Apologizing for changing plans | Learn Dutch in English

Sentence explanations

1. Het spijt me, ik moet ons plan veranderen.

   I'm sorry, I need to change our plan.

   Het spijt me

   I'm sorry

   ik moet

   I need to / I must

   ons

   our

   plan

   plan

   veranderen

   change

   More detail

   Het spijt me is a fixed Dutch apology construction meaning “I’m sorry.” Its parts do not map word-for-word onto the English expression: het is the grammatical subject, and me is the person affected. A reusable example is Het spijt me dat ik te laat ben. — “I’m sorry that I’m late.” ik moet means “I need to” here. moeten is the base form; moet is its present-tense form with ik (and also with hij, zij, or het). In a main clause, this modal verb is followed by an infinitive, which appears at the end: Ik moet werken. — “I need to work.” Depending on context, moeten can also be translated as “must”; the fixed translation selects “need to” here. ons means “our” in this position. It is a possessive determiner, and its form is selected by the noun it modifies, not by the owners. ons is used with a singular neuter noun such as het plan; onze is used with a de-word singular noun and with plural nouns: ons plan — “our plan,” but onze plannen — “our plans.” plan is the noun “plan.” Its ordinary singular form is het plan, and its plural is plannen: We maken een plan. — “We are making a plan.” veranderen is the infinitive “to change.” The form is unchanged here because it follows the modal moet; the modal carries the finite verb marking, while veranderen stays infinitive. For example, We moeten de afspraak veranderen. means “We need to change the appointment.” Together, Het spijt me gives the apology, ik moet introduces the need, ons plan identifies what belongs to the speaker and another person or group, and veranderen completes the modal construction. The whole utterance therefore means: “I’m sorry, I need to change our plan.”

2. Fijn dat je het me vertelde voordat ik vertrok.

   I'm glad you told me before I left.

   Fijn dat

   glad that

   je

   you

   het

   it

   me

   me

   vertelde

   told

   voordat

   before

   ik

   I

   vertrok

   left

   More detail

   Fijn dat is a common Dutch pattern meaning that the speaker is pleased about the situation expressed in the following dat-clause. Here fijn is an adjective used predicatively; it does not change for the subject. Compare Fijn dat je er bent. — “It’s nice that you’re here.” je is the unstressed second-person pronoun “you.” It can refer to one person or, depending on context, more than one person; this sentence does not specify the number. The stressed form is usually jij, as in Jij vertelde het. — “You told it.” het is the unstressed object pronoun “it” here. Its concrete referent is not specified beyond the intended meaning supplied by the translation. The stressed form is het as well; Dutch distinguishes its emphasis mainly by position and intonation rather than by a separate form. me is the unstressed first-person singular object form “me,” functioning here as the indirect object of vertelde: “told me.” The more emphatic form is mij, as in Ze vertelde het mij. — “She told it to me.” vertelde is the singular past-tense form of vertellen, “to tell.” The verb is a regular weak verb: vertellen → vertelde in the singular past and vertelden in the plural past. Example: Hij vertelde me het nieuws. — “He told me the news.” voordat is the conjunction “before.” It introduces a subordinate clause. In that clause, the finite verb normally comes at the end: voordat ik vertrok — “before I left.” ik is the first-person singular subject pronoun “I.” Unlike English, Dutch commonly uses the same form ik whether the subject is in the present or past; the verb shows the tense. vertrok is the singular past-tense form of vertrekken, “to leave” or “to depart.” This is an irregular strong-verb form: vertrekken → vertrok in the singular past and vertrokken in the plural past. Example: Ik vertrok vroeg. — “I left early.” Together, je het me vertelde means “you told me it,” and voordat ik vertrok adds the time relation “before I left.” The opening pattern Fijn dat ... presents that whole situation as pleasing to the speaker, producing: “I’m glad you told me before I left.”

3. Er kwam iets onverwachts tussen.

   Something unexpected came up.

   kwam … tussen

   came up / intervened

   iets

   something

   onverwachts

   unexpected

   More detail

   kwam ... tussen is the split form of the Dutch expression ertussen komen in the past tense. The verb kwam is the past singular form of komen (“to come”); tussen contributes the idea of coming in between or interfering. In er kwam iets tussen, the whole construction means that something intervened or came up, rather than simply that something moved between two objects. Example: Er kwam iets tussen, dus ik kon niet komen. — “Something came up, so I couldn’t come.” iets means “something.” It is an indefinite pronoun used when the specific thing is not identified. Compare iets (“something”) with niets (“nothing”); these are not forms of the same verb or adjective. onverwachts means “unexpected” here. After the indefinite pronoun iets, an adjective commonly takes the ending -s: iets onverwachts — “something unexpected.” The ending belongs to the adjective onverwachts, whose basic form is onverwacht; it does not belong to iets. Example: Ik hoorde iets onverwachts. — “I heard something unexpected.” Together, er kwam iets onverwachts tussen says that an unexpected thing intervened or came up. Er is the introductory element used in this kind of existence or occurrence statement; it does not need to identify a separate person or object. The utterance therefore means: “Something unexpected came up.”

4. Dat is prima. We kunnen een andere dag kiezen.

   That's all right. We can choose another day.

   Dat

   that; it

   prima

   fine; all right

   We kunnen

   we can

   andere

   another; different

   dag

   day

   kiezen

   choose

   More detail

   Dat means “that” or “it” here and refers to the situation just mentioned, giving the meaning “That’s all right.” In Dutch, dat is the singular neuter demonstrative form; it can also refer to a whole preceding situation or statement. The contrasting form dit means “this” when the demonstrative is near the speaker. prima is an adjective meaning “fine” or “all right.” In Dat is prima, it describes the situation after is. Example: Dat is prima. — “That’s fine.” We kunnen means “we can.” we is the subject “we,” and kunnen is the present-tense form of the modal verb kunnen with we; its basic meaning is “can” or “be able to.” A modal verb is followed by an infinitive: We kunnen wachten. — “We can wait.” The infinitive wachten remains at the end of that example clause. andere means “another” or “different” here. It is the inflected form of the adjective ander. In een andere dag, the ending is -e because dag is a common-gender singular noun and the noun phrase has the indefinite article een; singularity by itself is not the reason. With a singular neuter noun after een, the form is commonly ander: een ander idee — “another idea.” dag means “day.” Its plural is dagen: één dag — “one day,” twee dagen — “two days.” In een andere dag, it is the noun modified by andere. kiezen means “to choose.” It is the infinitive used after the modal kunnen. Its past-tense forms include koos for a singular subject and kozen for a plural subject: We kozen een andere dag. — “We chose another day.” Together, Dat is prima says that the situation is acceptable. We kunnen een andere dag kiezen then says that the participants can select an alternative day. The whole utterance therefore means: “That’s all right. We can choose another day.”

5. Zou later deze week voor jou uitkomen?

   Would later this week work for you?

   Zou

   would

   later deze week

   later this week

   voor jou

   for you

   uitkomen

   work; be suitable

   More detail

   Zou is the singular past-tense form of zullen, used here for a conditional or polite question; it corresponds to “would.” It does not by itself indicate past time in this sentence. At the beginning of the question, it is followed by the proposed time, and the following verb remains in the infinitive: Zou ... uitkomen? later deze week means “later this week.” Deze means “this” and agrees with week, which is singular and takes de; together they form a time expression. Example: Later deze week heb ik tijd. — “I have time later this week.” voor jou means “for you.” Jou is the stressed second-person form after the preposition voor; the unstressed form je is also common in less-emphatic contexts. Here, the phrase identifies the person whose convenience is being considered. uitkomen is the infinitive of uitkomen. In this use, it means “to work” or “to be suitable,” especially for a proposed time or arrangement. In other contexts, the same verb can mean “to come out.” A reusable example is Dat komt mij uit. — “That works for me.” After zou, the verb stays in the infinitive: uitkomen. Together, Zou introduces a polite conditional question, later deze week names the proposed time, voor jou identifies the person concerned, and uitkomen asks whether the time is suitable. The complete utterance means: “Would later this week work for you?”

6. Later deze week is goed voor mij.

   Later this week is fine for me.

   Later

   later

   deze

   this

   week

   week

   is

   is

   goed

   good; fine

   voor mij

   for me

   More detail

   Later means “later” in time here. It is the temporal adverbial form of laat (“late”); later can also be the comparative form meaning “later,” but in this sentence it simply places the time after now or after another understood time. Example: Ik bel je later. — “I’ll call you later.” deze means “this” and points to a singular noun that is near or current in context. With week, it forms deze week, “this week.” Dutch uses deze with singular de-words and plural nouns; dit is used with singular het-words. Example: deze maand — “this month”; dit jaar — “this year.” week means “week.” It is a singular de-word, so the matching demonstrative is deze, not dit. Its plural is weken (“weeks”). Example: Volgende week ben ik vrij. — “Next week I am free.” is is the present-tense third-person singular form of zijn, “to be.” Here it links the time expression to an evaluation: the time is acceptable. The same form is used with a singular subject; plural subjects use zijn. Example: De afspraak is goed. — “The appointment is fine.” goed means “good” and, in goed voor mij, “fine” or “suitable for me.” It is the adjective being used as the evaluation, not a form of week. Dutch adjectives can also appear in forms such as beter (“better”) and best (“best”), but goed is the plain form here. Example: Dat is goed voor ons. — “That is fine for us.” voor mij means “for me.” voor is the preposition “for,” and mij is the stressed object form of the first-person singular pronoun; the unstressed form me is also common in less-emphatic positions. Example: Dit is belangrijk voor mij. — “This is important to me.” Together, Later deze week identifies a time, and is goed voor mij evaluates that time as acceptable to the speaker. The fronted time expression comes before is; the complete meaning is “Later this week is fine for me.”

7. Ik kan je het nieuwe plan sturen.

   I can send you the new plan.

   Ik kan

   I can

   je

   you

   het

   the

   nieuwe

   new

   plan

   plan

   sturen

   send

   More detail

   Ik kan means “I can” here. kan is the present-tense form of kunnen for ik; it expresses ability or possibility. In a main clause, the conjugated modal comes near the beginning, while the other verb remains an infinitive later in the clause. Example: Ik kan komen. — “I can come.” je means “you” here and functions as the indirect object: the person who will receive the plan. Dutch je can be used for singular or plural “you”; its exact number is not established by this sentence. Example: Ik stuur je een bericht. — “I send you a message.” het is the definite article “the.” In this phrase it belongs with plan, which is a common-gender? No: plan is a neuter noun in Dutch, so its definite article is het. The article marks a specific plan rather than an unspecified one. The indefinite article would be een: een plan — “a plan.” nieuwe means “new” here. Its base form is nieuw. Before a singular neuter noun with the definite article het, the attributive adjective takes the -e form: het nieuwe plan. Compare een nieuw plan — “a new plan,” where the adjective is not marked with -e. plan is the noun “plan.” Its plural is plannen: de plannen — “the plans.” The noun phrase het nieuwe plan means “the new plan,” with het and nieuwe together specifying this particular plan. sturen means “to send.” This is the infinitive, used after the modal kan; kan carries the tense and person marking, so sturen stays infinitive. Example: Ik kan het document sturen. — “I can send the document.” Together, Ik kan + je + het nieuwe plan + sturen forms “I can send you the new plan.” The modal construction expresses the speaker’s ability or possibility, je identifies the recipient, and het nieuwe plan is the item being sent. The placement of sturen at the end is characteristic of this Dutch main-clause construction with a modal verb.

8. Dat helpt me om mijn planning aan te passen.

   That helps me adjust my schedule.

   Dat

   That

   helpt

   helps

   me

   me

   planning

   schedule

   om … te

   to

   aan te passen

   to adjust

   More detail

   Dat is a demonstrative pronoun meaning “that.” Here it is the subject. The sentence does not itself identify exactly what dat refers to. helpt is the present-tense form of helpen (“to help”) with the singular subject dat: dat helpt. Dutch can use iemand helpen om te plus an infinitive to express helping someone carry out an action. Example: Zij helpt me om Nederlands te leren. — “She helps me learn Dutch.” me is the unstressed object form meaning “me.” The stressed form is mij, which is useful when contrast or emphasis is important. Here, me is the person receiving the help. planning is a noun meaning a schedule or the arrangement of planned activities. With mijn, mijn planning means “my schedule.” Example: Ik bekijk mijn planning. — “I am looking at my schedule.” om ... te links the helping with the action being helped: “to.” Its two parts can surround other words, as in om mijn planning aan te passen. aan te passen comes from the separable verb aanpassen, meaning “to adjust” or “to adapt.” In an infinitive with te, te appears between the separable prefix aan and the verb passen: aanpassen → aan te passen. Example: Ik probeer mijn plan aan te passen. — “I am trying to adjust my plan.” Together, Dat helpt me means “That helps me,” and om mijn planning aan te passen states the action for which the help is useful. The complete utterance means: “That helps me adjust my schedule.”