Preparing a Suitcase | Learn Dutch in English

Sentence explanations

1. Mijn koffer is een rommeltje en we vertrekken morgen.

   My suitcase is messy, and we leave tomorrow.

   Mijn

   my

   koffer

   suitcase

   rommeltje

   mess

   we

   we

   vertrekken

   leave; depart

   morgen

   tomorrow

   More detail

   Mijn means “my” and marks the possessor as the speaker. Dutch uses the same form before singular and plural nouns: mijn koffer (“my suitcase”) and mijn koffers (“my suitcases”). The informal shortened form m'n is common in speech, but mijn is the form in this sentence. koffer is a suitcase. Its plural is koffers, so the reusable pattern is mijn koffer for one suitcase and mijn koffers for more than one. Here, koffer is the noun that Mijn specifies as belonging to the speaker. rommeltje means a mess or untidy state here. It is related to rommel (“mess, clutter”); the ending -tje is a diminutive ending, but the resulting word can still describe a generally messy situation rather than only a physically tiny mess. With the copula is and the indefinite article een, the pattern iets is een rommeltje means that something is a mess. Example: De kamer is een rommeltje. — “The room is a mess.” we is the first-person plural subject pronoun, meaning “we”: the speaker together with at least one other person. It is the subject of the following verb. Unlike singular ik (“I”), it requires a plural verb form in the present tense. vertrekken means “to leave” or “to depart.” In the present tense, the useful forms are ik vertrek, jij vertrekt, and we vertrekken; the form in this sentence is the first-person plural form. Example: We vertrekken om acht uur. — “We leave at eight o’clock.” morgen means “tomorrow,” the day after the current day. It is a time adverb and does not change form. Dutch commonly uses a present-tense verb with a future time word: We vertrekken morgen means “We leave tomorrow,” referring to a planned or expected future departure. Together, Mijn koffer identifies the speaker’s suitcase. The copula is links that noun phrase to een rommeltje, describing its condition as messy. we vertrekken gives the action and its first-person plural subject, while morgen places that departure on the following day. The complete meaning is: “My suitcase is messy, and we leave tomorrow.”

2. Vouw eerst de shirts op om ruimte te besparen.

   Fold the shirts first to save space.

   Vouw … op

   fold up

   eerst

   first

   shirts

   shirts

   om … te

   in order to

   ruimte

   space

   besparen

   save

   More detail

   Vouw ... op means “fold up.” Vouw is the imperative of vouwen (“to fold”), used here to give an instruction to one or more people; the separable particle op completes the verb opvouwen. In a main-clause imperative, the particle appears at the end: Vouw de handdoek op. — “Fold up the towel.” eerst means “first” and marks the order of the action. It can also be used in another instruction such as Lees eerst de vraag. — “Read the question first.” shirts is the plural of shirt, meaning “shirts.” Dutch commonly uses the plural ending -s with this borrowed noun: een shirt — “a shirt,” twee shirts — “two shirts.” om ... te introduces a purpose: “in order to ...”. The infinitive follows te, as in Ik loop om brood te kopen. — “I walk in order to buy bread.” Here, om and te belong to the same purpose construction, while the words between them belong to the action being described. ruimte means “space” or “room.” In this sentence it refers to available packing space, not to a particular physical room. Er is weinig ruimte. — “There is little space.” besparen means “to save” in the sense of avoiding the use of a resource. Its infinitive appears after te: te besparen — “to save.” This differs from redden, which usually means “to rescue” or “save” a person or thing from danger. Together, Vouw eerst de shirts op gives the instruction “Fold the shirts first.” The purpose clause om ruimte te besparen says why: “in order to save space.” The complete utterance is therefore “Fold the shirts first to save space.”

3. Moet ik vloeistoffen van de kleding scheiden?

   Should I separate liquids from clothes?

   Moet ik

   Should I

   vloeistoffen

   liquids

   kleding

   clothes; clothing

   scheiden

   separate

   More detail

   Moet ik asks whether the speaker is required or expected to do something. moet is the present-tense form of moeten used with ik; in a yes/no question, the finite verb comes before the subject: Moet ik ...? Compare the plural form moeten: Moeten wij wachten? means “Should we wait?” Here the fixed translation supports the question meaning “Should I,” rather than a statement of certainty. vloeistoffen means “liquids” here. Its singular base form is vloeistof (“liquid”), and vloeistoffen is its plural. The ending -en is part of this plural form. Example: Bewaar de vloeistof apart. — “Store the liquid separately.” kleding refers to clothes or clothing as a general category. It is normally used as a mass or collective noun, so this sentence does not specify a number of individual garments. Example: De kleding is droog. — “The clothing is dry.” scheiden is the infinitive “to separate.” In this question it follows the modal verb moet; Dutch uses the infinitive for the other action after a modal: Ik moet wachten. — “I have to wait.” The construction iets van iets scheiden means “to separate something from something,” which accounts for vloeistoffen van de kleding. Together, Moet ik asks about the speaker’s obligation or recommended action, vloeistoffen identifies what is to be separated, van de kleding identifies what it is to be separated from, and scheiden names the action. The complete meaning is: “Should I separate liquids from clothes?”

4. Doe de vloeistoffen in een plastic zak voordat je ze inpakt.

   Put liquids in a plastic bag before you pack them.

   Doe

   put

   vloeistoffen

   liquids

   in

   in

   plastic

   plastic

   zak

   bag

   voordat

   before

   ze

   them

   inpakt

   packs

   More detail

   Doe is the imperative form of doen, whose meaning here is “put” rather than the more general “do.” The imperative gives a direct instruction; the subject is understood rather than stated. In Dutch, doe is also the form used in the familiar singular imperative. Example: Doe de boeken op tafel. — “Put the books on the table.” vloeistoffen means “liquids” here. Its base form is vloeistof (“liquid”); -en marks the plural: één vloeistof, twee vloeistoffen. This noun is the thing being put in the bag. in is the preposition “in.” With a movement or placement verb, it introduces the place or container that receives something. The reusable pattern is iets in een zak doen — “put something in a bag.” plastic describes the material of the bag. In een plastic zak, it is an attributive material adjective and does not take a separate plural ending here. It tells us what kind of bag is meant, not how many bags there are. zak means “bag.” The phrase een plastic zak is “a plastic bag”: een marks an indefinite noun phrase, while zak is singular. Example: Ik heb een stevige zak. — “I have a sturdy bag.” voordat means “before” and introduces a subordinate clause. It connects one action with an earlier time condition: voordat + clause means “before …”. In the clause that follows, the finite verb moves to the end, as in voordat je vertrekt — “before you leave.” ze is the third-person plural object pronoun “them” in this sentence. The fixed translation identifies its referent as the liquids, so ze receives the action of packing. Dutch ze can have other grammatical uses in other contexts, but here it is the unstressed plural object form. inpakt comes from the separable verb inpakken, “to pack.” In a main clause, the prefix separates: Je pakt ze in. — “You pack them.” After voordat, the verb remains together at the end of the subordinate clause: voordat je ze inpakt. inpakt is the present-tense form agreeing with je (“you,” singular informal here). Together, Doe de vloeistoffen in een plastic zak means “Put the liquids in a plastic bag.” The subordinate clause voordat je ze inpakt adds the time relation “before you pack them,” with ze referring back to the liquids. The complete utterance is therefore: “Put liquids in a plastic bag before you pack them.”

5. De koffer lijkt bijna aan het maximale gewicht te zitten.

   The suitcase feels close to the weight limit.

   koffer

   suitcase

   lijkt

   seems

   bijna

   almost

   maximale

   maximum

   gewicht

   weight

   aan het … te zitten

   to be at

   More detail

   koffer means “suitcase” here. Its plural is koffers. Example: De koffer is zwaar. — “The suitcase is heavy.” lijkt is the present-tense form of lijken used with the third-person singular subject de koffer. It means “seems” or “appears,” so it presents the statement as an impression rather than a direct measurement. Example: Dat lijkt moeilijk. — “That seems difficult.” bijna means “almost” and places the situation just short of the stated point. It modifies the following condition: the suitcase is not stated to have reached the limit. maximale is the form of the adjective maximaal, “maximum.” It describes gewicht in the definite noun phrase het maximale gewicht; the -e ending is the usual attributive adjective form in such a definite phrase. This is not a comparative form such as hoger (“higher”). gewicht is the noun “weight.” Its plural is gewichten. In this sentence it refers to the weight limit expressed by het maximale gewicht, not to a separately measured weight that is explicitly given. The separated parts aan het and te zitten work with the intervening noun phrase as a larger pattern: aan het [maximum] te zitten means “to be at the [maximum].” zitten is the infinitive “to sit,” but in this expression it describes being at a level or point; te zitten is the infinitive construction after lijkt. A reusable example is De doos lijkt aan het juiste formaat te zitten. — “The box seems to be the right size.” Putting the parts together, De koffer is the subject, lijkt marks an appearance, bijna means that the point has nearly been reached, and aan het maximale gewicht te zitten identifies that point as the maximum weight. The whole utterance therefore means: “The suitcase seems close to the weight limit.”

6. Doe de zware boeken dan in je rugzak.

   Then move heavy books to your backpack.

   Doe

   move; put

   zware

   heavy

   boeken

   books

   dan

   then

   rugzak

   backpack

   More detail

   Doe is the imperative of doen (“to do”). In this sentence, the doen ... in ... pattern means “put or move ... into ...”; the subject “you” is understood. Compare Ik doe het boek in mijn tas. — “I put the book in my bag.” zware means “heavy” here. Its base form is zwaar; before this plural noun, the adjective has the form zware. For example, een zwaar boek means “a heavy book,” while zware boeken means “heavy books.” boeken is the plural of boek (“book”): boek → boeken. The adjective zware describes these books, not the backpack. dan means “then” here and places this action in sequence with what has already been discussed. It does not itself express the number of books. rugzak means “backpack.” In the full phrase in je rugzak, in marks the destination and je means “your”; together they mean “into your backpack.” Je is a possessive determiner and does not change for the singular noun rugzak in this phrase. The parts combine as Doe + de zware boeken + dan + in je rugzak: “Then put or move the heavy books into your backpack.” The imperative addresses the listener directly, and in je rugzak specifies where the books should be moved.

7. Daardoor is de koffer makkelijker dicht te doen.

   That makes the suitcase easier to close.

   Daardoor

   as a result

   koffer

   suitcase

   makkelijker

   easier

   dicht te doen

   to close

   More detail

   Daardoor links the sentence to a previously mentioned cause and means “as a result” or “because of that.” It presents the following situation as an effect. Example: Daardoor is de tas lichter. — “As a result, the bag is lighter.” koffer means “suitcase.” Its plural is koffers; the definite form here is de koffer. Example: De koffer staat daar. — “The suitcase is there.” makkelijker is the comparative form of makkelijk, “easy” or “easily manageable.” The useful comparison chain is makkelijk → makkelijker → makkelijkst (“easy” → “easier” → “easiest”). Here, makkelijker compares closing this suitcase with closing it under another relevant condition; the sentence does not specify that comparison explicitly. dicht te doen expresses “to close” in this sentence. The separable verb is dichtdoen, formed from dicht (“closed/shut”) and doen (“do”). In a te-infinitive, the parts appear separated: dicht te doen. In a finite clause, they can separate differently: Ik doe de deur dicht. — “I close the door.” Together, Daardoor introduces the result, and is de koffer makkelijker dicht te doen says that closing the suitcase is easier. is is the present form of zijn used with singular de koffer; makkelijker describes the ease of the action expressed by dicht te doen. The complete meaning is: “That makes the suitcase easier to close.”

8. De koffer zou nu klaar moeten zijn voor de reis.

   It should be ready for the trip now.

   koffer

   suitcase

   zou … moeten

   should

   nu

   now

   klaar

   ready

   zijn

   be

   voor

   for

   reis

   trip

   More detail

   koffer means “suitcase” here. It is a common noun; its plural is koffers. Example: De koffer is zwaar. — “The suitcase is heavy.” zou ... moeten expresses an expected or advisable situation: “should.” The two parts are separated in this sentence because Dutch places the infinitive moeten later in the clause. zou is a form of zullen; with moeten, the combination is softer and less direct than plain moet (“must”). The subject is singular here, so the form is zou; with a plural subject, use zouden: De koffers zouden klaar moeten zijn. — “The suitcases should be ready.” nu means “now.” It places the expected state at the current time. Example: Hij is nu thuis. — “He is home now.” klaar is an adjective meaning “ready” in this sentence. It describes the suitcase’s state, not an action. Example: Alles is klaar. — “Everything is ready.” zijn is the infinitive “to be.” It follows moeten in this modal construction: moeten zijn means “have to be,” while zou moeten zijn means “should be.” The form zijn is also used with singular and plural subjects; the subject determines forms elsewhere in the clause, such as is in a simple present sentence. voor means “for” here and introduces the purpose or occasion associated with the suitcase’s readiness. Example: Dit cadeau is voor mijn vriend. — “This gift is for my friend.” reis means “trip” or “journey.” Its plural is reizen. The form in the sentence is singular, and de is the accompanying definite article: de reis — “the trip.” Together, De koffer identifies the suitcase, zou ... moeten zijn presents its readiness as an expectation, klaar names the expected state, and nu locates that expectation in the present. voor de reis says what the readiness is for. The complete meaning is: “The suitcase should be ready for the trip now.”