Rest Your Eyes from the Screen | Learn Dutch in English

About This Lesson

Use Rest Your Eyes from the Screen to practice Dutch conversation, pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and quizzes.

Dialogue

Mijn ogen zijn moe.

MINE OH-ghun zine MOO. My eyes are tired.

Neem een korte pauze van het scherm.

NAYM uhn KOR-tuh POW-zuh vahn uht SKHERM. Take a short break from the screen.

Hoe lang moet ik wegkijken?

HOO lahng moot ik WEKH-kye-kuhn? How long should I look away?

Kijk een minuut weg.

KIKE uhn muh-NEWT WEKH. Look away for a minute.

Ik kan wat water drinken terwijl ik rust.

ik kahn waht WAH-tur DRING-kuhn tur-WEIL ik RUHST. I can drink some water while I rest.

Dan voelen je ogen beter aan.

dahn VOO-luhn yuh OH-ghun BAY-tur ahn. That should help your eyes feel better.

Dan kan ik de taak afmaken.

dahn kahn ik duh TAHK AHF-mah-kuhn. Then I can finish the task.

Neem eerst de pauze en maak dan de taak af.

NAYM AYRST duh POW-zuh en mahk dahn duh TAHK AHF. Take the break first, then finish the task.

Word by Word

Mijn Mijn means “my” here and identifies the eyes as belonging to the speaker in “Mijn ogen”. It is used before a noun; this pattern is useful when describing your own body part or possession, such as in this situation about tired eyes.

ogen Ogen means “eyes” here, the plural body-part noun in “Mijn ogen zijn moe”. Its citation form is oog; ogen is the form used for more than one eye. You can use it when describing how your eyes feel or what they need.

zijn Zijn means “are” here and links “Mijn ogen” with the description “moe” in “Mijn ogen zijn moe”. With a plural subject, it introduces a state or description. This is useful for saying what someone or something is like at a particular moment.

moe Moe means “tired” here and describes the condition of the eyes in “Mijn ogen zijn moe”. It follows zijn in this sentence. You can use this pattern when explaining that you feel tired or that a body part feels tired.

Neem Neem means “take” here as the instruction in “Neem een korte pauze”. Its citation form is nemen; Neem is the command form used to give advice or an instruction. This is useful when telling someone to take a short break.

een Een means “a” here and introduces one unspecified break in “een korte pauze”. It comes before the noun phrase rather than naming a specific break. Use this form before a singular noun when introducing something non-specific.

korte Korte means “short” here and describes the pause in “een korte pauze”. Its citation form is kort; korte is the form used before pauze in this noun phrase. This is useful when describing a break that lasts only a little while.

pauze Pauze means “break” here, specifically a short rest from the screen in “Neem een korte pauze”. It is the noun after korte. You can use it when suggesting or discussing a rest during work.

van Van means “from” here and connects the break with its source in “van het scherm”. The pattern van + something identifies what you are taking a break from. This is useful when telling someone to stop looking at a particular thing for a while.

het Het means “the” here and introduces the specific screen in “het scherm”. Together with the following noun, it refers to a known object in the situation. Use it here when talking about the particular screen being used.

scherm Scherm means “screen” here in “van het scherm”. It names the device from which the person should take a break. This is useful in a workplace conversation about looking at or stopping work on a screen.

Hoe Hoe means “how” here and begins the duration question “Hoe lang”. It asks for information about the manner or amount of something. In this situation, it helps ask how long the speaker should look away.

lang Lang means “long” here and combines with Hoe in “Hoe lang” to ask about duration. The phrase is used before the question about the action. This is useful when asking how much time an activity should take.

moet Moet means “should” or “must” here, asking what is required in “moet ik wegkijken”. Its citation form is moeten; moet is the form used with ik in this question. The pattern moet ik + action is useful when asking for an instruction or obligation.

ik Ik means “I” here and identifies the person who should look away in “moet ik wegkijken”. It is the subject of the question, placed after moet. Use it when asking about an action that you should perform yourself.

wegkijken Wegkijken means “look away” here in “moet ik wegkijken”. It is the infinitive used after moet, and the verb combines looking with moving your gaze away. This is useful when asking or talking about taking your eyes off a screen or another object.

Kijk Kijk means “look” here as the instruction in “Kijk een minuut weg”. Its citation form is kijken; Kijk is the command form. With weg later in the same sentence, it tells someone to look away for a specified time.

minuut Minuut means “minute” here and gives the length of the instruction in “een minuut”. It appears after the article een as a time expression. This is useful when giving a short, specific duration for an action.

weg Weg means “away” here and completes the instruction “Kijk een minuut weg”. It works together with kijk to express directing the eyes away, rather than describing a separate object. This is useful when telling someone to stop looking at something temporarily.

kan Kan means “can” here and expresses the speaker’s ability or possibility in “Ik kan wat water drinken”. Its citation form is kunnen; kan is the form used with ik. The pattern Ik kan + infinitive is useful for saying what you are able or ready to do.

wat Wat means “some” here and indicates an unspecified amount of water in “wat water”. It comes directly before the substance noun. This is useful when referring to a small or unspecified amount of something that can be consumed.

water Water means “water” here as the thing the speaker can drink in “wat water”. It follows wat and is the object of drinken. This is useful when offering or mentioning water during a short rest.

drinken Drinken means “drink” here in “wat water drinken”. It is the infinitive after kan and names the possible action. This is useful for describing what someone can drink or do during a break.

terwijl Terwijl means “while” here and introduces the simultaneous action in “terwijl ik rust”. It connects drinking water with resting at the same time. Use terwijl before a clause when two actions happen together.

rust Rust means “rest” here in “terwijl ik rust”, describing what the speaker does during the break. Its citation form is rusten; rust is the form used with ik. This is useful when saying that you are resting while another activity takes place.

Dan Dan means “then” here and introduces the result or next step in “Dan voelen je ogen beter aan” and “Dan kan ik de taak afmaken”. It helps organize the actions in sequence. This is useful when explaining what happens after a break or another action.

voelen Voelen contributes the idea of “feel” in “Dan voelen je ogen beter aan”. The full meaning comes from the construction voelen ... aan, which describes how the eyes feel. Its infinitive form is used here with the plural subject je ogen, and this pattern is useful for describing a change in physical condition.

je Je means “your” here in “je ogen”, referring to the person being addressed. It comes before the body-part noun and identifies whose eyes are meant. This is useful when giving someone advice about their own body or condition.

beter Beter means “better” here and describes the improved feeling in “voelen je ogen beter aan”. It shows that the eyes feel improved after the break. This is useful when describing a positive change in how something feels.

aan Aan completes the construction voelen ... aan in “voelen je ogen beter aan”. Together, the construction expresses how the eyes feel; aan does not carry the whole meaning by itself. This is useful when describing the way a physical condition feels.

de De means “the” here and introduces the specific task in “de taak”. It marks the task as something already known in the work situation. Use it when referring to a particular task rather than introducing an unspecified one.

taak Taak means “task” here in “de taak afmaken”. It names the piece of work that the speaker plans to complete. This is useful when discussing work that still needs to be finished.

afmaken Afmaken means “finish” here in “de taak afmaken”. It is the infinitive after kan and expresses completing the task; the object de taak comes before it. This is useful for saying that you can or want to finish a specific piece of work.

eerst Eerst means “first” here and sets the break as the initial step in “Neem eerst de pauze en maak dan de taak af”. It contrasts the timing of the break with the later task. This is useful when giving instructions about the order in which actions should happen.

en En means “and” here and joins the two instructions in “Neem eerst de pauze en maak dan de taak af”. It connects the first action with the following action. This is useful when presenting two related steps in one instruction.

maak Maak contributes “finish” here in the separable construction “maak dan de taak af”. Its citation form is maken; maak is the command form, while af completes the meaning of finishing. This is useful when instructing someone to complete a specific task after another step.

Grammar Points

een + adjectief + zelfstandig naamwoord

Neem een korte pauze.

NAYM uhn KOR-tuh POW-zuh.

Take a short break.

An adjective before a common-gender noun usually takes -e: korte pauze.

terwijl + bijzin: werkwoord achteraan

Terwijl je rust, drink water.

tur-WEIL yuh RUHST, DRINGK WAH-tur.

While you rest, drink water.

After terwijl, the verb comes at the end of the subordinate clause: je rust.

Dutch Vocabulary

drinken verb

DRING-kuhn to drink

Ik kan wat water drinken terwijl ik rust.

hoe lang phrase

HOO lahng how long

Hoe lang moet ik wegkijken?

kort adj

KORT short korte

Neem een korte pauze van het scherm.

minuut noun

muh-NEWT minute

Kijk een minuut weg.

moe adj

MOO tired

Mijn ogen zijn moe.

nemen verb

NAY-muhn to take Neem

Neem een korte pauze van het scherm.

oog noun

OHKH eye ogen

Mijn ogen zijn moe.

pauze noun

POW-zuh break

Neem een korte pauze van het scherm.

scherm noun

SKHERM screen

Neem een korte pauze van het scherm.

terwijl conj

tur-WEIL while

Ik kan wat water drinken terwijl ik rust.

water noun

WAH-tur water

Ik kan wat water drinken terwijl ik rust.

wegkijken verb

WEKH-kye-kuhn to look away

Hoe lang moet ik wegkijken?

Quiz

Word Order

Arrange the words in the correct order.

My eyes are tired.

Show Answer

Mijn ogen zijn moe.

How long should I look away?

Show Answer

Hoe lang moet ik wegkijken?

Look away for a minute.

Show Answer

Kijk een minuut weg.

Spelling

Tap the letters to spell the word.

eye

Show Answer

ogen

to take

Show Answer

Neem

short

Show Answer

korte

break

Show Answer

pauze