Resting a sore leg at home | Learn Dutch in English

Sentence explanations

1. Mijn been doet een beetje pijn.

   My leg hurts a little.

   Mijn

   my

   been

   leg

   doet … pijn

   hurts

   een beetje

   a little

   More detail

   Mijn means “my” and marks possession by the speaker. It is the first-person singular possessive form; unlike some Dutch possessives, mijn does not change for the gender or number of the noun it accompanies. been means “leg” here. Its plural is benen: een been means “a leg,” while twee benen means “two legs.” The indefinite article in een been does not by itself assert a numerical count. doet ... pijn is a common Dutch construction meaning that a body part hurts. doet is the present-tense third-person singular form of doen (“to do”), agreeing here with the singular subject mijn been; pijn means “pain.” Dutch uses this construction to express the sensation. Example: Mijn hoofd doet pijn. — “My head hurts.” een beetje means “a little” and indicates a low degree here. Example: Ik ben een beetje moe. — “I am a little tired.” Together, Mijn been identifies the speaker’s leg, doet ... pijn says that it hurts, and een beetje limits the degree. The whole utterance means: “My leg hurts a little.”

2. Ga even op deze stoel zitten.

   Sit on this chair for a moment.

   Ga

   go

   even

   for a moment

   op

   on

   deze

   this

   stoel

   chair

   zitten

   sit

   More detail

   Ga is the imperative of gaan (“to go”). Here it does not stand alone as a command to travel somewhere: with the following zitten, ga ... zitten is the Dutch pattern for telling someone to sit down. The imperative addresses one or more listeners without stating a subject. A reusable example is Ga naar buiten. — “Go outside.” even means “for a moment” here. In requests, it often makes the action sound brief or light: Wacht even. — “Wait a moment.” It does not itself state an exact duration. op is the preposition meaning “on” in this location phrase. op is used for a position on a surface or seat: Het boek ligt op de tafel. — “The book is on the table.” deze means “this” and points to something near the speaker or otherwise selected as the relevant item. In this sentence it modifies stoel. Dutch uses deze with a singular noun of the de type; dit is used with a singular het noun. The plural form for both types is deze. stoel means “chair.” Its usual singular article is de: de stoel; the plural is stoelen: de stoelen. For example, Deze stoel is vrij. means “This chair is free.” zitten is the infinitive meaning “to sit” or “to be sitting.” After the imperative ga, it completes the construction ga zitten, literally involving “go” plus “sit,” but used as the ordinary instruction “sit down.” The infinitive remains zitten after ga; it is not changed to match the listener. Together, Ga ... zitten gives the instruction “sit down,” op deze stoel specifies the location as “on this chair,” and even limits the intended duration to a moment. The complete utterance therefore means: “Sit on this chair for a moment.”

3. Ik heb vandaag te veel gelopen.

   I walked too much today.

   Ik heb

   I have

   vandaag

   today

   te veel

   too much

   gelopen

   walked

   More detail

   Ik heb combines the first-person pronoun ik (“I”) with heb, the first-person singular present form of hebben (“to have”). Here heb is an auxiliary: it helps form the Dutch perfect together with the following past participle. The construction ik heb + past participle commonly corresponds to English “I have …” or, for a completed past event, “I …ed.” vandaag means “today.” It is a time adverb and identifies when the walking happened. For example: Ik werk vandaag. — “I am working today.” te veel means “too much.” te marks an excessive amount, while veel means “much” or “a lot”; therefore te veel is not merely “a lot,” but more than is suitable or intended. The form can also be used with plural countable things as te veel (“too many”), depending on what it modifies. gelopen is the past participle of lopen, “to walk” in this sentence. The perfect is formed as hebben + gelopen: Ik heb gelopen. — “I walked” or “I have walked.” The fixed translation establishes the walking sense here; lopen can have other context-dependent uses, but those are not intended in this utterance. Together, Ik heb ... gelopen presents the walking as a completed event, vandaag places it today, and te veel says that the amount of walking exceeded what was suitable. The whole utterance therefore means: “I walked too much today.”

4. Leg je been hier omhoog en rust uit.

   Put your leg up here and rest.

   Leg

   put; place

   je

   your

   been

   leg

   hier

   here

   omhoog

   up

   rust uit

   rest

   More detail

   Leg is the imperative of leggen, “to put” or “to place.” In this form, the verb stem is used for an instruction: Leg je boek hier. — “Put your book here.” Do not confuse leggen with liggen: leggen describes placing something, while liggen describes something being in a lying position. je means “your” here. It is an unstressed possessive form; it does not show the gender or number of the possessed noun, and it does not by itself establish whether the possessor is singular or plural. jouw is a stressed form meaning “your”: Je been — “your leg”; jouw been — “your leg” with emphasis on “your.” been means “leg” here. Its plural is benen: Mijn been doet pijn. — “My leg hurts.” The possessive je and the noun been together form je been, “your leg.” hier means “here,” referring to the place indicated by the speaker or situation. It can be used with many actions: Kom hier. — “Come here.” omhoog means “up” or “upward.” Together with Leg, it indicates the direction of the placement: Til je hand omhoog. — “Lift your hand up.” rust uit means “rest.” It is the separated form of the separable verb uitrusten: rust carries the verb inflection and uit appears separately. Rust even uit. — “Rest for a moment.” The imperative form itself does not mark the addressee’s number. Together, Leg je been hier omhoog gives the instruction “Put your leg up here.” en links this instruction to the second one, rust uit, “rest.” Thus the complete utterance is: “Put your leg up here and rest.”

5. Mag ik straks een beetje rondlopen?

   Can I walk around a little later?

   Mag ik

   May I

   straks

   later

   een beetje

   a little

   rondlopen

   walk around

   More detail

   Mag ik is a polite way to ask permission: “May I ...?” The verb mag is the first-person singular present form of mogen (“may/be allowed to”). In a question, the finite verb comes before the subject: Mag ik ...? Compare the statement pattern Ik mag ... (“I may ...”). After mag, the other verb stays in the infinitive: Mag ik even zitten? means “May I sit for a moment?” straks means “later,” with the exact time supplied by the situation. It commonly refers to a later moment, often later in the same period, rather than naming a precise clock time. Example: Ik bel je straks. — “I’ll call you later.” een beetje means “a little” or “a bit.” It indicates a small amount or limited degree. The indefinite article een is part of this expression; here the phrase expresses a small degree, not a stated count of objects. Example: Wacht een beetje. — “Wait a little.” rondlopen means “to walk around.” It is a compound verb built from rond (“around”) and lopen (“walk”), but the useful reusable verb is the full form rondlopen. With the modal mag, it appears as an infinitive: mag ... rondlopen. Example: Je kunt daar rondlopen. — “You can walk around there.” Together, Mag ik asks for permission, straks places the action later, een beetje limits its extent, and rondlopen names the action. The complete utterance therefore means: “Can I walk around a little later?”

6. Loop alleen als het goed voelt.

   Walk only if it feels all right.

   Loop

   walk

   alleen

   only

   als

   if

   het

   it

   goed

   all right

   voelt

   feels

   More detail

   Loop is the imperative form of lopen (“to walk”), used here to give a direct instruction. Dutch uses this same imperative form when addressing one person or more than one person; the form itself does not mark the number. Example: Loop naar buiten. — “Walk outside.” alleen means “only” here. Together with the following condition, it limits when the walking should happen. In other contexts, alleen can also mean “alone,” so the surrounding structure determines the meaning. als introduces the condition “if.” A reusable pattern is X als Y — “X if Y.” Example: Ga als je klaar bent. — “Go if you are ready.” het is the neuter singular subject form “it.” In het voelt goed, it belongs to an impersonal expression about how the situation or experience feels; the sentence does not identify a separate noun as its referent. goed is the adjective “good,” but after voelen in this expression it gives the natural meaning “right” or “all right.” Compare een goed plan — “a good plan,” where goed directly describes the noun plan. voelt is the third-person singular present form of voelen, “to feel.” The form chain is voelen → voelt; the -t form is used with the singular subject het. Example: Het voelt koud. — “It feels cold.” Together, Loop alleen gives “walk only,” and als het goed voelt adds the condition “if it feels all right.” The complete utterance means: “Walk only if it feels all right.”

7. Op de bank zit ik beter dan op deze stoel.

   The sofa feels better than this chair.

   Op

   on

   bank

   sofa

   zit

   sits

   ik

   I

   beter

   better

   dan

   than

   deze

   this

   stoel

   chair

   More detail

   Op means “on” here. With a surface such as op de bank, it introduces the place where someone is sitting. The same preposition can introduce other locations, for example op de stoel = “on the chair.” bank means “sofa” in this sentence. It is a common noun; with the definite article, de bank means “the sofa.” Dutch bank can have other meanings in other contexts, but the fixed translation establishes the furniture meaning here. zit is the present-tense form of zitten, “to sit.” In this sentence it agrees with ik: ik zit = “I sit” or “I am sitting.” Dutch present tense can cover both meanings depending on context. Zitten describes being in a seated position; it is different from gaan zitten, “to sit down,” which focuses on the movement into that position. ik means “I” and is the first-person singular subject pronoun. In the visible order, ik comes after zit because the sentence begins with the location phrase Op de bank. This is Dutch subject–verb inversion after a fronted sentence element: Op de bank zit ik has the same basic subject and verb as Ik zit op de bank, but the location is placed first. beter means “better” here and compares the sitting experience on the sofa with the experience on the chair. It is the comparative form of goed (“good”): goed → beter → het best (“the best”). Beter is irregular, so it is not formed by adding the usual comparative ending to goed. dan means “than” and introduces the second side of a comparison. The pattern A is beter dan B means “A is better than B.” deze means “this” and points to a nearby or contextually selected singular de-word. In deze stoel, it identifies the chair intended by the fixed translation. The corresponding form for a singular het-word is dit; plural demonstratives include deze and die according to proximity. Here deze modifies stoel, rather than functioning as a noun by itself. stoel means “chair.” With its definite article, de stoel means “the chair.” The phrase deze stoel means “this chair,” with deze specifying which chair. Taken together, Op de bank gives the location, zit ik says that I am sitting there, and beter dan deze stoel compares that experience with sitting on this chair. The complete meaning is: “The sofa feels better than this chair.” The word order is literally “On the sofa sit I better than on this chair”; the natural English translation expresses the intended comparison of comfort rather than copying that order. The sentence is suitable for comparing two places to sit.

8. Ga dan daar zitten en houd je been stil.

   Then sit there and keep your leg still.

   Ga

   go

   dan

   then

   daar

   there

   zitten

   sit

   houd

   keep

   been

   leg

   stil

   still

   More detail

   Ga is the imperative of gaan (“to go”). In this utterance it combines with zitten: ga zitten is a natural Dutch way to say “sit down” or simply “sit.” The imperative addresses one person and uses ga, not the present-tense form gaat. Example: Ga naar huis. — “Go home.” dan means “then” here. It links this instruction to what has just been said or to the situation, giving the sequence “then …”. It is different from daar, which identifies a place. daar means “there,” referring to a place understood from the situation. The sentence does not identify that place more specifically. Example: Zet de tas daar. — “Put the bag there.” zitten is the infinitive of zitten, “to sit.” After the imperative ga, it remains in the infinitive in the construction ga zitten. Dutch also uses zitten independently: Ik zit op de stoel. — “I am sitting on the chair.” houd is the imperative of houden, “to keep” or “to hold.” In houd ... stil, it means “keep ... still.” The imperative form houd addresses one person; the -en ending of the infinitive is removed. Example: Houd de deur open. — “Keep the door open.” been means “leg.” Its plural is benen. In je been, je is the possessive word “your”; it does not itself state how many legs there are. Example: Mijn been doet pijn. — “My leg hurts.” stil means “still” or “motionless” here. It describes the required state of je been after houd: the leg should not move. In this use it does not mean “quiet”; Dutch can use stil for both lack of movement and lack of sound, depending on what it describes. Example: Blijf stil zitten. — “Keep sitting still.” Together, Ga dan daar zitten gives “Then sit there,” and houd je been stil gives “keep your leg still.” The two imperative clauses are joined by en, “and,” producing the full instruction: “Then sit there and keep your leg still.”