Following signs to the registration desk | Learn Dutch in English

Sentence explanations

1. Ik zie het bord voor het evenement op de muur.

   I can see the event sign on the wall.

   Ik

   I

   zie

   see

   bord

   sign

   voor

   for

   evenement

   event

   op

   on

   muur

   wall

   More detail

   Ik is the first-person singular pronoun, “I.” It is used for the speaker, regardless of the speaker’s gender. A useful contrast is jij or je, “you” for one person. zie is the present-tense first-person singular form of zien, “to see”: ik zie. In this sentence it means that the speaker can see the sign; Dutch does not need a separate word corresponding to English “can” for this intended meaning. Example: Ik zie de deur. — “I see the door.” bord is a noun meaning “sign” here. It can also mean “board” or “plate” in other contexts, so the surrounding words establish the intended sense. Its plural is borden. In het bord, het is the definite article used with this noun. voor is a preposition meaning “for” here. It links the sign to what it is intended or associated with: een bord voor bezoekers means “a sign for visitors.” evenement means “event.” It is a neuter noun, so the definite form is het evenement; its plural is evenementen. Here het evenement identifies the event associated with the sign. op is a preposition meaning “on” when something is located on a surface. The following phrase specifies the sign’s location. muur means “wall.” It is a common-gender noun, so the definite form is de muur; its plural is muren. The phrase op de muur means “on the wall.” Together, het bord voor het evenement means “the sign for the event,” and op de muur says where that sign is located. With Ik zie at the beginning, the complete utterance means “I can see the event sign on the wall.”

2. Er staat dat de balie boven is.

   It says the desk is upstairs.

   Er staat

   it says

   balie

   desk; counter

   boven

   upstairs

   is

   is

   More detail

   Er staat is a fixed Dutch way to introduce information that is written or shown: “it says” or “it states.” Here, er is an impersonal “there/it” element, and staat is the present-tense form of staan (“to stand”). Do not translate it literally as physical standing in this sentence. A useful pattern is Er staat dat ... = “It says that ...”. balie means “desk” or “counter,” especially a service or reception counter. Its plural is balies. For example: De balie is open. — “The desk is open.” boven means “upstairs” or “above,” depending on the spatial context. In this sentence it describes the desk’s location as upstairs. The contrasting location word is beneden (“downstairs” or “below”). For example: De wc is boven. — “The toilet is upstairs.” is is the present-tense form of zijn (“to be”) for a singular subject such as de balie. The same form also occurs with hij, zij (“she”), and het; plural subjects use zijn. For example: De winkel is boven. — “The shop is upstairs.” Together, Er staat dat introduces the stated information, de balie is the subject of that information, and boven gives its location. The complete utterance therefore means: “It says the desk is upstairs.”

3. De weg naar boven is makkelijk te volgen.

   The way upstairs is easy to follow.

   weg

   way

   naar boven

   upstairs; upward

   makkelijk

   easy

   volgen

   follow

   More detail

   weg means “way” here: a route or path. It is a noun, and the definite article de shows that the sentence refers to a specific way. The plural is wegen. Example: Deze weg is lang. — “This way is long.” naar boven expresses upward direction or movement to an upper level. naar marks direction, while boven means “above/upstairs” in this construction. Example: We lopen naar boven. — “We walk upstairs.” makkelijk means “easy” here. After zijn (“to be”), it describes the subject; in this sentence it is not marked for number or gender. Its opposite is moeilijk (“difficult”). Example: De oefening is makkelijk. — “The exercise is easy.” volgen means “to follow.” This is the infinitive, the form used after te in the construction te volgen. The pattern iets is makkelijk te + infinitive means that doing the action to something is easy: De regel is makkelijk te begrijpen. — “The rule is easy to understand.” Together, de weg naar boven identifies a specific route leading upstairs, and is makkelijk te volgen says that following this route is easy. The complete utterance therefore means that the way upstairs is easy to follow.

4. Het bord helpt ons enorm.

   The sign helps a lot.

   bord

   sign

   helpt

   helps

   ons

   us

   enorm

   a lot

   More detail

   bord means “sign” here. Its useful base form is bord; the definite form is het bord because this noun is neuter in Dutch. The same word can refer to a board or plate in other contexts, but “sign” is the intended meaning here. Example: Het bord staat daar. — “The sign is there.” helpt means “helps” in this sentence. It is the present-tense form of helpen (“to help”) for a singular third-person subject: het bord helpt. With a plural subject, Dutch uses helpen, as in De borden helpen. — “The signs help.” The -t in helpt belongs to the verb form, not to bord. ons is the object form meaning “us.” It refers to the people being helped, while het bord is the helper. Dutch uses ons after a verb in this role; compare the subject form wij (“we”): Het bord helpt ons. — “The sign helps us.” enorm expresses a very large degree here, so helpt ons enorm means “helps us a lot” or “helps us enormously.” In this use it modifies the extent of the help rather than naming a thing. The same form can also be used descriptively before a noun, for example een enorm bord — “a huge sign.” Together, Het bord supplies the subject, helpt says what it does, ons identifies the people receiving the help, and enorm intensifies that help. The complete utterance means: “The sign helps us a lot.”

5. De overloop is vlak voor ons.

   The landing is just ahead.

   overloop

   landing

   vlak voor ons

   just ahead of us

   More detail

   overloop means “landing” here: a level or area at the top of stairs. Dutch uses the definite article de with this noun in the sentence: de overloop. The word can have other context-dependent meanings, but the fixed translation identifies the stair-area meaning here. vlak voor ons means “just ahead of us.” vlak voor marks a position very close in front of a reference point, while ons is the form of wij (“we”) used after a preposition such as voor. Compare wij as the subject in Wij wachten (“We are waiting”) with voor ons (“in front of us”). The whole utterance is De overloop is vlak voor ons.: “The landing is just ahead.” is links the landing to its location, and vlak voor ons specifies that the landing is very near in front of the speakers. A reusable pattern is X is vlak voor ons — “X is just ahead of us.”

6. Dan zou de inschrijfbalie dichtbij moeten zijn.

   Then the registration desk should be close.

   Dan

   then

   inschrijfbalie

   registration desk

   dichtbij

   close; nearby

   zou … moeten zijn

   should be

   More detail

   Dan means “then” here, linking this conclusion to what has just been established. It can also refer to a later time in other sentences. Example: Dan gaan we. — “Then we’ll go.” inschrijfbalie is a Dutch compound noun meaning a desk where registration takes place. Dutch commonly combines nouns into one written word, so this form is kept as one word. Example: Waar is de inschrijfbalie? — “Where is the registration desk?” dichtbij means “close” or “nearby.” It describes location or distance and is written as one word in this use. Example: Het station is dichtbij. — “The station is nearby.” zou moeten zijn expresses an expectation or reasoned conclusion: “should be.” zou is a form of zullen used here for a tentative or inferred conclusion; moeten is the modal verb “must/should,” and zijn is the infinitive “to be.” In this combination, the final infinitive comes after the modal verbs. Example: De uitgang zou dichtbij moeten zijn. — “The exit should be nearby.” Together, Dan marks the conclusion, de inschrijfbalie supplies the place being located, and dichtbij gives its expected location. The modal sequence zou moeten zijn presents that location as an expectation rather than a directly asserted certainty. Thus the whole utterance means: “Then the registration desk should be close.”

7. Laten we gaan voordat de rij langer wordt.

   Let's go before the line gets longer.

   Laten we

   let’s

   gaan

   go

   voordat

   before

   rij

   line

   langer

   longer

   wordt

   gets / becomes

   More detail

   Laten we is the Dutch construction for a suggestion involving the speaker and at least one other person: “let’s …”. It is followed by an infinitive, as in Laten we gaan. This is a construction, not the ordinary meaning of laten (“let” or “leave”) plus an independently stated subject. gaan means “to go” here. Its base form is the infinitive gaan; the same form follows laten we. For example: Laten we wachten. — “Let’s wait.” voordat introduces an event that must happen before another event: “before”. It introduces the subordinate clause de rij langer wordt. In this clause, the finite verb comes at the end, unlike the usual main-clause order. rij means “line” or “queue” here. Its singular form is rij; the definite phrase de rij means “the line”. The article de is part of the noun phrase and does not itself state a numerical count. langer means “longer”. It is the comparative form of lang (“long”): lang → langer. The comparison is understood relative to the line’s current or earlier length. For example: De rij wordt langer. — “The line is getting longer.” wordt is the present-tense form of worden (“to become” or “to get”) for a third-person singular subject. Here de rij is singular, so Dutch uses wordt. In de rij langer wordt, it expresses a change of state: the line gets longer. The form wordt is not the same as word in ik word (“I become / get”). Together, Laten we gaan makes the suggestion “Let’s go”. voordat places the following event earlier in time, and de rij langer wordt means “the line gets longer”. The complete utterance therefore means: “Let’s go before the line gets longer.”

8. Ik houd het formulier klaar.

   I will keep the form ready.

   houd

   keep

   formulier

   form

   klaar

   ready

   More detail

   houd is the first-person singular present form of houden (“to keep/hold”). In this sentence, houd ... klaar is the separable pattern iets klaarhouden: to keep something ready. The subject Ik explicitly means “I”; it is not merely inferred from the verb form. Dutch present tense can refer to a future action when the context supports it, and the fixed translation establishes that intended reading here: “I will keep …”. formulier means “form,” such as a document to fill in. Its plural is formulieren. Together with the definite article het, het formulier means “the form.” klaar means “ready” or “prepared.” Here it describes the state in which the form is kept. Example: Ik leg het formulier klaar. — “I set out the form so it is ready.” Together, Ik houd het formulier klaar follows the pattern subject + houden + object + klaar: the speaker keeps the form in a ready state. With the fixed future interpretation, the whole utterance means “I will keep the form ready.”