Sending a work file | Learn Dutch in English

Sentence explanations

1. Is het rapport klaar?

   Is the report ready?

   Is

   is

   rapport

   report

   klaar

   ready

   More detail

   Is is the third-person singular present form of zijn (“to be”). In a Dutch yes/no question, the finite verb comes before the subject: Is het ...? means “Is ...?” Useful present forms are ik ben, jij bent, hij/zij/het is, and wij/jullie/zij zijn. rapport means “report.” Its plural is rapporten. In het rapport, het is the definite article, and the complete noun phrase het rapport is the subject: “the report.” klaar means “ready” or “finished,” depending on context. Here it describes the report’s state. A comparative form is klaarder (“readier”), though another phrasing may be more natural depending on the comparison. Example: Het rapport is bijna klaar. — “The report is almost ready.” Together, Is + het rapport + klaar form a Dutch yes/no question: Is het rapport klaar? — “Is the report ready?”

2. Het is bijna klaar.

   It is almost ready.

   Het is

   it is

   bijna

   almost

   klaar

   ready

   More detail

   Het is combines the subject het with is, the present-tense third-person singular form of zijn (“to be”). Here, het is the Dutch subject pronoun corresponding to “it”; the supplied translation establishes that reading, while the sentence itself does not identify exactly what “it” refers to. Dutch also uses het in other subject functions, so do not treat it as referring to a particular nearby noun automatically. Example: Het is koud. — “It is cold.” Here het is a subject used with a general situation rather than a named object. bijna is an adverb meaning “almost” or “nearly.” It indicates that the following condition is close to being true, but is not presented as fully true yet. It does not change form. Example: De film is bijna afgelopen. — “The film is almost over.” klaar is an adjective meaning “ready” here. With zijn, it commonly describes a state of readiness or completion: iets is klaar means that something is ready or finished, depending on context. In this predicative use, klaar itself does not take a gender or number ending. Example: Het eten is klaar. — “The food is ready.” Together, Het is (“it is”), bijna (“almost”), and klaar (“ready”) produce: “It is almost ready.” The sentence presents the subject as close to being ready, without asserting that it is ready already. This is a neutral, reusable pattern: Het is bijna + adjective, as in Het is bijna donker. — “It is almost dark.”

3. Stuur me het bestand als het klaar is.

   Please send me the file when it is ready.

   Stuur

   send

   me

   me

   bestand

   file

   als

   when

   klaar

   ready

   is

   is

   More detail

   Stuur is the imperative of sturen (“to send”). The imperative uses the stem stuur and normally leaves the subject unstated; in this sentence it gives a request or instruction. For example: Stuur de foto. — “Send the photo.” The English “please” expresses politeness in the fixed translation; stuur itself is still an imperative. me is the unstressed object pronoun meaning “me,” here marking the recipient of the sending. The stressed form mij is used when “me” is contrasted or emphasized, as in Stuur het naar mij. — “Send it to me.” bestand means “file.” Its base form is already the singular noun form here. A useful plural is bestanden (“files”). The noun is used with the definite article het in het bestand, meaning “the file”; the article marks a specific file rather than asserting a numerical quantity. als introduces the subordinate clause and means “when” in this sentence. Dutch als can also introduce a condition (“if”), but the fixed translation selects the temporal reading here. The reusable pattern is als + clause: Ik bel je als ik thuis ben. — “I’ll call you when I’m home.” klaar is an adjective meaning “ready” here. It is used predicatively after the subject: Het is klaar. — “It is ready.” In this use it does not change form to agree with the subject. Its comparative is klaarder (“readier”), although the basic form is the normal choice for stating a ready state. is is the present-tense form of zijn (“to be”) for a third-person singular subject. The relevant chain is zijn → is; for example, Het is klaar. — “It is ready.” In het ... is, the subject is the pronoun het, and the fixed translation identifies its intended referent as the file. Together, Stuur me het bestand means “Send me the file.” The temporal clause als het klaar is means “when it is ready.” Because this clause is introduced by als, Dutch places the finite verb is at the end of that clause. The complete utterance is therefore: “Please send me the file when it is ready.”

4. Ik heb net de laatste pagina afgemaakt.

   I just finished the last page.

   Ik heb

   I have

   net

   just

   laatste

   last

   pagina

   page

   afgemaakt

   finished

   More detail

   Ik heb introduces a completed action in the past. heb is the first-person singular present form of hebben (“to have”); here it functions as an auxiliary, not as the main meaning “possess.” Dutch commonly forms this kind of past with present-tense hebben plus a past participle: ik heb ... = “I have ... / I ...ed.” net means “just” here, indicating that the completion happened a short time ago. It is a time adverb and does not change form. laatste means “last” or “final” in de laatste pagina. It is the adjective related to laatst; before this definite singular noun, it has the -e form laatste. The phrase identifies the page as the final one in the relevant sequence; it does not itself state how many pages there are. pagina means “page.” Its plural is pagina's, with an apostrophe because the plural ending is added to the vowel-final word. In the sentence, de and the singular noun show that the phrase refers to one definite page, while laatste describes which page. afgemaakt is the past participle of afmaken, “to finish” or “to complete.” With heb, it forms the completed-action construction heb afgemaakt. The prefix af- is part of the verb: maken means “make,” whereas afmaken means “finish/complete” in this use. A related example is Ik heb het werk afgemaakt. — “I finished the work.” Together, Ik heb + net + de laatste pagina + afgemaakt means “I just finished the last page.” The speaker is the person who completed the page, and the action is presented as completed very recently.

5. Ik heb het nodig voordat de vergadering begint.

   I need it before the meeting starts.

   heb … nodig

   need

   het

   it

   voordat

   before

   vergadering

   meeting

   begint

   starts

   More detail

   heb ... nodig expresses “need” in this sentence. The verb heb is the first-person singular present form of hebben (“to have”); nodig completes the reusable Dutch construction iets nodig hebben, literally “to have something necessary.” The object can come between the verb and nodig, as in Ik heb tijd nodig (“I need time”). het is the object pronoun meaning “it” here. Its concrete referent is supplied by the situation, while the pronoun itself is the neuter singular object form. In another sentence, hem or haar may be used for a masculine or feminine singular person or thing when that form is required by the referent and context; het is not interchangeable with those forms. voordat means “before” and introduces a time clause. The event in the clause happens earlier than the event in the main clause. A useful pattern is voordat + clause, for example: Bel me voordat je vertrekt. — “Call me before you leave.” vergadering means “meeting.” The full noun phrase here is de vergadering; vergadering is a common-gender singular noun, and its plural is vergaderingen. For example: De vergadering begint om negen uur. — “The meeting starts at nine.” begint means “starts” here. It is the third-person singular present form of beginnen (“to start”): ik begin, jij begint, hij/zij/het begint. The singular subject in this clause is de vergadering, so the verb has the begint form. In voordat de vergadering begint, Dutch places the conjugated verb at the end of the subordinate clause. Together, Ik heb het nodig means “I need it,” and voordat de vergadering begint means “before the meeting starts.” The complete utterance therefore means “I need it before the meeting starts.”

6. Ik voeg het nieuwe bestand nu toe.

   I am attaching the new file now.

   Ik

   I

   voeg … toe

   attach; add

   nieuwe

   new

   bestand

   file

   nu

   now

   More detail

   Ik means “I” here. It is the first-person singular subject pronoun: the speaker is the one doing the attaching. For example, Ik lees. means “I read.” voeg ... toe is the split form of the verb toevoegen, “to add” or, in this sentence, “to attach.” The form voeg is the present-tense form used with ik; toe appears later because this separable verb splits in a main clause. Compare Ik voeg het bestand toe. (“I attach the file”) with the infinitive toevoegen (“to add/attach”). Do not treat voeg as a complete equivalent of “attach” without its separated particle in this construction. nieuwe means “new” here. Its base form is nieuw; before the definite noun phrase het nieuwe bestand, the adjective has the -e form. The adjective describes bestand, not the verb. For example, een nieuw bestand means “a new file,” while het nieuwe bestand means “the new file.” bestand means “file.” Its plural is bestanden. In het bestand, het is the definite article belonging to this noun phrase; the phrase refers to the file identified by the fixed translation and context. nu means “now,” placing the attaching action at the current time. For example, Ik begin nu. means “I am starting now.” Together, Ik supplies the subject, voeg ... toe expresses the present action of attaching, het nieuwe bestand identifies what is being attached, and nu specifies when it happens. The complete utterance therefore means “I am attaching the new file now.”

7. Ik zal het meteen controleren.

   I will check it right away.

   Ik zal

   I will

   het

   it

   meteen

   right away

   controleren

   check

   More detail

   Ik zal means “I will.” Ik is the first-person singular subject, “I.” zal is the first-person singular present form of zullen, used here as a future auxiliary. The auxiliary is followed by an infinitive: Ik zal bellen means “I will call.” In this sentence, zal expresses the speaker’s intention or commitment to perform the check. het is a neuter singular object pronoun meaning “it” here. It refers to the item being checked; in the supplied context, that is naturally the newly attached file. Dutch het can also be the definite article “the” before a neuter singular noun, but its role here is a pronoun because it stands for the object of controleren. meteen is an adverb meaning “right away” or “immediately.” It indicates that the checking will happen without delay. Example: Ik kom meteen. — “I’m coming right away.” controleren is the infinitive “to check.” Its infinitive form follows the future auxiliary zal; the finite verb is zal, while controleren names the action. Example: Ik controleer het bestand. — “I check the file.” The related form gecontroleerd is a past participle meaning “checked,” as in Ik heb het bestand gecontroleerd. — “I have checked the file.” Together, Ik zal + het + meteen + controleren forms the reusable pattern Ik zal [object] meteen controleren: “I will check [the object] right away.” The complete utterance therefore means “I will check it right away.”

8. Het zou nu in je inbox moeten staan.

   It should be in your inbox now.

   Het zou

   it would/should

   nu

   now

   inbox

   inbox

   moeten

   should; must

   staan

   stand; be located

   More detail

   Het zou contains het, the neuter singular third-person pronoun meaning “it” here, and zou, the singular form of zullen. In this sentence, zou ... moeten expresses an expectation: “should ...”, rather than simply describing a past event. The pronoun’s grammatical form is neuter singular; the fixed translation confirms the intended referent is “it”, but does not identify what that item is. nu means “now” and places the expected location in the present situation. Compare nu (“now”) with later (“later”): Het zou later in je inbox moeten staan means “It should be in your inbox later.” This is a new example showing the same time contrast. inbox is the Dutch word used here for “inbox”. The surrounding phrase in je inbox means “in your inbox”: in marks the location and je means “your” in this context. je is an unstressed possessive form and can also mean “your” before a singular or plural noun; the noun’s number does not change the form here. moeten is the infinitive of moeten, a modal verb meaning “must” or, with zou, “should / be expected to”. In the pattern zou ... moeten + infinitive, zou comes from zullen and moeten introduces the required or expected situation. Example: Je zou moeten wachten. — “You should wait.” staan is the infinitive of staan, whose basic meaning is “stand”. Dutch also uses staan for something being positioned or located, especially when describing an item as standing or remaining in a place. Here, after moeten, it is the infinitive in moeten staan, meaning “should be located”. Example: De brief staat op tafel. — “The letter is on the table.” Together, Het zou ... moeten staan forms “It should be located ...”; in je inbox supplies the location, and nu specifies the time. The complete utterance therefore means: “It should be in your inbox now.”