Finding the conference room | Learn Dutch in English

Sentence explanations

1. Kunt u mij vertellen waar de vergaderruimte is?

   Could you tell me where the conference room is?

   Kunt u

   Could you

   mij

   me

   vertellen

   tell

   waar

   where

   vergaderruimte

   conference room

   is

   is

   More detail

   Kunt u is a polite formal request. kunt is the present-tense form of kunnen (“can, be able to”) used with u (“you,” formal or polite). In a direct question, the verb comes before the subject: Kunt u ...? This is a useful request pattern; it does not literally assert that the listener is unable to do something. mij means “me” as the object of the verb. Compare subject ik (“I”) with object mij or the shorter unstressed form me (“me”). Here, the person being told something is the speaker. vertellen is the infinitive “to tell.” After the modal verb kunnen, the other verb stays in the infinitive: Kunt u mij vertellen ...? means “Could you tell me ...?” The phrase iemand iets vertellen is a reusable pattern: “tell someone something.” waar introduces a question about location: “where.” In this sentence it starts an embedded question, not a direct question. Dutch normally keeps the finite verb at the end of this embedded clause: waar ... is (“where ... is”). Compare the direct question Waar is de ruimte? (“Where is the room?”) with the embedded form waar de ruimte is (“where the room is”). vergaderruimte means “conference room” or “meeting room.” It is a compound noun: vergadering means “meeting,” and ruimte means “room” or “space.” Dutch commonly writes such compounds as one word. In the full noun phrase, de vergaderruimte, de is the definite article, marking this as a specific room; the noun itself is vergaderruimte. is is the present-tense form of zijn (“to be”) used with a singular third-person subject such as de vergaderruimte. In the embedded question, it appears after the subject phrase: waar de vergaderruimte is. Putting the parts together, Kunt u mij vertellen makes a polite formal request, and waar de vergaderruimte is supplies the information being requested. The whole utterance means: “Could you tell me where the conference room is?” This pattern can be reused with another embedded question, for example: Kunt u mij vertellen waar de liften zijn? — “Could you tell me where the elevators are?”

2. Loop voorbij de lobby. De ruimte is bij de liften.

   Go past the lobby. It's near the elevators.

   Loop

   go; walk

   voorbij

   past; beyond

   lobby

   lobby

   ruimte

   room; space

   bij

   near; at

   liften

   elevators

   More detail

   Loop is the imperative form of lopen (“to walk” or “to go”). In this instruction, it tells the addressee to move on foot or proceed; the exact choice between “walk” and “go” is supplied by context. Example: Loop naar de deur. — “Walk to the door.” voorbij means “past” or “beyond” when it indicates movement past a point. The pattern voorbij + noun is useful for directions. Example: Ga voorbij het station. — “Go past the station.” lobby is a noun meaning “lobby.” Dutch uses the article de with it here: de lobby. The chunk voorbij de lobby therefore means “past the lobby”; de marks the noun phrase but does not add a separate quantity meaning. ruimte is a noun meaning “room” or “space.” Here, de ruimte refers to the room being located—the room asked about in the preceding question—and not merely to an unspecified abstract space. Example: Deze ruimte is groot. — “This room is large.” bij expresses location near or at something. In bij de liften, it places the room near the elevators. Example: Het kantoor is bij de ingang. — “The office is near the entrance.” liften is the plural of the noun lift, “elevator.” The form liften indicates more than one elevator; de liften means “the elevators.” Example: De lift is daar. — “The elevator is there.” Together, Loop voorbij de lobby gives the direction “Go past the lobby.” De ruimte is bij de liften states that the room is near the elevators. The complete utterance is therefore: “Go past the lobby. It’s near the elevators.”

3. Moet ik vanaf hier de lift nemen?

   Should I take the elevator from here?

   Moet ik

   Should I

   vanaf hier

   from here

   lift

   elevator

   nemen

   take

   More detail

   Moet ik asks whether the speaker is expected or advised to do something. Moet is the singular present form of moeten (“must / have to”); ik moet means “I must,” while wij moeten means “we must.” In a yes/no question, Dutch places the finite verb before the subject: Moet ik ...? Example: Moet ik wachten? — “Should I wait?” vanaf hier means “from here.” Vanaf marks the starting point, and hier means “here.” The phrase can be reused for a starting location or time: Vanaf hier lopen we verder. — “From here, we continue on foot.” lift is the noun “elevator.” In this sentence it appears with the definite article de: de lift. Its plural is de liften, as in the nearby context. The article is part of the noun phrase, while lift is the noun itself. nemen is the infinitive “take.” With a modal such as moeten, the modal is conjugated and the lexical verb remains an infinitive: ik moet nemen. In the question, nemen comes at the end. The reusable pattern is Moet ik + ... + infinitive? — “Should I ...?” Together, Moet ik introduces the question, vanaf hier gives the starting point, and de lift nemen means “take the elevator.” Thus Moet ik vanaf hier de lift nemen? means “Should I take the elevator from here?”

4. Neem de lift één verdieping omhoog.

   Take it up one floor.

   Neem

   take

   lift

   elevator

   één

   one

   verdieping

   floor

   omhoog

   up

   More detail

   Neem is the imperative of nemen (“to take”). It addresses one person directly: “Take …”. The same form can also be a present-tense form in other contexts, but here its position at the start of an instruction makes the imperative reading clear. Example: Neem de trein. — “Take the train.” lift means “elevator” here. With the definite article de, de lift means “the elevator”, referring to the elevator understood in this situation. Dutch nouns with de belong to the common-gender article group; de itself does not indicate whether there is one or more than one elevator. één means “one” and explicitly gives the number. The accent distinguishes the numeral in careful writing and emphasis from the unstressed form een, which commonly functions as an indefinite article. Here it counts verdieping. verdieping means “floor” or “storey”. één verdieping is “one floor”. The plural is verdiepingen, as in twee verdiepingen — “two floors.” omhoog means “up” or “upward”. It describes the direction of movement, so één verdieping omhoog means “up one floor.” It is separate from verdieping; the phrase does not mean that the floor itself is “up.” Together, Neem de lift gives the instruction “Take the elevator,” and één verdieping omhoog specifies the direction and amount: “up one floor.” The complete utterance therefore means: “Take it up one floor,” with the elevator explicitly named in the Dutch sentence. This is a concise directional instruction.

5. Sla daarna linksaf de gang in.

   Then turn left into the hallway.

   Sla

   turn

   daarna

   then

   linksaf

   left

   gang

   hallway

   in

   into

   More detail

   Sla is the imperative of slaan here. In this directional use, it means “turn,” and the subject is normally left unstated because the instruction is addressed directly to the listener. Example: Sla rechtsaf. — “Turn right.” daarna is a time adverb meaning “after that” or “then.” It places this action after an earlier step. Example: Ga daarna naar buiten. — “Then go outside.” linksaf is a directional adverb meaning “to the left” or “leftward.” It is a single directional form in this utterance; it is not a separable slaan ... af construction. Its useful opposite is rechtsaf, “to the right.” Example: Sla bij de deur linksaf. — “Turn left at the door.” gang is a noun meaning “hallway” or “corridor.” In de gang, de is the definite article; the noun itself is not changed here. Example: De gang is lang. — “The hallway is long.” in means “into” in this directional construction. In de gang in, the destination noun phrase comes before in, a Dutch pattern for movement into a place. Compare in de gang, which means “in the hallway” and describes location rather than movement into it. Together, Sla ... linksaf gives the instruction “turn left,” daarna places that turn after the earlier step, and de gang in specifies the destination. The complete meaning is: “Then turn left into the hallway.”

6. Is er een kaart die ik kan gebruiken?

   Is there a map I can use?

   Is er

   is there

   kaart

   map

   die

   that / which

   kan

   can

   gebruiken

   use

   More detail

   Is er introduces an existence question in Dutch: “is there …?” Here, er is the existential element, not a specific object. The pattern is Is er + noun ...? For example: Is er een uitgang? — “Is there an exit?” kaart means “map” here. Its useful base form is kaart; the indefinite phrase een kaart means “a map.” Dutch nouns have grammatical gender classifications that affect some surrounding words, but the noun itself does not change here. die links kaart to the information that follows: “that/which.” In this sentence it introduces a relative clause describing the map. Kaart is a singular de-word, so die is the appropriate relative pronoun in this position. For example: een boek dat ik lees means “a book that I read”; een kaart die ik gebruik means “a map that I use.” kan is the singular present form of kunnen, “can” or “to be able to.” With ik, the form is ik kan; with wij, it is wij kunnen. A modal such as kan is followed by an infinitive, which is placed at the end of this subordinate clause. gebruiken is the infinitive “to use.” In die ik kan gebruiken, ik is the person who can use the map, and gebruiken remains in the infinitive after kan. For example: Ik kan deze sleutel gebruiken. — “I can use this key.” Together, Is er een kaart asks whether a map exists, and die ik kan gebruiken specifies that the speaker is looking for one they can use. The complete meaning is: “Is there a map I can use?”

7. Er is er een bij de receptie.

   There's one by the reception desk.

   Er is

   there is

   er

   one (pronoun)

   een

   a/an

   bij

   by; near

   de receptie

   the reception desk

   More detail

   Er is is the Dutch existential pattern meaning “there is” or “there are” when introducing something that exists or is present. Here, is is the singular present form of zijn (“to be”); plural uses Er zijn, as in Er zijn twee stoelen (“There are two chairs”). The second er is a pronoun meaning “one” here: it refers to one relevant but unnamed item. The translation identifies that item as the thing located by the reception desk, without naming what it is. This use is different from the first er, which belongs to the existential pattern. Example: Ik heb er één means “I have one.” een is the indefinite article, comparable to “a” or “an.” In this sentence it introduces an unspecified item; the idea of “one” comes from the pronoun er, not from treating the article by itself as a numerical statement. Dutch uses de for common-gender singular nouns and het for neuter singular nouns; een does not show that distinction. bij means “by” or “near” and places something close to a reference point. It is also used in location examples such as bij de ingang (“near the entrance”). de receptie means “the reception desk” or “the reception area.” receptie is a singular noun, and de is its definite article. The noun can refer to the reception point or area in a building; the fixed translation supports “reception desk” here. Together, Er is er een presents the existence or presence of one relevant item, and bij de receptie gives its location. The complete utterance therefore means: “There’s one by the reception desk.”

8. Dat helpt. Het is de eerste keer dat ik in dit gebouw ben.

   That helps. It's my first time in this building.

   Dat

   That

   helpt

   helps

   Het is

   It is

   eerste

   first

   keer

   time; occasion

   dat

   that

   ik

   I

   in

   in

   dit

   this

   gebouw

   building

   ben

   am; be

   More detail

   Dat means “that” here as a demonstrative pronoun referring to something already understood from the situation; the supplied translation does not identify a more specific referent. Dutch also uses dat as a conjunction in other structures, but that is not its role in this first sentence. helpt is the present-tense form of helpen, “to help,” for a third-person singular subject. The ending is part of the verb form: ik help = “I help,” while dat helpt = “that helps.” Het is is the common Dutch “it is” construction. is is a present form of zijn, “to be”; with ik, the form is ben, as in ik ben. eerste means “first.” It is an ordinal form, used to put something at position one in an order: de eerste dag = “the first day.” It is not the same as een, the indefinite article. keer means “time” in the sense of an occasion or instance. The reusable pattern de eerste keer means “the first time.” For example, Dit is mijn eerste keer hier means “This is my first time here.” The sequence de eerste keer dat introduces a clause describing when or in what situation something is the first time. In this sentence, the clause begins with dat and continues through ben: de eerste keer dat ik ... ben = “the first time that I am ...”. ik is the first-person singular pronoun “I.” It is the subject of the clause introduced by dat. in means “in” and introduces the place where someone is located. Here it connects the state of being with the building. dit means “this” and is the singular neuter demonstrative form. It agrees with gebouw, which is a neuter noun: het gebouw, “the building.” With a singular common-gender noun, Dutch generally uses deze instead, as in deze ruimte, “this room.” gebouw means “building.” Its base form is gebouw; the plural is gebouwen, “buildings.” The article is het: het gebouw. ben is the first-person singular present form of zijn, “to be.” The relevant present-tense forms include ik ben = “I am” and het is = “it is.” Here ben closes the clause dat ik in dit gebouw ben, literally “that I am in this building.” Together, Het is states the situation, de eerste keer identifies it as the first occasion, and dat ik in dit gebouw ben specifies the occasion: “that I am in this building.” The whole utterance therefore means: “That helps. It’s my first time in this building.”

9. De ruimte staat aangegeven bij het einde van de gang.

   The room is marked near the end of the hall.

   ruimte

   room; space

   staat aangegeven

   is marked; is indicated

   bij

   near; by

   einde

   end

   gang

   hall; corridor

   More detail

   ruimte means “room” here, although the same noun can also mean “space.” It is a de-word: singular de ruimte, plural ruimtes or ruimten. Example: De ruimte is groot. — “The room is large.” staat aangegeven is a reusable Dutch way to describe something as being marked or indicated. staat is the singular present form of staan, agreeing with the singular subject de ruimte; aangegeven is the past participle of aangeven (“to indicate” or “to mark”). Together, this construction focuses on the indicated state, not on who marked it. Example: De uitgang staat aangegeven. — “The exit is marked.” bij is a preposition meaning “near” or “by” in this sentence. It introduces the location of the room relative to another place. Example: De tafel staat bij de deur. — “The table is near the door.” einde means “end.” In the phrase het einde, it takes the neuter definite article het; this article belongs to einde, not to gang. Einde is commonly used for the endpoint of a route, period, or object. Example: bij het einde van de straat — “near the end of the street.” gang means “hall” or “corridor.” It is a de-word: de gang, plural de gangen. In van de gang, van expresses the relation “of/from,” so het einde van de gang means “the end of the hall.” The structure bij het einde van de gang gives a location: “near the end of the hall.” Combining it with de ruimte staat aangegeven produces “The room is marked near the end of the hall.” The sentence states where the room is indicated; it does not specify who made the marking.