Choosing an Event Activity | Learn Dutch in English

Sentence explanations

1. Pardon, aan welke evenementen kunnen we nu meedoen?

   Excuse me, which events can we join now?

   Pardon

   Excuse me

   aan welke

   which ... in/at

   evenementen

   events

   kunnen we

   can we

   nu

   now

   meedoen

   join; participate

   More detail

   Pardon is a brief polite way to get someone's attention or apologize before asking a question. It is also used in English and does not change for person or number. aan welke introduces a choice question about things associated with or available for participation. welke means “which” and selects from a set; it has the same form here because evenementen is plural. In Dutch, welke is used with plural nouns and with nouns belonging to the relevant definite form class; wat is a different question word and is not used here before this noun. evenementen means “events” here. Its singular base form is evenement; the plural is formed with -en: evenement → evenementen. The following context gives examples of the available activities, but the question itself does not state that there are only two events. kunnen we means “can we.” kunnen is the finite form of the modal verb kunnen (“can; be able to”) for we; its infinitive is also kunnen. In a yes/no or question-word question, the finite verb comes before the subject: Kunnen we ...? Compare the ordinary statement order We kunnen ... (“We can ...”). A modal is followed by an infinitive, which appears at the end here. nu means “now” and places the possible participation at the present time. It can also occur elsewhere in a Dutch sentence when the intended emphasis changes, but here it comes after we and before the final infinitive. meedoen means “to join; to participate.” It is a separable verb built from mee and doen; the complete infinitive is written as one word, meedoen. In a finite main clause, the parts can separate: We doen mee. — “We are joining in.” With the modal, the infinitive remains together at the end: We kunnen meedoen. — “We can participate.” Together, aan welke evenementen asks which events are meant, kunnen we asks about the participants’ ability or possibility, nu limits that possibility to the present, and meedoen supplies the action. The complete utterance therefore means: “Excuse me, which events can we join now?”

2. Je kunt kiezen tussen een rondleiding en een danssessie.

   You can choose between a guided walk and a dance session.

   Je kunt

   you can

   kiezen

   choose

   tussen

   between

   rondleiding

   guided walk

   danssessie

   dance session

   More detail

   Je kunt means “you can” here. je is the informal singular “you” pronoun, and kunt is a second-person singular present form of kunnen (“can, be able to”). In this sentence, kunnen expresses the possibility or permission to make a choice. After a modal verb such as kunnen, the other verb stays in the infinitive: Je kunt kiezen (“You can choose”). kiezen is the infinitive “to choose.” Its present-tense forms include ik kies, je kiest, and hij/zij kiest; the plural form is wij/jullie/zij kiezen. Thus, kiezen is used after kunt, while kies and kiest are present forms used without that modal. Example: Ik kies de rondleiding. — “I choose the guided walk.” tussen is the preposition “between.” A reusable choice pattern is kiezen tussen A en B: “choose between A and B.” tussen introduces the alternatives, and en links them. rondleiding is the noun “guided walk” or “guided tour” in this context. It is used as one noun. Dutch nouns have grammatical gender; rondleiding is a common-gender noun and therefore takes the article de: de rondleiding. Example: De rondleiding begint om tien uur. — “The guided tour starts at ten o’clock.” danssessie is the noun “dance session.” It is used as one noun. It is a common-gender noun, so it takes de: de danssessie. Example: De danssessie duurt een uur. — “The dance session lasts an hour.” Together, Je kunt kiezen tussen een rondleiding en een danssessie says that the addressee can choose between the two listed options: a guided walk and a dance session. The indefinite articles een introduce the options; here they do not by themselves assert a numerical count. The pattern Je kunt kiezen tussen een X en een Y can be reused with other alternatives.

3. Hoe is de rondleiding?

   What is the guided walk like?

   Hoe is

   What is … like?

   de rondleiding

   the guided walk

   More detail

   Hoe is is a reusable Dutch pattern for asking about the nature or qualities of something: Hoe is + noun? means “What is … like?” Here is is the third-person singular present form of zijn (“to be”). For example: Hoe is de film? — “What is the film like?” de rondleiding means “the guided walk” here. The noun rondleiding refers to an organized tour or guided visit; its base form is rondleiding. De is the definite article used with this noun. It identifies the tour as a particular one in the situation, not a numerical quantity. For example: De rondleiding begint om tien uur. — “The guided tour starts at ten.” Together, Hoe is de rondleiding? asks for a description or evaluation of the guided walk: “What is the guided walk like?”

4. Een gids leidt de wandeling in een rustig tempo.

   A guide leads the walk at a slow pace.

   gids

   guide

   leidt

   leads

   wandeling

   walk

   rustig

   slow

   tempo

   pace

   More detail

   gids means “guide” here, the person leading the walk. Its plural is gidsen. Example: De gids spreekt duidelijk. — “The guide speaks clearly.” leidt is the present-tense form of leiden for a third-person singular subject such as een gids: een gids leidt. The same verb has other forms, including ik leid and wij leiden. Example: Zij leidt de groep. — “She leads the group.” wandeling means “walk” or “walking trip.” It is a noun with the article de: de wandeling. The related verb is wandelen (“to walk”), but wandeling itself names the activity or outing. Example: We maken een wandeling. — “We are taking a walk.” rustig describes something calm, unhurried, or steady. In een rustig tempo, it characterizes the pace as unhurried; the fixed translation expresses this naturally as “a slow pace.” It is an adjective, and its comparative is rustiger (“calmer” or “slower”). Example: Loop in een rustiger tempo. — “Walk at a slower pace.” tempo means “pace” or “speed of movement.” It is a noun with the article het: het tempo. Example: Het tempo is hoog. — “The pace is fast.” The pattern een + noun introduces an indefinite noun phrase: een gids is “a guide,” and een rustig tempo is “a slow/unhurried pace.” The adjective rustig comes before the noun tempo and takes the form rustig here because the noun phrase uses een with a singular neuter noun; the article itself does not assert a numerical count. Together, Een gids leidt de wandeling says “A guide leads the walk,” and in een rustig tempo specifies how this happens: “at a slow pace.” The complete utterance is therefore “A guide leads the walk at a slow pace.”

5. Dus de rondleiding is makkelijk te volgen.

   So it is easy to follow.

   Dus

   So

   rondleiding

   guided tour

   makkelijk

   easy

   te volgen

   to follow

   More detail

   Dus is a connector meaning “so” or “thus.” It links this statement to what has just been established. It does not itself identify who finds the tour easy. rondleiding means “guided tour.” It is a singular de-word: de rondleiding. The related noun wandeling means “walk,” but it is not the same thing: a rondleiding normally involves being guided around a place, while a wandeling is simply a walk. makkelijk means “easy” or “not difficult.” It is an adjective. In this sentence it has the same form after the singular noun rondleiding; Dutch adjectives often take an -e ending before a noun, but after is in this type of description the adjective remains makkelijk. te volgen is “to follow.” volgen is the base form, and te volgen is the infinitive with te. In makkelijk te volgen, Dutch uses the pattern makkelijk/moeilijk + te + infinitive to describe something as easy or difficult to do. Example: Deze tekst is moeilijk te begrijpen. — “This text is difficult to understand.” Here te begrijpen uses the same pattern; it does not mean that someone is currently understanding the text. Together, de rondleiding is makkelijk te volgen says that the guided tour can be followed easily. The adjective describes the tour, while te volgen specifies the activity that is easy. With Dus at the beginning, the whole utterance means: “So the guided tour is easy to follow.”

6. Dat klinkt haalbaar voor een eerste keer.

   That sounds manageable for a first try.

   Dat

   That

   klinkt

   sounds

   haalbaar

   manageable

   eerste

   first

   keer

   try

   More detail

   Dat means “that” here and refers to the situation or activity being assessed, without the sentence identifying a more specific noun. In Dutch, dat is the singular neuter demonstrative; it can also refer back to a whole idea or situation. A useful contrast is dit “this” versus dat “that.” klinkt is the present-tense form of klinken (“to sound”) for a singular subject: het/dat klinkt. In this use, klinken introduces an impression based on what has been said, rather than a literal sound. Example: Dat klinkt goed. — “That sounds good.” haalbaar is an adjective meaning “manageable” or “feasible”: something can realistically be done. It does not itself express certainty that the activity will be easy or successful. Example: Het plan is haalbaar. — “The plan is feasible.” eerste is the ordinal form meaning “first,” from één in the sense of ordering. Dutch uses eerste, not the cardinal één, when indicating position in a sequence. Example: de eerste les — “the first lesson.” keer is a noun meaning “time” or “occasion.” In een eerste keer, the context makes it an occasion of trying something, so the fixed translation “a first try” is appropriate. The same noun can refer to a repeated occurrence: de tweede keer means “the second time.” Together, voor een eerste keer means “for a first try” or more literally “for a first time.” The preposition voor marks the situation being evaluated in relation to that occasion. The complete utterance therefore says: “That sounds manageable for a first try.”

7. Hoe actief is de danssessie?

   How active is the dance session?

   Hoe actief

   how active

   is

   is

   danssessie

   dance session

   More detail

   Hoe actief asks about the degree of activity: hoe means “how” in a degree question, and actief means “active.” In this sentence, actief is a predicate adjective, so it appears without an ending after is. A reusable pattern is Hoe + adjective + ...?, as in Hoe groot is de kamer? — “How big is the room?” is is the present-tense third-person singular form of zijn, “to be.” It links the subject to the description actief; it is not the form that expresses the activity itself. For example, De les is kort. means “The lesson is short.” danssessie means “dance session.” It is a compound noun: dans relates to dancing, and sessie means “session.” The observed form is singular; with the definite article, de danssessie means “the dance session.” Dutch compounds are written as one word, so this is not normally written as two separate nouns. Together, de danssessie is the subject, is links it to the adjective, and Hoe actief asks for the degree of that property. The whole utterance therefore means “How active is the dance session?”

8. Die gaat sneller, met eenvoudige passen in een groep.

   It moves faster, with simple steps in a group.

   Die

   that one / it

   gaat

   goes; moves

   sneller

   faster

   eenvoudige

   simple

   passen

   steps

   groep

   group

   More detail

   Die means “that one” or, as in the fixed translation, “it.” Here it is a demonstrative pronoun referring to the relevant activity or session. Dutch die is used independently for a singular de-word or for plural referents; the exact referent is supplied by context rather than by the form alone. gaat is the present-tense third-person singular form of gaan (“to go”). With an activity or moving subject, gaan can describe how something proceeds or moves, not only literal travel. Compare ik ga (“I go”) and wij gaan (“we go”). sneller means “faster.” It is the comparative form of snel (“fast”): snel → sneller → het snelst (“the fastest”). In this sentence, it compares the subject’s pace or manner of proceeding with a relevant alternative or expectation; the comparison is not explicitly named. eenvoudige means “simple.” It is the inflected form of the adjective eenvoudig. Before the plural noun passen, the adjective takes the ending -e: eenvoudige passen. The uninflected form appears in uses such as een eenvoudig patroon (“a simple pattern”), where the noun and construction require that form. passen means “steps” here: it is the plural of the noun pas (“step”). This is not the verb passen (“to fit” or “suit”), even though Dutch uses the same spelling for both words. For example, Deze schoenen passen means “These shoes fit,” while eenvoudige passen means “simple steps.” groep is the noun “group.” Its usual definite article is de: de groep (“the group”). In in een groep, the indefinite article presents a group without asserting a particular numerical count; the phrase means “in a group.” The surrounding words combine as follows: met eenvoudige passen means “with simple steps,” and in een groep means “in a group.” Thus Die gaat sneller, met eenvoudige passen in een groep. means “It moves faster, with simple steps in a group.” The comma separates the main statement from the accompanying description of how this happens.

9. De rondleiding past beter bij ons.

   The guided walk suits us better.

   rondleiding

   guided tour

   past

   suits; fits

   beter

   better

   bij ons

   for us

   More detail

   rondleiding is a Dutch noun meaning “guided tour” or “guided walk.” It is a de-word: de rondleiding. The plural is rondleidingen. The word is the subject here, so it is the thing being evaluated as suitable. past comes from passen. In this sentence, past is the present-tense form for a third-person singular subject such as de rondleiding; it means “suits” or “fits,” not “passes” in this context. Compare De tijd past niet — “The time does not suit [us/the situation].” beter is the comparative form of goed (“good”): goed → beter (“better”) → het best (“the best”). Here it says that the guided tour suits the relevant people more than another option or arrangement, without specifying that comparison in the sentence itself. bij ons combines the preposition bij with ons, the personal pronoun meaning “us” in this use. Together, bij ons identifies the people for whom something is suitable: “for us” or “to us” in the translation. The exact pronoun form is ons; it does not change here to mark the group’s gender. Assembling the parts, De rondleiding is the subject, past says that it suits someone, beter adds the comparison, and bij ons identifies those people. The whole utterance therefore means: “The guided walk suits us better.”