Fixing a stuck door | Learn Dutch in English

Sentence explanations

1. De deur zit vast.

   The door is stuck.

   deur

   door

   zit vast

   is stuck

   More detail

   deur means “door.” Its base form is deur; the plural is deuren. In de deur, de is the definite article used with this noun. Dutch uses de with common-gender singular nouns such as deur, and also with plural nouns; the article itself does not show that the noun is plural. zit vast means “is stuck” here. zit is the third-person singular present form of zitten (“to sit”), but together with vast it describes a thing as stuck rather than literally sitting. With a plural subject, the corresponding form is zitten: De deuren zitten vast means “The doors are stuck.” Together, De deur (“the door”) and zit vast (“is stuck”) make the complete utterance: “The door is stuck.” It describes the door’s current condition without stating why it is stuck.

2. Probeer aan de klink te trekken.

   Try pulling the handle.

   Probeer

   try

   aan

   at/on

   de klink

   the handle

   trekken

   pull

   More detail

   Probeer is the imperative of proberen (“to try”). It gives a direct instruction. In this sentence, proberen is followed by te plus an infinitive: Probeer ... te trekken = “Try to pull ...”. aan is a preposition meaning “at” or “on” in the construction aan iets trekken: to pull at something. Here it connects the action with the object being pulled; it is not the same as simply placing something “on” another object. de klink means “the handle.” klink is a noun for a handle, especially a door handle or lever. The article de is the definite article used with this noun; the phrase identifies a particular handle in the situation. trekken is the infinitive “to pull.” A useful form contrast is trekken (infinitive), trok (past tense), and getrokken (past participle). Example: Ik trok aan de klink. — “I pulled the handle.” Together, aan de klink trekken means “pull at the handle,” and Probeer ... te trekken turns that action into an instruction to try it. The complete utterance therefore means: “Try pulling the handle.”

3. Ik trok eraan, maar hij blijft dicht.

   I pulled it, but it stays closed.

   Ik

   I

   trok

   pulled

   eraan

   at it

   maar

   but

   hij

   it

   blijft

   stays

   dicht

   closed

   More detail

   Ik is the first-person singular subject: “I.” Dutch uses ik for the speaker, whether the speaker is describing a past action or a present one. trok is the past-tense form of trekken (“to pull”) used with ik: ik trek = “I pull,” ik trok = “I pulled.” The vowel change is part of this verb’s past-tense form; it is not a separate verb. Example: Ik trok aan de deur. — “I pulled the door.” eraan is the pronominal adverb er + aan, literally an “at it/to it” form. Here it refers to the thing being pulled, matching the fixed translation “it.” Dutch commonly uses this kind of form for a non-person referent: Ik trok eraan. — “I pulled it.” The related instruction in the context, aan de klink trekken, shows the same aan relationship with an explicitly named object. maar connects two contrasting clauses and means “but.” It contrasts the speaker’s pulling with the result that follows. hij is a third-person singular pronoun. In this sentence, the fixed translation identifies its intended referent as “it,” the object that remains closed. Although hij can refer to a male person in other contexts, this sentence uses it for the relevant object; the translation does not identify that object more specifically. blijft is the present-tense third-person singular form of blijven, “to stay” or “to remain.” The useful pattern is iets blijft ... — “something remains ...”; blijven is the base form, while blijft agrees with the singular subject hij. Example: De deur blijft open. — “The door stays open.” dicht means “closed” here. With blijven, it describes a continuing state: blijven dicht means “stay closed.” In this use it is a predicate describing the subject, so it does not take a separate ending to agree with hij. Its useful opposite is open: De deur blijft dicht — “The door stays closed”; De deur blijft open — “The door stays open.” Together, Ik trok eraan says “I pulled it,” and maar hij blijft dicht says “but it stays closed.” The whole utterance therefore means: “I pulled it, but it stays closed.”

4. Duw langzaam bij de rand.

   Push near the edge slowly.

   Duw

   push

   langzaam

   slowly

   bij

   near

   rand

   edge

   More detail

   Duw is the imperative of duwen (“to push”). It gives a direct instruction to push; the object is not stated here. Example: Duw de deur. — “Push the door.” langzaam is an adverb meaning “slowly.” It describes the manner of the pushing, rather than naming something that is slow. Example: Loop langzaam. — “Walk slowly.” bij means “near” or “by” and introduces a nearby location. Here it is followed by the noun phrase de rand. Example: Wacht bij de deur. — “Wait near the door.” rand means “edge” or “rim.” Its plural is randen; in this utterance, de rand means “the edge.” Together, Duw langzaam bij de rand means “Push near the edge slowly.” The imperative Duw supplies the instruction, bij de rand specifies the location, and langzaam specifies how the pushing should be done.

5. Hij ging een beetje open.

   It opened a little.

   Hij

   it

   ging … open

   opened

   een beetje

   a little

   More detail

   Hij is a Dutch third-person singular subject pronoun. In this sentence, the fixed translation supports the meaning “it,” but the supplied material does not identify exactly what it refers to. The form hij can also refer to a male person or, in suitable contexts, a singular common-gender noun; het is the usual pronoun for a neuter-gender noun. Here, only the singular subject role and the meaning “it” are established. ging ... open uses the reusable Dutch pattern open gaan, meaning “to open” or “to become open.” ging is the past-tense form of gaan, while open describes the resulting state. The past tense places the opening in the past. Example: De deur ging open. — “The door opened.” een beetje means “a little” and limits the extent of the opening. Here, een is part of the expression; the sentence does not assert a numerical count. Example: Het raam ging een beetje open. — “The window opened a little.” Together, Hij supplies the singular subject, ging ... open says that the subject opened, and een beetje limits how far or how much it opened. The whole utterance means: “It opened a little.”

6. De klink voelt los aan.

   The handle feels loose.

   klink

   handle

   voelt … aan

   feels

   los

   loose

   More detail

   klink means “handle” here, specifically the handle being described in the fixed translation. It is a noun. In a reusable sentence, de klink means “the handle”; de is the Dutch definite article used with this noun. Example: De klink is kapot. — “The handle is broken.” voelt ... aan comes from the separable verb aanvoelen, “to feel” or “to seem when felt.” In this sentence, voelt is the present-tense form for a singular subject, and the separable part aan appears later in the clause. Together, they describe the impression something gives through touch. Example: De stof voelt zacht aan. — “The fabric feels soft.” los is an adjective meaning “loose” here: the handle does not feel firmly attached. Its opposite in this physical sense is vast, “firm” or “secure.” Example: De klink voelt vast aan. — “The handle feels firm.” The whole sentence is built as De klink + voelt + los + aan: “The handle feels loose.” The adjective los describes the tactile result, while the separated parts of aanvoelen frame that description. This is a neutral, ordinary way to report how an object feels.

7. Zullen we deze deur niet meer gebruiken?

   Should we stop using this door?

   Zullen we

   shall we

   deze

   this

   deur

   door

   niet meer

   no longer

   gebruiken

   use

   More detail

   Zullen we introduces a suggestion addressed to a group that includes the speaker: “shall we…?” In this question, zullen is the present-tense form used with we; it is not expressing a definite future event. Dutch commonly uses Zullen we + infinitive ...? to propose an action. Example: Zullen we beginnen? — “Shall we begin?” deze means “this” and points to a specific nearby or otherwise identifiable item. Here it agrees with the singular noun deur, which is a de-word: deze deur — “this door.” Dutch uses deze with singular de-words and with plural nouns; dit is used with singular het-words. Example: deze stoel — “this chair.” deur means “door.” Its plural is deuren. The noun is the object of the action: the proposal concerns using this door. niet meer means “no longer” or “not anymore.” Together, these words reverse an ongoing or expected continuation: the proposed action is to stop using something. niet is the negation, while meer contributes the sense “any longer” here. Example: Ik woon daar niet meer. — “I no longer live there.” gebruiken means “to use.” It is the infinitive, the form used after zullen in this construction. Its present-tense forms include ik gebruik — “I use” and wij gebruiken — “we use.” Example: We gebruiken deze deur. — “We use this door.” Taken together, Zullen we makes a suggestion, deze deur identifies the object, and niet meer gebruiken proposes ending its use. The complete meaning is: “Should we stop using this door?”

8. We kunnen de klink repareren voordat iemand weer vast komt te zitten.

   We can fix the handle before anyone gets stuck again.

   We kunnen

   we can

   klink

   handle

   repareren

   fix; repair

   voordat

   before

   iemand

   anyone; someone

   weer

   again

   vast komt te zitten

   gets stuck

   More detail

   We kunnen means “we can.” kunnen is the present-tense form of kunnen (“can, be able to”) with we; it expresses ability or possibility here. A useful pattern is We kunnen + infinitive: “We can …” The infinitive appears later in repareren. de klink means “the handle,” specifically the handle referred to in the fixed translation and compatible with the preceding mention of a door. de is the definite article, so this is a particular handle rather than an unspecified one. Dutch nouns with de belong to the common-gender article class; the article itself does not tell us whether the handle is physically large or small. repareren is the infinitive “to repair” or “to fix.” After a modal such as kunnen, Dutch uses the infinitive: We kunnen de klink repareren = “We can fix the handle.” voordat means “before” and introduces a time clause. In a Dutch subordinate clause introduced by voordat, the verb forms are placed in a final verb group. For example, Bel me voordat je vertrekt. means “Call me before you leave.” iemand means “someone” or, in this time-clause context, “anyone.” It is an indefinite pronoun referring to an unspecified person. It is grammatically singular here, which is why the finite verb is komt; the pronoun itself does not mark the person’s gender. weer means “again.” It marks a repeated event: something has happened before and is expected to happen once more. It modifies the event of getting stuck, not the repair itself. vast komt te zitten means “gets stuck.” This is a multi-word construction: vastzitten means “to be stuck,” while komen te zitten presents entering that state, “to get stuck.” In this clause, komt agrees with singular iemand; komt is the present-tense form of komen. The phrase te zitten contains the infinitive zitten (“to sit/be situated”) after komen. The subordinate clause ends with the verb group komt te zitten: the finite verb komt comes before the infinitive zitten. Together, We kunnen de klink repareren says “We can fix the handle.” voordat iemand weer vast komt te zitten adds the time condition “before anyone gets stuck again.” The complete utterance is therefore: “We can fix the handle before anyone gets stuck again.”