Preparing tea and snacks for a guest | Learn Dutch in English

Sentence explanations

1. Onze gast komt zo aan.

   Our guest will arrive soon.

   Onze

   our

   gast

   guest

   komt … aan

   arrives

   zo

   soon

   More detail

   Onze means “our” and is the possessive form used with a plural noun or with a noun that takes the definite-article form de. Here it agrees with gast, which is a de-word: onze gast = “our guest.” Compare ons with a singular noun that takes het, as in ons huis (“our house”). gast means “guest.” Its plural is gasten. The related word gastheer means “host” for a male host, while gastvrouw means “host” for a female host; these are different roles from the guest in this sentence. komt ... aan is the separable verb construction aankomen, “to arrive.” komt is the present-tense third-person singular form of komen (“to come”); aan is the separated particle placed later in the clause. In a main clause, the pattern is often subject + conjugated verb + other information + particle: De trein komt om acht uur aan. = “The train arrives at eight o’clock.” The full construction aankomen is more specific than komen alone: komen means “come,” while aankomen means “arrive.” zo means “soon” here. In other contexts it can also mean “like this” or “so,” so its meaning is determined by the surrounding sentence. In komt zo aan, it indicates that the arrival is expected shortly. Together, Onze gast is the subject, komt ... aan expresses the guest’s arrival, and zo places that arrival in the near future. The whole utterance means: “Our guest will arrive soon.”

2. Zullen we koffie of thee serveren?

   Should we serve coffee or tea?

   Zullen we

   shall we

   koffie

   coffee

   of

   or

   thee

   tea

   serveren

   serve

   More detail

   Zullen we is a reusable Dutch way to suggest or ask about a joint action: “shall we …?” Zullen is the present-tense form of zullen used with we; in this question, placing it before we marks the yes/no question. The construction does not itself identify who will ultimately decide. koffie means coffee. Dutch commonly uses this noun without an article when referring generally to the drink, as here. The noun is unchanged in this sentence. of connects alternatives and means “or.” It presents koffie and thee as the two options in the question. thee means tea. Like koffie here, it is a noun used without an article for the drink in general. serveren means “to serve.” It is the infinitive, the form used after zullen: zullen we serveren = “shall we serve?” The same infinitive can be reused with other subjects, for example: Zij zullen thee serveren. — “They will serve tea.” Together, Zullen we introduces a suggestion about a shared action, koffie of thee gives the alternatives, and serveren names the action. The complete utterance therefore means: “Should we serve coffee or tea?”

3. Thee is vanavond waarschijnlijk beter.

   Tea is probably better this evening.

   Thee

   tea

   vanavond

   this evening

   waarschijnlijk

   probably

   beter

   better

   More detail

   Thee means “tea” here. It is a noun. Its form is the same for singular and mass use; Dutch does not add a plural ending when referring to tea as a substance. Example: Ik drink thee. — “I drink tea.” vanavond means “this evening” or “tonight.” It is a time adverb, written as one word. Compare vandaag (“today”) and morgen (“tomorrow”); these specify different days, while vanavond specifies the evening of today. waarschijnlijk means “probably.” It is an adverb expressing that the statement is likely, not certain. Example: Hij komt waarschijnlijk morgen. — “He will probably come tomorrow.” beter means “better.” It is the comparative form of goed (“good”): goed → beter → best (“best”). Dutch uses beter when comparing quality, suitability, or usefulness, even when the thing being compared is not stated explicitly. Here, the comparison is understood from the choice between coffee and tea in the preceding context. Together, Thee is the topic, vanavond sets the time, waarschijnlijk makes the judgment probable, and beter gives the comparative judgment. The complete sentence therefore means: “Tea is probably better this evening.”

4. Ik kook wat water in de waterkoker.

   I'll boil some water in the kettle.

   Ik

   I

   kook

   boil

   wat

   some

   water

   water

   in de waterkoker

   in the kettle

   More detail

   Ik means “I.” It is the first-person singular subject pronoun. It identifies the speaker as the person performing the action. Example: Ik lees. — “I read.” kook is the present-tense form of koken (“to cook” or “to boil”) for ik. In this sentence, the object is water, so the intended meaning is “boil.” The form kook is not the infinitive; compare Ik kook (“I boil/cook”) with Ik wil koken (“I want to boil/cook”). Example: Ik kook rijst. — “I cook rice.” wat means “some” here. With an uncountable substance such as water, it indicates an unspecified amount rather than a precise quantity. Example: Ik drink wat water. — “I drink some water.” water means “water.” It is a mass noun in this use, so the sentence refers to an unspecified amount of the substance rather than to individual countable items. Example: Het water is warm. — “The water is warm.” in de waterkoker means “in the kettle.” in introduces the location, de is the definite article used with this noun, and waterkoker is a compound noun referring to an appliance for boiling water. The phrase gives the place associated with the boiling action; it does not itself express the amount of water. Together, Ik kook wat water in de waterkoker. means “I’ll boil some water in the kettle.” Dutch uses the present-tense form kook here for the intended near-future action in the fixed translation. The pattern is reusable as Ik + present-tense verb + wat + substance + in de + location: Ik kook wat water in de pan. — “I boil some water in the pan.”

5. Gebruik de grote mok voor onze gast, alsjeblieft.

   Please use the large mug for our guest.

   Gebruik

   use

   grote

   large; big

   mok

   mug

   voor

   for

   onze

   our

   gast

   guest

   alsjeblieft

   please

   More detail

   Gebruik is the imperative of gebruiken, “to use.” The imperative addresses one or more people without stating the subject: Gebruik de mok. means “Use the mug.” The form is also used here because the utterance is a request or instruction; alsjeblieft makes it polite. grote means “large” or “big” here. Its base form is groot. Before the singular noun mok, it appears as grote because mok is a singular common-gender noun with the definite article de: de grote mok. This is not a comparative form; the comparative of groot is groter (“larger”). For example, een grote mok means “a large mug,” while een grotere mok means “a larger mug.” mok is a noun meaning “mug,” typically a cup used for a drink. Its plural is mokken: twee mokken means “two mugs.” voor means “for” in this sentence. It introduces the person or purpose connected with the mug: de mok voor de gast means “the mug for the guest.” onze means “our.” It is the possessive form used with a plural possessor, “we,” and it comes before the noun phrase: onze gast means “our guest.” Unlike an English possessive such as “his,” it does not identify the gender of the people included in “our.” gast means “guest.” The plural is gasten: Onze gasten komen. means “Our guests are coming.” In the fixed utterance, gast is singular because it refers to one guest in onze gast; the sentence itself does not specify that guest’s identity. alsjeblieft means “please.” It is a polite request marker placed at the end here. It can also be used when handing something to someone, where it may mean “here you are,” but that is not its function in this sentence. Together, Gebruik de grote mok gives the instruction “Use the large mug.” voor onze gast specifies that the mug is intended for the speaker’s guest, and final alsjeblieft softens the instruction into a polite request. The complete meaning is: “Please use the large mug for our guest.”

6. Wil je dat ik ook hapjes klaarmaak?

   Would you like me to prepare snacks too?

   Wil je dat

   would you like that

   ook

   also; too

   hapjes

   snacks

   klaarmaak

   prepare

   More detail

   Wil je dat is a reusable Dutch way to ask whether someone wants a situation or action to happen. Here wil is the present-tense form of willen (“to want”) with subject je (“you”); together with dat (“that”), it introduces the requested action. In this pattern, the person who wants something is the subject of wil, while the person doing the action can be stated inside the dat-clause: Wil je dat ik ...? = “Would you like me to ...?” ook means “too” or “also”. Its position here adds the idea that preparing snacks is an additional possible task, without changing who prepares them. hapjes means “snacks” or “small bites” in this utterance. Its singular form is hapje; hapjes is the plural. The ending -je is a Dutch diminutive ending, but hapje is commonly used for a small snack or bite, not merely as a literal statement about size. Example: We serveren hapjes. — “We are serving snacks.” klaarmaak comes from the separable verb klaarmaken, “to prepare” or “to get ready”. In the present tense, its first-person singular form is ik maak klaar. In a subordinate clause introduced by dat, the parts remain together at the end: dat ik hapjes klaarmaak (“that I prepare snacks”). Compare the main-clause form Ik maak hapjes klaar. — “I prepare snacks.” As a whole, Wil je dat introduces the requested action, ik identifies the person who would do it, ook marks it as an additional option, hapjes names what would be prepared, and klaarmaak places the separable verb at the end of the dat-clause. The complete meaning is: “Would you like me to prepare snacks too?”

7. Leg wat koekjes op het kleine bord, alsjeblieft.

   Put some biscuits on the small plate, please.

   Leg

   put

   wat

   some

   koekjes

   biscuits

   op

   on

   kleine

   small

   bord

   plate

   alsjeblieft

   please

   More detail

   Leg is the imperative form of leggen (“to put” or “to lay”). Dutch imperative forms do not by themselves mark whether the request is directed to one person or to several people. Example: Leg het boek hier. — “Put the book here.” wat means “some” here, indicating an unspecified amount before the plural noun koekjes. It does not state an exact quantity. Example: Ik koop wat appels. — “I’m buying some apples.” koekjes is the plural of koekje, “biscuit” or “cookie”: koekje → koekjes. The plural ending is -s here. Example: De koekjes zijn lekker. — “The biscuits are tasty.” op means “on” here. With a placement verb such as leggen, it introduces the surface where something is placed. Example: Leg de sleutel op de tafel. — “Put the key on the table.” kleine is the form of the adjective klein (“small”) used before the noun phrase het kleine bord. The adjective takes -e here because it is attributive after the definite article het; this ending belongs to the adjective, not to the noun. Klein is also used in forms such as Het huis is klein, while kleiner means “smaller.” bord means “plate” here. It is a singular neuter noun, used with the article het: het bord. Its plural is borden, “plates.” Example: Het bord staat op tafel. — “The plate is on the table.” alsjeblieft is an informal way to say “please” in a request. It is placed at the end here; Dutch can place this expression elsewhere as well. Alstublieft is a more formal alternative. Together, Leg gives the instruction, wat koekjes identifies an unspecified amount of biscuits, and op het kleine bord gives their destination. Alsjeblieft makes the request courteous. The whole utterance means: “Put some biscuits on the small plate, please.”

8. Alles zal klaar zijn voordat onze gast aankomt.

   Everything will be ready before they arrive.

   Alles zal

   everything will

   klaar

   ready

   zijn

   be

   voordat

   before

   onze

   our

   gast

   guest

   aankomt

   arrives

   More detail

   Alles zal: Alles means “everything” and is grammatically singular in Dutch, so it takes zal, the singular form of the future auxiliary zullen. The construction alles zal ... introduces what is expected to be the case. For example: Alles zal goed komen. — “Everything will turn out well.” klaar: Here this adjective means “ready.” It describes the state that everything will be in. After zal, the adjective is followed by the infinitive zijn, rather than taking a special future form. zijn: This is the infinitive “to be.” With a modal or future auxiliary such as zal, the following lexical verb stays in the infinitive: zal zijn — “will be.” voordat: This conjunction means “before” and introduces the event that must happen later than the state described in the main clause. In a clause introduced by voordat, Dutch commonly uses the present-tense form even when the event is future in time. onze: This possessive means “our.” Before a singular common-gender noun such as gast, Dutch uses onze; before a singular neuter noun, it uses ons, as in ons huis — “our house.” gast: This noun means “guest.” Its base form is gast; the plural is gasten. In this sentence it is singular, and it is the subject of aankomt. The English translation uses singular “they,” without specifying the guest’s gender. aankomt: This is the third-person singular present form of the separable verb aankomen, “to arrive.” The verb contains aan plus komen; in a main clause, the prefix can separate, as in De gast komt aan. — “The guest arrives.” Here it remains together because the verb is inside the subordinate clause introduced by voordat: onze gast aankomt. Together, Alles zal klaar zijn means “Everything will be ready.” voordat onze gast aankomt adds the time relation “before our guest arrives.” The complete utterance therefore means: “Everything will be ready before they arrive.”