Taking photos in your free time | Learn Dutch in English

Sentence explanations

1. Maak je foto's?

   Do you take photos?

   Maak

   take

   je

   you

   foto's

   photos

   More detail

   Maak is the present-tense form of maken (“to make” or, in this context, “to take”). With je as the subject, Dutch uses maak for the present: je maakt in a statement, but maak je ...? in a yes/no question. The verb moves before the subject in this question pattern; this is not an imperative here. Example: Maak je koffie? — “Do you make coffee?” je is the informal second-person singular subject pronoun, “you.” In a statement it normally follows the verb as je maakt; in this yes/no question it follows the verb because of inversion. The form je itself does not mark whether the addressee is male or female. foto's means “photos” here. Its singular is foto, and its plural is foto's; the apostrophe separates the plural ending from the final vowel. Example: Ik maak foto's. — “I take photos.” Together, Maak je foto's? uses the pattern verb + subject + object? to ask whether the addressee takes photos. The fixed translation establishes this intended “take photos” meaning for maken in this utterance.

2. Ik gebruik meestal mijn kleine camera.

   I use my small camera most days.

   Ik

   I

   gebruik

   use

   meestal

   usually; most often

   mijn

   my

   kleine

   small

   camera

   camera

   More detail

   Ik means “I” here: the first-person singular subject. Dutch subject pronouns include ik “I,” jij/je “you” (singular), and hij/zij/ze “he/she.” Here, Ik identifies the speaker as the actor of the action. gebruik is the present-tense form of gebruiken “to use” with ik. A useful present-tense contrast is ik gebruik “I use” versus hij/zij gebruikt “he/she uses”; the infinitive is gebruiken. In this utterance, the present tense describes a regular habit. meestal means “usually” or “most often.” It expresses frequency without stating an exact number. Here it modifies gebruik; together with the fixed translation, it conveys the regular-habit meaning “most days.” mijn means “my.” It is the first-person singular possessive form and comes before the possessed noun: mijn camera means “my camera.” This form identifies the possessor as the speaker; it does not itself state how many cameras the speaker owns. kleine means “small” here. Its base form is klein, and kleine is the attributive form used before camera in mijn kleine camera. Dutch adjectives before nouns commonly take -e in this type of noun phrase. Comparison uses kleiner “smaller” and de kleinste “the smallest” when the superlative modifies a noun. camera is the noun “camera.” It is a de-word: de camera. Its plural is camera’s. In mijn kleine camera, the singular noun names the camera used by the speaker. Together, Ik gebruik means “I use,” meestal adds regular frequency, and mijn kleine camera names the object. The complete meaning is “I use my small camera most days.”

3. Wat fotografeer je graag?

   What do you like to photograph?

   Wat

   what

   fotografeer

   photograph

   je

   you

   graag

   like to; gladly

   More detail

   Wat asks for the thing being photographed: “what.” In Dutch, wat is an interrogative pronoun for an unspecified thing or information. Example: Wat lees je? — “What are you reading?” fotografeer is the present-tense form of fotograferen used with je here. It means “photograph” in this utterance. The verb is regular: ik fotografeer and je fotografeert in an ordinary statement. In a question with inversion, the second-person singular form loses the -t when je follows the finite verb: Fotografeer je ...? Example: Ik fotografeer de brug. — “I photograph the bridge.” je is the informal second-person singular subject pronoun, “you.” In this question, it comes after the finite verb because Dutch places the finite verb before the subject in a direct question. This form is also used as an unstressed possessive pronoun in other contexts, but that is not its role here. graag expresses that the activity is liked or willingly done. With an activity verb, Dutch commonly uses graag to correspond to “like to [verb]”; in this question it follows fotografeer. It is not the ordinary adjective meaning “nice”; the adjective leuk is a different word. Example: Ik lees graag. — “I like reading.” Together, Wat fotografeer je graag? has the question pattern Wat + finite verb + subject + graag? The object question Wat asks what the person photographs, fotografeer supplies the present-tense action, je identifies the person addressed, and graag says that this is an activity they like doing. The complete meaning is: “What do you like to photograph?”

4. Stille straten vind ik het leukst.

   Quiet streets are my favorite.

   Stille

   quiet

   straten

   streets

   vind

   find / consider

   het leukst

   the most enjoyable; favorite

   More detail

   Stille describes straten as quiet. It is the form of stil used before a plural noun: stil → stille. The adjective agrees here with the plural noun; the ending is carried by stille, not by straten. straten means “streets” here. Its singular is straat, and straten is its plural. The spelling changes from aa to a because Dutch spelling represents the same long vowel differently in a closed syllable such as straat and an open syllable such as stra-ten; this is not a change to a different vowel. For example, stille straten means “quiet streets.” vind is the first-person singular present form of vinden, “to find.” Here ik is the subject, even though it follows vind: ik vind means “I find.” The fronted phrase Stille straten is what the speaker evaluates. A useful pattern is ik vind X ..., “I find X ...”. het leukst is the superlative expression built from leuk, “enjoyable” or “nice”: leuk → leuker (“more enjoyable”) → het leukst (“the most enjoyable”). In iets het leukst vinden, this expresses that something is the speaker’s favorite or most enjoyable choice. The word het belongs to this superlative construction; it is not a separate statement that there is one item. Together, Stille straten is the evaluated thing, vind ik means “I find,” and het leukst gives the highest evaluation. The whole utterance therefore means “Quiet streets are my favorite,” while retaining the Dutch perspective “I find quiet streets the most enjoyable.”

5. Kan ik er één zien?

   Can I see one?

   Kan ik

   Can I …?

   er één

   one (of them)

   zien

   see

   More detail

   Kan ik means “Can I …?” here. kan is the present-tense form of kunnen (“can, be able to”) with ik; ik kan is the ordinary statement order, while kan ik is the subject–verb inversion used for this yes/no question. The following infinitive supplies the action: Kan ik komen? = “Can I come?” er één means “one (of them)” in this context. één is the independent counting form “one,” with an accent that helps distinguish it from the unstressed indefinite article een (“a/an”). er is a short pronoun referring to an item understood from the situation; the sentence does not specify that item's grammatical noun or exact identity. In a reusable pattern, er één can stand for “one” when the item has already been mentioned or is clear. zien is the infinitive “to see.” After a modal such as kunnen, Dutch uses the infinitive: Ik kan het zien. = “I can see it.” Do not replace zien with its past form when describing present ability or asking for present permission. Together, the question uses the pattern Kan ik + [object] + [infinitive]?: Kan ik er één zien? literally organizes as “Can I one see?” and naturally means “Can I see one?” The modal asks whether the speaker may or is able to perform the action, while er één identifies the object only as one relevant item.

6. Hier is er een die ik vlak bij mijn huis heb gemaakt.

   Here is one I took near my home.

   Hier

   Here

   is er een

   is one here

   die

   that/which

   ik

   I

   vlak bij

   right near

   mijn huis

   my house

   heb gemaakt

   have made

   More detail

   Hier means “here” and points to the relevant place. It also commonly begins a presentation: Hier is ... means “Here is ...”. is er een is a Dutch presentational pattern for introducing an item. er helps form this presentation, while een is the indefinite article; it does not by itself assert a numerical count. In this fixed translation, the item is rendered as “one” because that is the intended meaning. A reusable pattern is Hier is er een ... (“Here is one ...”). die is a relative pronoun introducing information about the item just presented. Dutch uses die with a singular de-word or with a plural antecedent. A reusable pattern is een [noun] die ... (“a [noun] that ...”). Here the noun itself is not stated. ik is the first-person singular subject pronoun, “I”. Its form does not change according to the speaker’s gender. Example: Ik woon hier. — “I live here.” vlak bij means “right near” or “very close to”. The shorter bij means “near” or “at”; vlak emphasizes the closeness. mijn huis means “my house”. mijn is the speaker’s possessive determiner, and huis is the noun “house”. Example: mijn werk — “my work”. heb gemaakt is a perfect-tense verb form: heb is the first-person singular present form of hebben (“to have”), and gemaakt is the past participle of maken (“to make”). Dutch also uses een foto maken for taking a photograph, so in the fixed translation this combination is naturally rendered as “took”. The reusable pattern is ik heb ... gemaakt (“I have made ...”); with a photograph, it can mean “I took ...”. Together, Hier is er een presents an item, and die ik vlak bij mijn huis heb gemaakt identifies it as an item the speaker made or, in the photograph sense intended by the translation, took near their house. The complete meaning is: “Here is one I took near my home.”

7. Het ziet er simpel en duidelijk uit.

   It looks simple and clear.

   ziet er … uit

   looks

   simpel

   simple

   duidelijk

   clear

   More detail

   ziet er … uit is a separable Dutch construction meaning “looks …” or “appears …”. Its verb is zien (“to see”); ziet is the present-tense form used with a singular third-person subject such as het, hij, or singular zij. In this construction, er and uit surround the descriptive word. Example: Het ziet er interessant uit. — “It looks interesting.” simpel means “simple” here. It is an adjective. Useful comparison forms are simpeler (“simpler”) and het simpelst (“the simplest” in a neuter superlative expression). Example: Deze oefening is simpel. — “This exercise is simple.” duidelijk means “clear” here. It is an adjective with the comparison forms duidelijker (“clearer”) and het duidelijkst (“the clearest” in a neuter superlative expression). Example: De uitleg is duidelijk. — “The explanation is clear.” en joins the two descriptions, so simpel and duidelijk both describe how something appears. Het is the subject corresponding to “it” in the fixed translation, and ziet is the matching singular present-tense form. Together, Het ziet er simpel en duidelijk uit. means “It looks simple and clear.”

8. Ik oefen wanneer ik tijd heb.

   I practice whenever I have time.

   Ik

   I

   oefen

   practice

   wanneer

   whenever

   tijd

   time

   heb

   have

   More detail

   Ik is the first-person singular subject pronoun: “I.” Dutch uses this form for the speaker as the subject. The same pronoun appears again in the subordinate clause, where it is also the subject of heb; the repeated subject is not a new participant. oefen is the present-tense first-person singular form of oefenen, “to practise/practice.” The ending here shows “I practise”; for example, Ik oefen elke dag. means “I practise every day.” wanneer means “when” and can introduce a time clause. In this sentence, the English word “whenever” gives the repeated or general reading: each time the condition is true. In a Dutch subordinate clause introduced by wanneer, the finite verb comes after the other clause material: ik tijd heb, literally ordered “I time have.” tijd is the noun “time.” In the fixed expression tijd hebben, it means having time available, rather than referring to a particular measured period. Dutch commonly uses this noun without an article in that expression: Ik heb tijd. means “I have time.” heb is the first-person singular present form of hebben, “to have.” The form changes with the subject: ik heb, but jij hebt and hij heeft. Here, heb belongs to the second ik in the time clause, so ik tijd heb means “I have time.” Together, Ik oefen states the main action, and wanneer ik tijd heb adds the condition or recurring time at which it happens. The complete meaning is: “I practise whenever I have time.”