Finding a Missing Screw | Learn Dutch in English

Sentence explanations

1. Ik ben een kleine schroef kwijt.

   I lost a small screw.

   Ik ben

   I am

   kleine

   small

   schroef

   screw

   kwijt

   lost

   More detail

   Ik ben means “I am”: ben is the present-tense first-person singular form of zijn (“to be”). Here it combines with kwijt, rather than expressing a complete meaning by itself. Example: Ik ben moe. — “I am tired.” kleine means “small” here. Its base form is klein. In een kleine schroef, the adjective has the -e ending because schroef is a singular common-gender de-noun and the noun phrase has the indefinite article een. Singularity alone is not the full condition: a singular neuter noun can instead have no ending after een, as in the example een klein huis — “a small house.” schroef means “screw.” It is a common-gender noun, commonly used with the article de: de schroef. Example: Ik zie een schroef. — “I see a screw.” kwijt means “lost” or “no longer having something.” In the construction iets kwijt zijn, Dutch uses zijn plus kwijt to express that someone has lost or misplaced something. Kwijt stays the same here; it does not take a plural or gender ending. Example: Zij is haar sleutel kwijt. — “She has lost her key.” Together, Ik ben ... kwijt gives the reusable pattern “I have lost ... / I no longer have ...”. The object is een kleine schroef (“a small screw”), so the whole utterance means “I lost a small screw.” Dutch presents this with a present-tense state construction, while natural English commonly uses the past “lost.”

2. Kijk onder de stoel.

   Check under the chair.

   Kijk

   check; look

   onder

   under

   stoel

   chair

   More detail

   Kijk is the imperative of kijken, “to look/check.” The imperative uses the stem kijk; Dutch uses this form for a direct instruction, without a subject being stated. Kijken can mean looking generally, while here the fixed translation shows the practical sense “check.” Onder means “under” and introduces the place being checked. It can be reused in patterns such as onder de tafel (“under the table”) or onder het bed (“under the bed”). Stoel means “chair.” Its common definite form is de stoel (“the chair”), and its plural is stoelen (“chairs”). The noun itself does not carry the definiteness; de marks the singular definite noun phrase here. Together, Kijk + onder de stoel gives the direct instruction “Check under the chair.” The imperative supplies the action, onder supplies the location, and de stoel identifies the place as the chair.

3. Hij lag bij de stoelpoot.

   It was by the chair leg.

   Hij

   it

   lag

   lay / was lying

   bij

   by / near

   de stoelpoot

   the chair leg

   More detail

   Hij means “it” here. It is a Dutch third-person singular subject pronoun; its form is used with the relevant grammatical gender/class, but the supplied sentence and translation do not identify exactly which object it refers to. The matching object form is hem, as seen in the next sentence: Pak hem voorzichtig op. — “Pick it up carefully.” lag is the past-tense form of liggen, “to lie” or “to be lying.” It describes a position in the past; it is not the transitive verb “to lay.” A useful contrast is ligt — “is lying” in the present, versus lag — “was lying” in the past. Example: Het boek lag op tafel. — “The book was lying on the table.” bij expresses a location beside, by, or near something. Here it introduces the location relative to de stoelpoot. Example: De tas staat bij de deur. — “The bag is by the door.” de stoelpoot means “the chair leg.” Stoelpoot is a compound noun: stoel means “chair,” and poot means “leg” in the sense of a supporting leg of furniture or an animal. The compound is treated as one noun, and this noun takes the definite article de. Example: De stoelpoot is kapot. — “The chair leg is broken.” Together, Hij lag says that the intended object was lying, and bij de stoelpoot places it by the chair leg. The complete utterance therefore means: “It was by the chair leg.”

4. Pak hem voorzichtig op.

   Pick it up carefully.

   Pak … op

   pick up

   hem

   it

   voorzichtig

   carefully

   More detail

   Pak ... op is the separable verb oppakken, “to pick up.” Here Pak is its imperative form, used to give an instruction. In this pattern, the particle op moves to the end of the clause, so a reusable pattern is Pak [object] op (“Pick up [object]”). The two parts form one verb, not two unrelated actions. hem is the object pronoun meaning “him” or, as here, “it” for the relevant Dutch pronoun class. The fixed translation identifies the referent as “it,” and the surrounding context uses Hij for that referent. Compare the subject and object positions in the example Hij pakt het op — “He picks it up.” voorzichtig means “carefully” here and describes the manner of the action. The same form can also be used adjectivally in an appropriate noun phrase. Example: Ze loopt voorzichtig. — “She walks carefully.” Together, Pak + hem + voorzichtig + op means “Pick it up carefully.” The imperative gives the instruction, hem identifies the object, voorzichtig states the manner, and op completes the separable verb oppakken.

5. Hij is heel klein.

   It is tiny.

   Hij

   it

   is

   is

   heel

   very

   klein

   tiny; small

   More detail

   Hij is the third-person singular subject pronoun. Here the fixed translation and surrounding context support the meaning “it,” referring to the object being picked up and held. Dutch hij is used for a masculine or common-gender referent; its form does not itself identify the referent. is is the present-tense singular form of zijn (“to be”). With a third-person singular subject, use hij is, zij is, or het is; the subject determines the form. heel intensifies the following adjective here: heel klein means “very small.” In other contexts, heel can also mean “whole,” but that is not its meaning in this sentence. klein is the base form of the adjective meaning “small.” After zijn, it is used predicatively and remains klein: Het huis is klein means “The house is small.” Its comparative is kleiner (“smaller”), and its superlative is kleinst (“smallest”) in suitable constructions. Together, Hij is heel klein means “It is tiny” or, more literally, “It is very small.” The pattern is [subject] + [form of zijn] + [intensifier] + [adjective], useful for describing a subject’s size or another quality.

6. Houd hem in je handpalm, zodat hij niet weer wegrolt.

   Hold it in your palm so it does not roll away again.

   Houd

   hold

   hem

   it/him

   je

   your

   handpalm

   palm

   zodat

   so that

   hij

   it/he

   niet

   not

   weer

   again

   wegrolt

   rolls away

   More detail

   Houd is the imperative form of houden (“to hold”): “Hold!” Dutch commonly uses the verb stem for a direct imperative. Example: Houd de deur open. — “Keep the door open.” hem is an object pronoun. In this sentence, the fixed translation identifies it as “it,” the small item being held; the form itself is the object form hem, rather than the subject form hij. Example: Ik zie hem. — “I see him/it.” je is the unstressed possessive form meaning “your” here. It normally refers to one person addressed informally; the corresponding stressed possessive form is jouw. Example: Je boek ligt hier. — “Your book is here.” handpalm means “palm,” specifically the inside surface of the hand. It is a noun; the phrase in je handpalm means “in your palm.” zodat introduces a clause describing the intended result or purpose, commonly translated “so that.” It connects the holding action with the condition that should result. Example: Ik schrijf het op, zodat ik het niet vergeet. — “I write it down so that I do not forget it.” hij is a singular subject pronoun. Here, the fixed translation uses “it,” referring to the same item as hem; Dutch uses hij as the subject form in this clause and hem as the object form earlier. Example: Hij valt. — “It/he falls.” niet is the ordinary Dutch negator “not.” It negates the following situation here: the item rolling away again. Example: Hij rolt niet. — “It does not roll.” weer means “again,” indicating a recurrence. It is separate from the negation: niet weer means “not again,” while weer by itself does not mean “not.” wegrolt comes from the separable verb wegrollen, “to roll away.” This verb combines rollen (“to roll”) with the particle weg (“away”). Here rolt is the present-tense third-person singular form, agreeing with hij; because the verb is in the subordinate clause after zodat, the finite verb appears at the end, and the particle remains attached: dat hij wegrolt — “that it rolls away.” Together, Houd hem in je handpalm means “Hold it in your palm.” The clause zodat hij niet weer wegrolt adds the intended result: “so that it does not roll away again.” The complete utterance is therefore: “Hold it in your palm so it does not roll away again.”

7. We hebben hem nodig om de plank te repareren.

   We need it to fix the shelf.

   We

   we

   hebben … nodig

   need

   hem

   it

   om … te

   in order to

   plank

   shelf

   repareren

   fix

   More detail

   We means “we” and is the subject: the speaker includes themself and at least one other participant. Dutch subject pronouns include ik (“I”), jij/je (“you”), and we (“we”). Example: We werken. — “We are working.” hebben ... nodig is the reusable Dutch construction for “to need.” Here hebben is the present-tense form of hebben (“to have”) used with we; nodig completes the meaning “needed.” The construction is not best learned as a literal word-for-word equivalent of English “need.” With another subject, the verb changes: Ik heb hulp nodig. — “I need help.” hem is an object pronoun. In this sentence, the fixed translation and context identify its intended meaning as “it,” referring to the object being handled and repaired. Dutch uses hem for a singular common-gender masculine-form object pronoun; this does not assert that the object is a person or male. The subject form is hij (“he/it” as subject), while the object form is hem: Ik zie hem. — “I see him/it.” om ... te introduces a purpose construction, roughly “in order to ...” or simply “to ...”. The words are separated here because the infinitive phrase comes after the object of nodig hebben. A reusable pattern is iets nodig hebben om te + infinitive: We hebben tijd nodig om te oefenen. — “We need time to practise.” plank is a singular noun meaning “shelf” in the supplied translation. Its ordinary definite form is de plank; the sentence has de plank, so de marks this noun phrase as definite. The plural is planken: De plank is lang. — “The shelf is long.” repareren is the infinitive “to fix” or “to repair.” After te, it remains in the infinitive: om de plank te repareren means “to fix the shelf.” A present-tense example is We repareren de plank. — “We are fixing the shelf.” Together, We hebben hem nodig means “We need it,” and om de plank te repareren states the purpose: “to fix the shelf.” The complete utterance therefore means “We need it to fix the shelf.”

8. Dan kunnen we hem helemaal repareren.

   Then we can finish fixing it.

   Dan

   then

   kunnen we

   we can

   hem

   it

   helemaal

   completely

   repareren

   fix or repair

   More detail

   Dan means “then” here. It can introduce a subsequent step or consequence: Dan gaan we = “Then we go.” In this sentence, it connects the next action with the situation already established. kunnen we contains the modal verb kunnen (“can, be able to”) and the subject pronoun we (“we”). Here it is a declarative combination meaning “we can,” not a question. The present-tense form kunnen is used with plural we; compare ik kan (“I can”) with we kunnen (“we can”). After initial Dan, the finite verb comes in the second position: Dan kunnen we. hem is an object pronoun. In this sentence, the fixed translation supports the meaning “it.” Its object form contrasts with subject hij (“he/it” as subject); for example, Ik zie hem means “I see him/it.” helemaal means “completely” or “all the way.” Here it describes the extent of the repair, indicating that the repair is to be completed rather than only partly carried out. Example: De deur is helemaal open. — “The door is completely open.” repareren is the infinitive “to repair” or “to fix.” After a modal such as kunnen, Dutch uses the infinitive: We kunnen het repareren. — “We can repair it.” Kunnen is the finite verb, while repareren remains the infinitive. Together, Dan kunnen we hem helemaal repareren means “Then we can finish fixing it,” or more literally, “Then we can repair it completely.” The structure is Dan + kunnen we + hem + helemaal + repareren, with the finite modal in second position and the infinitive at the end.