Reviewing Homework Mistakes | Learn Dutch in English

Sentence explanations

1. Kunnen we mijn fouten in het huiswerk nakijken?

   Could we review my homework mistakes?

   Kunnen we

   Could we

   mijn

   my

   fouten

   mistakes

   huiswerk

   homework

   nakijken

   review

   More detail

   Kunnen we combines the modal verb kunnen with the subject pronoun we (“we”). Here, kunnen makes the request tentative: “could we …?” The infinitive belonging to it comes later: Kunnen we ... nakijken? In a statement, we kunnen ... nakijken means “we can ... review.” mijn means “my” and shows possession. It is used with both singular and plural nouns: mijn fout = “my mistake” and mijn fouten = “my mistakes.” The form mijn itself does not show whether the possessed noun is singular or plural. fouten means “mistakes” here. Its singular base form is fout (“mistake”); fouten is the regular plural. For example, Ik zie een fout. means “I see a mistake,” while Ik zie fouten. means “I see mistakes.” huiswerk means “homework.” It is normally used as an uncountable noun, so Dutch commonly says mijn huiswerk for “my homework,” without making it plural. In this sentence, in het huiswerk specifies where the mistakes are: in the homework. nakijken means “to review” or “to check.” It is an infinitive and is a separable verb. In a finite clause, the parts can separate: We kijken mijn huiswerk na. means “We check my homework.” The full infinitive stays together after a modal verb, as in Kunnen we mijn huiswerk nakijken? Together, Kunnen we introduces a tentative request, mijn fouten identifies the mistakes as the speaker’s, in het huiswerk locates them in the homework, and nakijken states the proposed action. The whole utterance means: “Could we review my homework mistakes?”

2. Ik heb een paar kleine fouten in de zinnen gemarkeerd.

   I marked a few small sentence errors.

   Ik heb

   I have / I’ve

   een paar

   a few

   kleine

   small

   fouten

   mistakes; errors

   zinnen

   sentences

   gemarkeerd

   marked

   More detail

   Ik heb is the first-person singular present form of hebben (“to have”) and, here, works as the auxiliary in the completed-past construction. Dutch uses hebben plus a past participle for many completed actions. Example: Ik heb gelezen. — “I have read / I read.” een paar means “a few” in this sentence. It is a compact quantity expression used with a plural noun: een paar fouten — “a few mistakes.” The article een is part of this expression here; the phrase does not by itself assert one mistake. kleine means “small” here and modifies the plural noun fouten. The adjective is klein; before a plural noun it takes the ending -e: kleine fouten. Example: kleine zinnen — “small sentences.” fouten means “mistakes” or “errors.” Its singular base form is fout; fouten is the plural. In this utterance, the errors are the things being marked. Example: Ik zie twee fouten. — “I see two errors.” zinnen means “sentences.” Its singular base form is zin; zinnen is the plural. With the preceding de, de zinnen refers to the sentences relevant in the situation, while the noun itself supplies the meaning “sentences.” Example: De zinnen zijn kort. — “The sentences are short.” gemarkeerd is the past participle of markeren, “to mark.” Together with Ik heb, it forms the completed action heb gemarkeerd, “have marked / marked.” The participle does not change here to agree with Ik; the auxiliary carries the person and number: Ik heb gemarkeerd, but Wij hebben gemarkeerd. The utterance builds as Ik heb + een paar kleine fouten + in de zinnen + gemarkeerd: “I have marked a few small errors in the sentences.” The completed action is marking, the marked objects are a few small errors, and in de zinnen specifies where those errors occur.

3. Waarom heb je deze correctie gemaakt?

   Why did you make this correction?

   Waarom

   why

   heb je

   have you

   deze

   this

   correctie

   correction

   gemaakt

   made

   More detail

   Waarom means “why” and asks for the reason for an action or situation. It introduces the question here; it does not itself express the action. heb je contains the present-tense auxiliary hebben (“to have”) and the subject pronoun je (“you”). In this question, heb is the second-person singular form of hebben. Dutch uses this auxiliary with a past participle to form the perfect: heb je ... gemaakt? corresponds here to “did you make ...?” The finite verb comes before the subject in this question structure. Compare the statement order je hebt ... (“you have ...”) with the question order heb je ...? (“have you ...?”). deze means “this” and is the demonstrative used with a singular noun of the de type and with plural nouns. For a singular het-word, Dutch uses dit instead: dit boek (“this book”). Its specific referent is the correction identified in this utterance. correctie means “correction.” Its base form is the noun correctie; here it is singular and follows the demonstrative deze, which already marks the noun phrase as definite. A related plural is correcties (“corrections”). Example: Ik zie een correctie. — “I see a correction.” gemaakt is the past participle of the verb maken (“to make”). The useful form chain is maken — maakte — gemaakt (“make” — “made” — “made”). Here gemaakt combines with heb to express a completed action. Example: Je hebt een keuze gemaakt. — “You made a choice.” Together, Waarom asks for the reason, heb je ... gemaakt forms a perfect-tense question about an action by “you,” and deze correctie identifies the correction involved. The complete meaning is: “Why did you make this correction?”

4. Het zelfstandig naamwoord heeft hier een lidwoord nodig.

   The noun needs an article here.

   zelfstandig naamwoord

   noun

   heeft … nodig

   needs

   hier

   here

   lidwoord

   article

   More detail

   zelfstandig naamwoord means “noun” here. It is a fixed Dutch compound: zelfstandig means “independent” in other contexts, but together zelfstandig naamwoord is the grammatical term for a noun. The phrase is singular in this sentence, referring to the noun category mentioned by the speaker, not asserting that only one particular noun exists. Example: Een zelfstandig naamwoord kan een persoon, dier, plaats of ding noemen. — “A noun can name a person, animal, place, or thing.” heeft ... nodig is the Dutch pattern for “needs”: hebben is the base form, and heeft is its present-tense form with a third-person singular subject such as het zelfstandig naamwoord. nodig completes the pattern; Dutch places it after the thing that is needed. Compare: Ik heb hulp nodig. — “I need help.” The selected words are therefore understood together, even though hier occurs between them. hier means “here.” In this utterance it points to the relevant grammatical context—the example or correction being discussed—rather than identifying a physical location. Example: Gebruik hier een hoofdletter. — “Use a capital letter here.” lidwoord means “article,” the grammatical word placed with a noun in contexts where Dutch requires one. Its plural is lidwoorden. Do not confuse this noun with woord (“word”): lidwoord is the specific term for an article. Example: De is een bepaald lidwoord. — “De is a definite article.” Together, Het zelfstandig naamwoord is “the noun”; heeft ... nodig says that it needs something; hier locates that requirement in the current context; and een lidwoord is the needed item. The complete meaning is: “The noun needs an article here.”

5. Dat heb ik in een paar antwoorden gemist.

   I missed that in a few answers.

   Dat

   that

   heb ik

   I have

   een paar

   a few

   antwoorden

   answers

   gemist

   missed

   More detail

   Dat means “that” here and refers to the item being discussed in the surrounding exchange: the article that is needed and can be added. Dutch dat is the singular neuter demonstrative form. It can also introduce a clause in other sentences, but that is not its function here. heb ik contains heb, the first-person singular present form of hebben (“to have”), and ik, “I.” In this sentence, heb is the auxiliary used to form the perfect: heb ... gemist, literally “have ... missed.” The order is inverted because Dat has been placed first: a fronted element is followed by the finite verb, then the subject. The basic order is Ik heb dat ... gemist. een paar is the reusable expression “a few” or “a couple of,” referring here to a small number of answers. The whole expression, rather than een alone, supplies that quantity meaning. antwoorden means “answers.” Its singular base form is antwoord; antwoorden is the plural form. Dutch plural nouns often end in -en, as in antwoord → antwoorden. gemist is the past participle of missen, “to miss.” With heb, it forms the perfect heb gemist. In this sentence the meaning is that the speaker failed to notice or include the item in a few answers; the English simple past “missed” is a natural translation of this Dutch perfect. Together, Dat heb ik ... gemist means “I missed that ...,” with Dat as the fronted object and heb ... gemist as the perfect verb phrase. in een paar antwoorden specifies where this happened: “in a few answers.” The complete utterance is therefore “I missed that in a few answers.”

6. Als je het hier toevoegt, is de zin compleet.

   Adding it here makes the sentence complete.

   Als je

   if you

   het

   it

   hier

   here

   toevoegt

   add

   is

   is

   zin

   sentence

   compleet

   complete

   More detail

   Als je introduces a condition: “if you …”. Als is the conditional conjunction “if”, and je is the informal singular “you”. In a clause beginning with als, the finite verb normally comes at the end, as in Als je … toevoegt. het is the object pronoun “it” here. Dutch het can also be the definite article “the” before a neuter singular noun; standing alone in this sentence, it functions as a pronoun. Its specific referent is supplied by the intended context, not by the form itself. hier means “here” and specifies the place or point where the addition is made. Example: Zet het hier. — “Put it here.” toevoegt is the present-tense form of toevoegen, “to add”. With singular informal je, the form is je voegt toe when the verb is in the main-clause position, but in this subordinate clause the separable verb appears together as toevoegt: Als je het toevoegt — “If you add it.” The toe- part is written together here because the finite verb is at the end of the subordinate clause. is is the third-person singular present form of zijn, “to be”. The subject is de zin, so the sentence uses singular is; plural zinnen would take zijn. zin means “sentence” here. It is a singular noun and normally takes the article de: de zin. Its plural is zinnen, as in De zinnen zijn kort. — “The sentences are short.” compleet is the adjective “complete”. Here it is used after is as a predicate adjective: de zin is compleet — “the sentence is complete”. In this use, compleet does not change form for the singular subject. Together, Als je het hier toevoegt means “If you add it here”. Because this conditional clause is placed first, the main clause has the order is de zin compleet: the finite verb is comes before the subject de zin. The complete utterance therefore means “Adding it here makes the sentence complete,” or more literally, “If you add it here, the sentence is complete.”

7. Ik ga dat deel nu opnieuw schrijven.

   I will rewrite that part now.

   Ik ga

   I will

   dat

   that

   deel

   part

   nu

   now

   opnieuw

   again

   schrijven

   write

   More detail

   Ik ga is a reusable way to express a future intention: gaan + an infinitive. Here ga is the first-person singular present form of gaan, matching ik; the following infinitive identifies the planned action. Example: Ik ga morgen leren. — “I am going to study tomorrow.” dat is the demonstrative “that.” In dat deel, it agrees with deel, which is a singular neuter het-word: het deel, so Dutch uses dat, not die. The demonstrative’s grammatical form is clear here; the sentence itself does not add a more specific description of which part is meant. deel means “part” or “section.” Its definite form is het deel, and its plural is delen. Example: Dit deel is moeilijk. — “This part is difficult.” nu means “now” and places the planned action at the current time. opnieuw means “again” or “anew.” It says that the action is being done another time. Example: Zij probeert het opnieuw. — “She tries it again.” schrijven is the infinitive “to write.” The form itself does not mean “rewrite”; in this sentence, opnieuw combines with it to produce the meaning “write again,” or “rewrite.” Example: Ik wil een brief schrijven. — “I want to write a letter.” Together, Ik ga ... schrijven gives the planned future action, dat deel identifies the object as “that part,” and nu opnieuw specifies that the planned action is to be carried out now and is a repetition. The complete meaning is: “I will rewrite that part now.”

8. Dat helpt je de regel te onthouden.

   That will help you remember the rule.

   Dat

   that

   helpt

   helps

   je

   you

   regel

   rule

   onthouden

   remember

   More detail

   Dat is a demonstrative pronoun meaning “that.” Here it refers back to the part mentioned in the preceding sentence. The form dat is used for a singular neuter noun or noun phrase; as a pronoun, its grammatical form does not itself identify a referent without context. helpt comes from helpen, “to help.” It is the present-tense form for a third-person singular subject: ik help, jij/je helpt, hij/zij/het helpt. The final -t marks this form. Dutch commonly uses the pattern iemand helpen iets te doen: “to help someone do something.” je is the unstressed object form meaning “you” here. In this construction, the person helped is placed directly after helpen: Dat helpt je ... = “That helps you ...”. regel means “rule.” Its basic form is regel; with the definite article it appears as de regel. The supplied sentence uses the singular definite noun phrase de regel, referring to a specific rule. onthouden means “to remember” or “to retain.” It is the infinitive after te: te onthouden = “to remember.” The infinitive stays unchanged for the person doing the remembering. For example, Ik probeer de naam te onthouden. means “I try to remember the name.” Together, Dat helpt je means “That helps you,” and de regel te onthouden completes the helpen ... te pattern: “to remember the rule.” The whole sentence is therefore “That will help you remember the rule.” Although helpt is formally present tense, the context can make this a help that is expected to occur, which supports the future-oriented English translation.