Checking the table-setting list | Learn Dutch in English

Sentence explanations

1. Laten we naar de lijst kijken.

   Let's look at the list.

   Laten we

   let’s

   naar

   to; toward

   lijst

   list

   kijken

   look

   More detail

   Laten we is the Dutch construction for a suggestion involving the speaker and at least one other person: “let’s …”. It uses laten (“let”/“allow”) with we (“we”), followed by an infinitive. For example: Laten we beginnen. — “Let’s begin.” naar commonly expresses movement or orientation toward something. With kijken, kijken naar means “to look at” or “to watch”: the object is introduced with naar, rather than directly after kijken. For example: Ik kijk naar de foto. — “I am looking at the photo.” de lijst means “the list.” lijst is the singular noun; its plural is lijsten, as in de lijsten (“the lists”). The form de is the definite article used here; the translation identifies this as a particular list. kijken is the infinitive meaning “to look” or “to watch.” After Laten we, it remains in the infinitive: Laten we kijken — “Let’s look.” In the fixed sentence, it combines with naar to form kijken naar (“look at”), and de lijst names what is being looked at. Together, Laten we + naar de lijst + kijken produces: “Let’s look at the list.”

2. Ik heb hem hier.

   I have it here.

   Ik

   I

   heb

   have

   hem

   it

   hier

   here

   More detail

   Ik means “I” and is the first-person singular subject pronoun. It identifies the speaker as the subject. Compare jij/je (“you,” singular) and wij/we (“we”). heb is the first-person singular present form of hebben (“to have”): ik heb. The same verb has forms such as jij hebt and hij heeft; the form changes with the subject. Example: Ik heb tijd. — “I have time.” hem is an object pronoun. In this utterance, the fixed translation gives its intended meaning as “it.” In other contexts, the same form can mean “him” or refer to an object associated with a common-gender masculine noun. Its precise referent is not identified by the supplied sentence. Example: Ik zie hem. — “I see him/it,” depending on the established referent. hier is an adverb meaning “here,” indicating the location relevant to the speaker. Its opposite is daar (“there”). Example: Het boek is hier. — “The book is here.” Together, Ik heb hem means “I have it,” and adding hier gives Ik heb hem hier. — “I have it here.” The sentence states that the speaker has the intended object here; it does not by itself specify exactly what that object is.

3. Zijn de kopjes klaar?

   Are the cups ready?

   Zijn

   are

   kopjes

   cups

   klaar

   ready

   More detail

   Zijn is the present-tense form of zijn (“to be”) used here with the plural subject de kopjes, so it means “are.” In a yes/no question, the finite verb comes before the subject: Zijn de kopjes ...? Compare the statement De kopjes zijn klaar. (“The cups are ready.”). The same form zijn also serves as the infinitive (“to be”) and in other present-tense combinations, so its exact function comes from the sentence. kopjes means “cups” here. Its singular base form is kopje; the plural is kopjes. kopje is the diminutive form of kop, but in this sentence the relevant noun is the diminutive noun kopje, not the base noun kop. Dutch diminutives commonly end in -je or a related spelling, and their plural form here ends in -s: een kopje (“a cup”), twee kopjes (“two cups”). klaar means “ready” here. It is a predicate adjective after zijn, describing the cups’ state. In this position it does not receive an ending for the plural subject: De kopjes zijn klaar. (“The cups are ready.”) An example with a different subject is Ik ben klaar. (“I am ready.”) Together, the inverted question pattern Zijn + subject + adjective? asks whether the subject has the stated property. Thus Zijn de kopjes klaar? means “Are the cups ready?”

4. Ik heb ze allemaal gewassen.

   I washed them all.

   Ik

   I

   heb

   have

   ze

   them

   allemaal

   all

   gewassen

   washed

   More detail

   Ik is the Dutch first-person singular subject pronoun: “I.” It is used for the speaker. Compare jij (“you,” singular) and wij (“we”). heb is the first-person singular present form of hebben (“to have”). Here it is an auxiliary, not the main meaning “possess”: ik heb gewassen forms the Dutch perfect, meaning “I washed” or “I have washed.” The useful present-tense pattern is ik heb, jij hebt, hij/zij heeft, wij hebben. ze is an unstressed object pronoun meaning “them” here. Its exact referents are the things already under discussion; the fixed translation identifies the pronoun as plural “them.” In other sentence positions, ze can have other functions, including “they” or singular “her,” so its role must be read from the sentence. allemaal means “all” and adds the idea that the whole group was washed. In this sentence it follows ze: ze allemaal = “them all.” Example: Ik ken ze allemaal. — “I know them all.” gewassen is the past participle of wassen (“to wash”). The perfect uses the present auxiliary heb plus this participle: heb gewassen. The participle remains gewassen here regardless of the first-person singular subject. Example: Zij heeft de borden gewassen. — “She washed the plates.” Together, Ik heb identifies the speaker as the person who carried out the action, ze allemaal identifies the complete group affected by it, and gewassen supplies the completed washing action. Thus Ik heb ze allemaal gewassen. means “I washed them all.”

5. Mist er iets?

   Is anything missing?

   Mist

   is missing

   iets

   anything; something

   More detail

   Mist is the present-tense form of missen (“to miss” or “to be missing”). Here it means “is missing,” not “misses” in the sense of longing for someone. The form mist is used with a singular subject; the subject here is iets. Example: Er mist een lepel. — “A spoon is missing.” iets means “something” in many statements, but in this question it naturally means “anything.” It is an indefinite pronoun, not a statement of a particular quantity or a known object. The complete question uses Dutch yes/no-question word order: the finite verb Mist comes first, followed by er and the subject iets. In this construction, er introduces the existence of a missing item; iets identifies that item only as unspecified. Thus Mist er iets? means “Is anything missing?”

6. We hebben nog één lepel nodig.

   We still need one spoon.

   We

   we

   hebben … nodig

   need

   nog

   still

   één

   one

   lepel

   spoon

   More detail

   We means “we” and is the subject: the speaker includes themself and at least one other person. It is the first-person plural pronoun. Compare ik (“I”) for one speaker and wij (“we”), a possible stronger or more contrastive form. hebben and nodig form the reusable Dutch pattern iets nodig hebben, literally “have something needed” and naturally “need something.” Here hebben is the plural present-tense form of hebben (“to have”), agreeing with we; singular ik heb means “I have.” The lexical verb is hebben, while nodig completes this need-construction. For example: Ik heb water nodig. — “I need water.” nog means “still” here: the need remains at this point. Its position between the verb and the quantity/object phrase is natural in this sentence. In other contexts, nog can also mean “another” or “more,” but “still” is the meaning supported here. één explicitly means “one.” The accent distinguishes the numeral from the unstressed form of the indefinite article een; it also makes the exact number prominent. An indefinite article alone does not necessarily state a numeric count. For example: Ik heb één vraag. — “I have one question.” lepel means “spoon.” It is a common-gender singular noun; its plural is lepels. In the phrase één lepel, the singular form is appropriate because the stated quantity is one. Together, We hebben ... nodig supplies the meaning “we need ...”; nog adds “still,” and één lepel specifies the needed object and exact quantity. The complete utterance therefore means “We still need one spoon.”

7. Ik kan nog een lepel halen.

   I can get another one.

   Ik kan

   I can

   nog een

   another

   lepel

   spoon

   halen

   get

   More detail

   Ik kan means “I can.” Ik is the first-person singular subject pronoun “I”; unlike the object form mij, it is the subject here. kan is the present-tense form of kunnen used with ik. It expresses ability or possibility. Example: Ik kan komen. — “I can come.” nog een means “another” in this sentence. Together, nog and the indefinite article een introduce an additional item of the relevant kind. nog can mean “still” or “yet” in other contexts, so this additional-item meaning comes from the construction nog een, not from nog alone. een marks an indefinite singular noun; it does not by itself assert a numerical count. Example: Wil je nog een kopje? — “Would you like another cup?” lepel is the singular noun “spoon.” Its plural is lepels, meaning “spoons.” Here, the noun identifies what the additional item is; the surrounding context supports the meaning “another spoon.” halen means “to get” or “to fetch,” with the sense of obtaining or bringing something. It is the infinitive after the modal kan. In this sentence, that infinitive comes after the object phrase. Example: Ik kan water halen. — “I can get water.” Together, Ik kan + nog een lepel + halen means “I can get another spoon.” The fixed translation expresses this as “I can get another one,” while the Dutch sentence explicitly names the item as lepel (“spoon”).

8. Dan is de tafel gedekt.

   Then the table is set.

   Dan

   then

   is

   is

   tafel

   table

   gedekt

   set

   More detail

   Dan means “then” here: it places this statement after an earlier or understood event. It can also mean “at that time” in other contexts, but “then” is the useful meaning in this sentence. is is the present-tense third-person singular form of zijn, “to be.” The form agrees with the singular subject de tafel. A reusable pattern is X is ... for describing a state or condition of one subject. tafel means “table.” Its usual article is de, as in de tafel; Dutch uses de with this noun rather than het. The noun itself stays tafel in the singular. Example: De tafel is groot. — “The table is big.” gedekt is the past participle of dekken, “to set” or “to cover.” In de tafel is gedekt, it describes the table as set, matching the fixed translation. The same participle appears in passive or result-state patterns with zijn: De tafel wordt gedekt. means “The table is being set,” while De tafel is gedekt. presents it as already set. The participle is gedekt, not a form derived from the noun tafel. Together, de tafel is gedekt means “the table is set.” Adding Dan gives Dan is de tafel gedekt. — “Then the table is set.”