Reporting a broken air conditioner | Learn Dutch in English

Sentence explanations

1. De airconditioning in mijn kamer werkt niet.

   The air conditioner in my room is not working.

   airconditioning

   air conditioner

   mijn

   my

   kamer

   room

   werkt

   works; is working

   niet

   not

   More detail

   airconditioning means an air-conditioning unit or system. It is a compound noun, and the fixed sentence uses it as the subject. In Dutch, it normally takes the article de: de airconditioning. Example: De airconditioning is stil. — “The air conditioner is quiet.” mijn means “my” and marks possession. It is generally unchanged before singular and plural nouns: mijn kamer — “my room”; mijn kamers — “my rooms.” It does not itself state how many rooms there are. kamer means “room.” Its useful plural is kamers. The phrase in mijn kamer means “in my room”: in introduces the location, while mijn identifies whose room it is. Example: Ik lees in mijn kamer. — “I read in my room.” werkt is the present-tense form of werken (“to work”) used with a singular third-person subject such as de airconditioning: de airconditioning werkt. Compare ik werk — “I work” and wij werken — “we work.” Here, werkt describes the air conditioner’s functioning, not a person’s job. niet is the ordinary Dutch negation word “not.” Here it follows werkt and negates the statement that the air conditioner is functioning. werkt niet therefore means “is not working,” rather than necessarily asserting that the unit is permanently broken. Together, De airconditioning is the subject, in mijn kamer specifies its location, and werkt niet says that it is not functioning. The whole utterance means: “The air conditioner in my room is not working.”

2. Het spijt me.

   I am sorry about that.

   Het spijt me.

   I'm sorry about that.

   More detail

   Het spijt me. is a fixed Dutch way to apologize: “I’m sorry about that.” In this exchange, it responds to the problem with the air conditioning. Het spijt me. Dutch uses het as the grammatical subject of this expression, while me is the person who feels regret. The verb spijt is the present-tense form of spijten; in this fixed construction, the pattern is Het spijt [person] (“[person] regrets it / is sorry”). Do not replace it with Ik spijt me. The pronoun me is the unstressed object form meaning “me.” A more emphatic form is mij, as in Het spijt mij, but Het spijt me is the ordinary conversational form. The same pattern can be extended with a clause: Het spijt me dat de airconditioning niet werkt. — “I’m sorry that the air conditioning isn’t working.” The whole utterance combines the fixed pattern Het spijt me into a concise apology. The period makes it a complete statement; the following question about the remote is a separate utterance.

3. Hebt u de afstandsbediening geprobeerd?

   Have you tried the remote?

   Hebt u

   have you

   de afstandsbediening

   the remote control

   geprobeerd

   tried

   More detail

   Hebt u is a formal or polite way to ask “have you …?” Here hebt is the present-tense form of hebben used with u; u is the formal second-person subject. Dutch can also use heeft u in this kind of question. The auxiliary comes before the subject in this question pattern: Hebt u ...? Compare: U hebt het geprobeerd. — “You have tried it.” de afstandsbediening means “the remote control.” It is a Dutch compound noun: afstand refers to distance, and bediening refers to control or operation. The complete noun is used with the definite article de. Example: Waar is de afstandsbediening? — “Where is the remote control?” geprobeerd is the past participle of proberen, “to try.” The useful form chain is proberen → probeerde (simple past) → geprobeerd (past participle). In the fixed utterance, geprobeerd combines with hebt to form the Dutch perfect construction, expressing “have tried.” The past participle does not change here to agree with the person addressed. Example: Ik heb het geprobeerd. — “I tried it” or “I have tried it.” Together, Hebt u makes a formal “have you” question, de afstandsbediening is what is being tried, and geprobeerd completes the perfect construction. The whole utterance means: “Have you tried the remote?”

4. Ik heb het geprobeerd.

   I tried it.

   Ik heb

   I have

   het

   it

   geprobeerd

   tried

   More detail

   Ik heb combines the subject pronoun ik (“I”) with the present-tense auxiliary heb (“have”), the first-person singular form of hebben. In this sentence, heb helps form the Dutch perfect: ik heb + a past participle describes a completed attempt. Compare ik heb geprobeerd (“I tried / I have tried”) with ik probeer (“I try / I am trying”), which uses the present form of proberen without the auxiliary. het is an object pronoun meaning “it” here. Its exact referent is not identified by the fixed sentence, but its role is clear: it is what was tried. Dutch also uses het as a neuter singular definite article (“the”), but that is a different function; here it stands independently as the object. geprobeerd is the past participle of proberen (“to try”). In the perfect, the pattern is hebben + geprobeerd: Ik heb het geprobeerd. The prefix ge- is part of this participle, and the form geprobeerd does not change here to agree with the subject ik. The verb proberen can also appear in the present, for example: Ik probeer het. — “I am trying it.” Together, Ik heb + het + geprobeerd means “I tried it.” The subject is the speaker, het is the thing being tried, and heb geprobeerd presents the trying as a completed event. This is a neutral, reusable way to report a completed attempt in Dutch.

5. De temperatuur verandert niet.

   The temperature does not change.

   temperatuur

   temperature

   verandert

   changes

   niet

   not

   More detail

   temperatuur means “temperature.” Its base form is temperatuur; the plural is temperaturen. The noun is preceded here by de, so the reusable noun phrase is de temperatuur (“the temperature”). verandert means “changes” here. It is the present-tense form of veranderen (“to change”), used with a third-person singular subject. The present-tense forms include ik verander, jij verandert, and wij veranderen. Example: De situatie verandert. — “The situation changes.” niet supplies the negation “not.” In this sentence it negates the verb phrase: verandert niet means “does not change.” Dutch commonly places niet after the finite verb in a simple clause like this. Together, de temperatuur identifies what is being discussed, verandert states the change, and niet negates that statement. The complete meaning is “The temperature does not change.”

6. Ik stuur iemand om het te controleren.

   I will send someone to check it.

   Ik

   I

   stuur

   send

   iemand

   someone

   om

   to

   het

   it

   controleren

   check

   More detail

   Ik is the first-person singular subject: “I.” Dutch uses ik for the speaker as the subject. The form does not identify the speaker beyond the utterance itself. stuur means “send” here. It is the first-person singular present-tense form of sturen (“to send”): ik stuur. Dutch present tense can also refer to a planned or expected future action, so the fixed translation “I will send” is compatible with this form. The subject ik is what determines this form; the verb is not a past-tense form. iemand means “someone” or “somebody.” It refers to an unspecified person. It does not itself state a numerical count; the indefinite meaning leaves the person unidentified. Example: Ik bel iemand. — “I call someone.” om introduces the purpose construction om ... te when it is followed by an infinitive. Here, om combines with te controleren to mean “in order to check” or simply “to check.” om alone does not carry the whole purpose meaning in this sentence. het means “it” here, as the object of controleren. It is a third-person singular neuter pronoun in this use. The fixed translation supports “it,” but the supplied sentence does not identify exactly what het refers to. The pronoun’s grammatical form and its actual referent are separate matters. controleren means “to check” or “to inspect.” It is the infinitive, or base form, used after te in te controleren. In the pattern om ... te + infinitive, the infinitive expresses the purpose of the action: om het te controleren — “to check it.” Putting the parts together, Ik stuur iemand means “I will send someone,” and om het te controleren gives the purpose, “to check it.” The complete utterance therefore means: “I will send someone to check it.”

7. Hoe lang kan de reparatie duren?

   How long might the repair take?

   Hoe lang

   how long

   kan

   might

   reparatie

   repair

   duren

   take (time)

   More detail

   Hoe lang asks about duration: “how long”. It is reusable with a verb or event when the answer should be a length of time, such as Hoe lang blijft hij? — “How long is he staying?” Do not confuse it with hoeveel, which asks “how many/how much” rather than how much time. kan is a present-tense form of kunnen. In this sentence, it is the form used with the singular subject de reparatie; with duren, it expresses possibility, matching “might”. The infinitive duren remains at the end of this question. For example: Het kan lang duren. — “It may take a long time.” reparatie means “repair”. It is a noun; in the source, de reparatie uses the definite article de. The article presents the repair as identifiable in this context, while the noun names the repair or repair work. Its plural is reparaties. duren is the infinitive meaning “to take (time)” or “to last”. It describes the length of an event, rather than the time needed to perform an action on something. For example: De controle duurt een uur. — “The inspection takes an hour.” Together, the pattern is Hoe lang + finite modal verb + subject + infinitive: Hoe lang kan de reparatie duren? The question asks for the possible duration of the repair: “How long might the repair take?”

8. Dat weet ik niet zeker.

   I am not sure.

   Dat

   that

   weet

   know

   ik

   I

   niet

   not

   zeker

   sure; certain

   More detail

   Dat means “that” here and refers to the matter being discussed— in the supplied context, the question about how long the repair may take. Dutch can use dat for a thing, fact, or proposition already understood from context. It does not identify a new person or object by itself. weet is the present-tense form of weten, “to know.” With ik, the reusable form is ik weet (“I know”); weet is also used with singular subjects such as jij and hij/zij, while plural subjects use weten, as in wij weten (“we know”). ik means “I” and is the subject of weet. Because Dat comes first, Dutch places the finite verb next and the subject after it: Dat weet ik .... This is a common word-order pattern when another element is placed at the beginning. niet negates the knowing: ik weet het means “I know it,” whereas ik weet het niet means “I do not know it.” In this sentence, it works with zeker in the expression niet zeker weten, “not know for certain.” zeker means “sure” or “certain.” In iets zeker weten, it describes the certainty of the knowledge, not the identity of the thing known. A reusable contrast is Ik weet het zeker (“I know it for sure”) versus Ik weet het niet zeker (“I am not sure”). Together, Dat weet ik niet zeker literally presents the matter as something the speaker does not know with certainty. Its natural meaning is “I am not sure.” The Dutch wording focuses on the certainty of the speaker’s knowledge; it does not assert that the speaker knows nothing about the matter. In the supplied exchange, the sentence can therefore express uncertainty about the repair’s duration.

9. Er kan binnenkort iemand komen.

   Someone can come shortly.

   Er kan

   there can be

   binnenkort

   soon

   iemand

   someone

   komen

   come

   More detail

   Er kan introduces the possibility that an unspecified person or thing exists or occurs in the situation. Here er is existential “there,” not a reference to a particular place. kan is the singular present form of kunnen (“can”); the singular form fits iemand (“someone”). With a plural subject, Dutch uses kunnen, as in Er kunnen mensen komen (“People can come”). binnenkort means “soon” or “shortly.” It is a time adverb and can be moved for emphasis: Iemand kan binnenkort komen also means “Someone can come shortly.” iemand means “someone” or “somebody.” It is an indefinite pronoun: it identifies an unknown or unspecified person without stating who that person is. Its form does not identify the person’s gender. komen means “to come.” This is the infinitive, the base form used after a modal such as kunnen: kan komen = “can come.” The modal carries the finite verb information, while komen stays in the infinitive and appears at the end of this clause. Together, Er kan + binnenkort + iemand + komen gives “Someone can come shortly.” The existential word order presents the possibility first, places the unspecified person after the finite verb, and puts the infinitive at the end. In this sentence, kan expresses the possibility that someone will come soon.

10. Ik wacht in de kamer.

    I will wait in the room.

    Ik

    I

    wacht

    wait

    in

    in

    kamer

    room

    More detail

    Ik is the Dutch first-person singular subject pronoun, meaning “I.” It is used for the person speaking. A useful contrast is jij or je for “you” when addressing one person. wacht comes from wachten, “to wait.” Here it is the present-tense form with ik: ik wacht. Dutch present tense can also refer to a future action when the context makes that intended time clear, which supports the fixed translation “I will wait.” For example: Ik wacht morgen. — “I will wait tomorrow.” in introduces the place where the waiting occurs: “in.” It is a preposition, and here it forms the location phrase in de kamer. kamer means “room.” The observed noun appears with the definite article de; the complete noun phrase is de kamer, “the room.” Its plural is kamers, “rooms.” Together, Ik wacht means “I wait” or, in this context, “I will wait.” in de kamer specifies the location. The complete utterance therefore means “I will wait in the room.”

11. Laat het ons weten als het probleem blijft.

    Please let us know if the problem continues.

    Laat het ons weten

    let us know

    als

    if

    probleem

    problem

    blijft

    continues

    More detail

    Laat het ons weten is a reusable Dutch construction meaning “let us know.” Here Laat is the imperative of laten (“to let”); ons means “us,” and weten means “to know.” Together, the words form the request “let us know,” rather than a literal instruction to allow someone to know. Example: Laat het me weten. — “Let me know.” als introduces a condition and means “if” here. It connects the request to the situation that follows: als + a clause. probleem is the noun “problem.” Its plural is problemen. The source uses the singular form, with the definite article het before it: het probleem — “the problem.” blijft is the present-tense form of blijven (“to continue” or “to remain”) for a singular third-person subject such as het probleem. In this sentence it means “continues.” The same verb can mean “remains” in a different context; for example, Hij blijft hier. — “He remains here.” The sentence is assembled as Laat het ons weten + als het probleem blijft: “Let us know if the problem continues.” The first part is the request, and the als-clause states the condition under which the listener should do this.