we een beetje uitrusten means “Then we can rest a little.” The subordinate clause voordat we uitstappen adds the time relation “before we get off.” The complete utterance is: “Then we can rest a little before we get off.”