Checking items in a bag | Learn Dutch in English

Sentence explanations

1. Kun je me helpen mijn tas te controleren?

   Can you help me check my bag?

   Kun je

   Can you

   me

   me

   helpen

   help

   mijn

   my

   tas

   bag

   te controleren

   to check

   More detail

   Kun je is the question opening here: kunnen means “can/be able to,” and kun je is its present-tense second-person singular form. In a yes/no question, the verb comes before the subject: Kun je ...? means “Can you ...?” This is a request about the other person’s ability or willingness to help, not a statement that they are already helping. me is the unstressed object pronoun meaning “me.” It is the short, ordinary form used here after helpen. The stressed counterpart is mij, as in Kun je míj helpen? (“Can you help me?”), when the object needs emphasis. helpen is the infinitive “to help.” After the modal verb kunnen, Dutch uses the infinitive without te: Je kunt me helpen (“You can help me”). In this sentence, helpen takes me as the person receiving help and introduces the following action with te controleren. mijn is the possessive word “my.” It identifies the bag as belonging to or being associated with the speaker. Dutch mijn does not change for the gender or number of the noun: for example, mijn tas is “my bag,” and mijn tassen is “my bags.” tas is the noun “bag.” Its plural is tassen; the plural is formed by changing the ending, not by leaving tas unchanged. Example: Mijn tas is hier. — “My bag is here.” te controleren means “to check.” controleren is the infinitive, and te marks this infinitive as part of the action that the speaker wants help with. The same pattern appears in Kun je me helpen de deur te openen? — “Can you help me open the door?” The verb controleren can also appear as controleert (“checks”) or gecontroleerd (“checked”/“been checked”), depending on the construction. Together, Kun je me helpen asks whether the listener can help the speaker. mijn tas te controleren specifies the action for which help is requested: checking the speaker’s bag. The complete utterance therefore means, “Can you help me check my bag?”.

2. Ik kan er samen met je doorheen kijken.

   I can look through it with you.

   Ik kan

   I can

   er

   it (in a pronominal-adverb construction)

   samen met je

   together with you

   doorheen kijken

   look through

   More detail

   Ik kan combines the first-person pronoun ik with kan, the first-person singular present form of kunnen (“can; be able to”). Kunnen is a modal verb, so the following verb remains in the infinitive: Ik kan helpen = “I can help.” Here it expresses ability or feasibility. er is used here as part of er ... doorheen, referring to the thing being examined. In the supplied context, that thing is the bag. Dutch often uses er with a preposition or related adverbial element instead of repeating a noun. For example, Ik kijk door de tas heen can be expressed as Ik kijk erdoorheen (“I look through it”). samen met je means “together with you.” Samen means “together,” while je is the unstressed second-person form used after met; the available text does not determine whether je refers to one person or more than one. Compare alleen (“alone”) with samen (“together”). Example: We werken samen. — “We work together.” doorheen kijken combines doorheen (“through”) with the infinitive kijken (“to look”). A reusable pattern is door iets heen kijken: We kijken door het raam heen. — “We look through the window.” In the fixed sentence, er ... doorheen supplies the object without repeating it, and kijken is the infinitive required after kan. Together, Ik kan expresses ability, er ... doorheen kijken means “look through it,” and samen met je specifies that this will be done together with the person or people addressed. The complete meaning is: “I can look through it with you.”

3. Zie je iets dat ontbreekt?

   Do you see anything missing?

   Zie

   see

   je

   you

   iets

   anything; something

   dat

   that; which

   ontbreekt

   is missing

   More detail

   Zie is the present-tense form of zien (“to see”). In this question, the verb comes before the subject: Zie je ...? means “Do you see ...?” Dutch commonly uses this subject–verb inversion in a yes/no question. With the unstressed subject je, the verb appears as zie; compare the ordinary statement Je ziet ... (“You see ...”). Example: Zie je de bus? — “Do you see the bus?” je means “you” here and refers to the person being addressed. Its form does not itself specify gender. In Zie je, it is the subject placed after the verb because this is a question. iets is an indefinite pronoun meaning “something”; in this question, English naturally translates it as “anything.” It refers to an unspecified thing rather than asserting that a particular thing exists. A useful contrast is niets, “nothing.” Example: Zie je iets? — “Do you see anything?” dat introduces the clause describing iets: dat ontbreekt means “that is missing.” In this use, dat is a relative pronoun referring back to the unspecified thing, and it is the subject of ontbreekt. ontbreekt is the present-tense third-person singular form of ontbreken, “to be missing” or “to be absent.” The base form is ontbreken; the ending in ontbreekt agrees with the singular subject dat (“that [thing]”). Example: Er ontbreekt een sleutel. — “A key is missing.” Together, Zie je asks whether the addressee sees something, iets dat ontbreekt means “something that is missing,” and the whole utterance means “Do you see anything missing?” The following context says that the wallet and phone are both present, but it does not identify any particular missing item.

4. Je portemonnee en je telefoon zijn er allebei.

   Your wallet and phone are both here.

   Je

   your

   portemonnee

   wallet

   en

   and

   telefoon

   phone

   zijn er

   are here

   allebei

   both

   More detail

   Je means “your” here and is the unstressed possessive form used before a noun. Dutch also has jouw, which is more emphatic: jouw telefoon means “your phone” with extra emphasis on “your.” portemonnee is the noun “wallet.” Its plural is portemonnees; the spelling changes because Dutch commonly adds -s to this noun. en joins the two coordinated nouns: portemonnee en telefoon means “wallet and phone.” telefoon is the noun “phone.” Together with je, it forms je telefoon, “your phone.” zijn er combines the present-tense plural form zijn of zijn (“to be”) with er, which here refers to being present in the relevant place and is translated as “here.” Because the subject consists of two items, the plural form zijn is used. For example, De sleutels zijn er. means “The keys are here.” allebei means “both” and applies to the two coordinated items. It emphasizes that each of the wallet and the phone is present. The phrase ze zijn allebei hier means “they are both here,” when the two referents are already known. The whole utterance is assembled as Je portemonnee en je telefoon (“your wallet and your phone”) + zijn er (“are here”) + allebei (“both”). Thus it says: “Your wallet and phone are both here.”

5. Waar is mijn kleine notitieboekje?

   Where is my small notebook?

   Waar is

   Where is…?

   mijn

   my

   kleine

   small

   notitieboekje

   notebook

   More detail

   Waar is places the question word waar (“where”) before the finite verb is (“is”). In a Dutch main-clause question, the finite verb comes before the subject: Waar is mijn tas? means “Where is my bag?” The form is is the third-person singular present form of zijn (“to be”); for example, Waar zijn de sleutels? means “Where are the keys?” mijn means “my” and shows possession. It does not change for the possessor’s gender or number: mijn boek and mijn boeken both use mijn. Do not confuse it with mij (“me”), which is an object form rather than a possessive word. kleine means “small” here. Its base form is klein; the -e form appears before this noun phrase: een klein boek (“a small book”) but mijn kleine boek (“my small book”). The adjective’s form is connected to the noun phrase’s grammatical structure, not to the possessive word alone. A useful comparison is kleiner (“smaller”), as in een kleiner boek (“a smaller book”). notitieboekje means “notebook.” It is a diminutive form related to notitieboek (“notebook” or “notebook-sized book”), formed with the diminutive ending -je. Dutch diminutives are grammatically neuter, so this word takes het when used with a definite article: het notitieboekje (“the notebook”). The diminutive form can also suggest a small notebook, while boekje by itself means “small book” or “booklet.” Together, waar asks for a location, is agrees with the singular noun phrase, and mijn kleine notitieboekje identifies the possessed object. The complete utterance therefore means “Where is my small notebook?” The reusable pattern is Waar is mijn [singular object]? (“Where is my [singular object]?”).

6. Het ligt onder je jas.

   It is under your jacket.

   Het

   it

   ligt

   lies; is located

   onder

   under

   je

   your

   jas

   jacket

   More detail

   Het is a Dutch third-person singular pronoun meaning “it.” Here it is the subject of ligt; in the supplied exchange, it naturally refers back to the notebook mentioned in the preceding question. Dutch het can also be the definite article “the” before certain nouns, but that is not its role here. ligt is the present-tense form of liggen, “to lie” or “to be located.” Dutch uses this verb for the position of an object: Het boek ligt op tafel. — “The book is on the table.” The form ligt is used with a singular third-person subject such as het; liggen is the base form. onder is a preposition meaning “under” or “beneath.” It introduces the location of the object: De tas ligt onder de stoel. — “The bag is under the chair.” je means “your” here, as the possessive form before jas. Dutch je can also mean “you” in other contexts, so its role is determined by how it functions in the sentence. The possessive form does not mark the gender or number of the owned noun in this phrase. jas means “jacket.” Its plural is jassen: Mijn jas hangt daar. — “My jacket is hanging there.” Together, Het ligt says that the object is located, and onder je jas gives its position: “under your jacket.” The complete utterance is therefore “It is under your jacket.”

7. Dan heb ik alles.

   Then I have everything.

   Dan

   then

   heb

   have

   ik

   I

   alles

   everything

   More detail

   Dan means “then” here: it places this statement in sequence with what came before. It can also appear later in a Dutch sentence, as in Ik heb dan alles, but its position can affect the word order around the verb. heb is the present-tense form of hebben (“to have”) for ik: ik heb = “I have.” In this sentence, heb comes before ik because Dan occupies the first position; this is a common Dutch inversion pattern after a fronted adverb or other sentence element. The form heb itself identifies the first-person singular present form; other subjects use forms such as jij hebt and wij hebben. ik is the first-person singular subject pronoun, “I.” Together with heb, it forms heb ik, the inverted version of the ordinary order ik heb. alles means “everything” or “all of it” here. It is a pronoun referring to the total set of relevant things, without naming those things. For example, Ik neem alles mee. means “I take everything with me.” Together, Dan + heb ik + alles produces “Then I have everything.” The sentence states that, at that point in the sequence, the speaker possesses or has the complete relevant set.

8. Je kunt de tas nu dichtdoen.

   You can close the bag now.

   Je kunt

   you can

   de tas

   the bag

   nu

   now

   dichtdoen

   close; shut

   More detail

   Je kunt means “you can” here. je is the informal second-person pronoun “you,” and kunt is the present-tense form of kunnen (“can; be able to”) used with je. In a sentence with a modal verb such as kunnen, the other verb normally stays in the infinitive: Je kunt komen. = “You can come.” de tas means “the bag.” tas is the singular noun “bag,” and de is the Dutch definite article used with this noun. The article identifies the bag as a particular one in the situation; it does not itself express a numerical quantity. nu means “now.” It places the action at the current time. For example, Ik vertrek nu. means “I am leaving now.” dichtdoen means “to close” or “to shut.” It is a separable Dutch verb: in some finite clauses, the parts separate, as in Ik doe de tas dicht. = “I close the bag.” After the modal kunt, however, the infinitive remains together at the end: kunt ... dichtdoen. Together, Je kunt de tas nu dichtdoen. means “You can close the bag now.” The modal kunt expresses ability or permission in this context, de tas is the object being closed, nu marks the current time, and dichtdoen supplies the action.