A Short Coffee Break | Learn Dutch in English

Sentence explanations

1. Ik verlies mijn concentratie.

   I am losing focus.

   Ik

   I

   verlies

   am losing

   mijn

   my

   concentratie

   focus

   More detail

   Ik is the first-person singular pronoun, meaning “I.” It identifies the speaker as the person experiencing the situation. The corresponding plural form is wij or we, meaning “we.” verlies is the present-tense form of verliezen (“to lose”) for ik: ik verlies. In this sentence, the English present progressive “am losing” describes an ongoing change, while Dutch commonly uses the simple present for that meaning. The same verb can also mean “lose” in a broader sense, depending on context. Example: Ik verlies mijn sleutel. — “I am losing my key” or “I lose my key,” depending on the situation. mijn means “my” and marks possession by the speaker. It is a possessive determiner placed before the possessed noun. Unlike some Dutch articles and adjectives, mijn does not change for the gender or number of the noun: for example, mijn boek (“my book”) and mijn boeken (“my books”). concentratie is a noun meaning “concentration” or “focus.” In this utterance it refers to the speaker’s ability to stay mentally focused. Its base form is already the form used here; Dutch nouns are normally written with a capital letter only at the beginning of a sentence or in a proper name. Together, mijn concentratie means “my focus,” and verlies states that this focus is being lost. Thus Ik verlies mijn concentratie. means “I am losing focus.”

2. Laten we even weggaan en koffie halen.

   Let's step away and get coffee.

   Laten we

   let’s

   even

   briefly

   weggaan

   leave; step away

   koffie

   coffee

   halen

   get

   More detail

   Laten we is a reusable Dutch construction for making a suggestion involving the speaker and at least one other person: “let’s …”. Here laten is the verb form used in this suggestion construction, followed by the subject we; the proposed action is then expressed with an infinitive. Example: Laten we beginnen. — “Let’s begin.” This is a suggestion, not a statement that someone is merely allowing something. even means “briefly” or “just for a moment” here. In suggestions, it can make an action sound limited or less weighty: Wacht even. — “Wait a moment.” Here it presents stepping away as a short break. weggaan means “to leave” or “to go away.” It is an infinitive and follows Laten we, so this form does not show a separate person or tense. weggaan combines weg (“away”) with gaan (“go”) as one Dutch verb. Example: We moeten nu weggaan. — “We have to leave now.” koffie means “coffee.” It is a noun and appears without an article in koffie halen, a common expression for getting or fetching coffee. Example: Ik drink koffie. — “I drink coffee.” The sentence does not specify a particular cup or amount. halen means “to get,” “fetch,” or “pick up,” depending on the object and situation. It is the infinitive coordinated with weggaan by en, and both actions fall under the suggestion introduced by Laten we. In koffie halen, it means getting coffee. Example: Ik ga water halen. — “I’m going to get water.” Together, Laten we even weggaan proposes that the speaker and others briefly leave or step away. en koffie halen adds a second coordinated action: getting coffee. Thus the complete utterance means “Let’s step away and get coffee.”

3. Een korte pauze lijkt me goed.

   A short break sounds helpful.

   korte

   short

   pauze

   break

   lijkt me

   seems to me

   goed

   good; helpful

   More detail

   korte describes the break as having little duration. Its base form is kort; before the singular noun pauze, it appears as korte with the adjective ending -e. The ending is part of korte, not of the noun. Example: een korte wandeling — “a short walk.” pauze means “break,” a period when an activity stops temporarily. It is a noun; its plural is pauzes. Example: We nemen een pauze. — “We are taking a break.” lijkt me expresses “seems to me.” lijkt is the present-tense form of lijken used with the singular subject een korte pauze; me is the unstressed pronoun meaning “to me.” A useful pattern is X lijkt me ... — “X seems ... to me.” Example: Dat lijkt me verstandig. — “That seems sensible to me.” goed means “good” here, with the contextually suitable sense “helpful” or “beneficial.” It is the predicate describing een korte pauze in the pattern X lijkt me goed (“X seems good/helpful to me”). Example: Deze oplossing lijkt me goed. — “This solution seems good to me.” Together, een korte pauze means “a short break,” and lijkt me goed says that this break seems good or helpful to the speaker. The whole utterance therefore means: “A short break sounds helpful.”

4. We kunnen ons uitrekken voordat we weer gaan zitten.

   We can stretch before we sit down again.

   We kunnen

   we can

   ons uitrekken

   stretch ourselves

   voordat

   before

   weer

   again

   gaan zitten

   sit down

   More detail

   We kunnen means “we can” here. we is the first-person plural subject, and kunnen is the present-tense form of kunnen (“can, be able to”) used with we. The following verb stays in the infinitive: We kunnen rusten. — “We can rest.” ons uitrekken means “stretch ourselves.” ons is the first-person plural reflexive pronoun, referring back to we; uitrekken is the infinitive “to stretch.” Together they describe the subject stretching their own body. The same reflexive pattern can be reused in We wassen ons. — “We wash ourselves.” voordat introduces the time relation “before.” It starts a subordinate clause, and in this sentence the clause is voordat we weer gaan zitten. A reusable pattern is voordat + clause: Eet voordat je vertrekt. — “Eat before you leave.” weer means “again” here: the sitting happens another time. It does not itself say how many times the action has happened. For example, Ze komt weer terug. means “She comes back again.” gaan zitten is a useful verb construction meaning “sit down.” gaan is the finite present form used with we, while zitten is its infinitive. The construction presents sitting as a change into a seated position, rather than simply describing being seated. In the subordinate clause, these verbs occur together at the end: voordat we gaan zitten — “before we sit down.” The sentence as a whole is built as We kunnen [reflexive action] voordat [time clause]: “We can stretch before we sit down again.” kunnen makes stretching a possibility or suggestion, ons uitrekken supplies the action, and voordat links it to the later action weer gaan zitten.

5. Zullen we na de koffie teruggaan naar het rapport?

   Should we return to the report after coffee?

   Zullen we

   shall we? / should we?

   na

   after

   koffie

   coffee

   teruggaan

   return / go back

   naar

   to / toward

   rapport

   report

   More detail

   Zullen we is a reusable way to suggest an action together: “Shall we …?” or, as fixed here, “Should we …?” The verb zullen is followed by the subject we and then an infinitive: Zullen we ... teruggaan? This construction presents the action as a proposal, not as a statement that it will definitely happen. na means “after” and introduces a time expression. Here it is followed by de koffie, so na de koffie means “after coffee.” The related opposite for time is voor (“before”): voor de koffie means “before coffee.” koffie is the noun “coffee.” In this sentence, de koffie refers to coffee as the relevant occasion or drink, without asserting a specific numeric amount. Dutch nouns use an article such as de or het; the article is part of the noun phrase, while koffie is the noun itself. teruggaan means “to return” or “to go back.” It is an infinitive made from terug (“back”) and gaan (“go”). In a finite clause, this separable verb can split: We gaan terug. means “We are going back.” After zullen, the infinitive remains together at the end: Zullen we teruggaan? naar marks movement or direction toward a destination. The pattern naar + noun phrase is useful for destinations: naar het rapport means “to the report.” It is different from in (“in”), which describes being inside or within something rather than movement toward it. rapport is the noun “report.” With its article, het rapport is the noun phrase “the report.” The article het identifies this noun as a Dutch het-word; it is not the noun's English translation and does not itself indicate a quantity. Together, Zullen we introduces a suggestion, na de koffie gives its time, and teruggaan naar het rapport gives the proposed movement and destination. The whole utterance therefore means: “Should we return to the report after coffee?”

6. Dan kunnen we het volgende deel afmaken.

   We can finish the next part then.

   Dan

   then

   kunnen we

   we can

   volgende

   next

   deel

   part

   afmaken

   finish

   More detail

   Dan means “then” here and places the action in sequence with something already being discussed. At the start of a Dutch main clause, this adverb is followed by the finite verb: Dan kunnen we .... kunnen we expresses “we can.” kunnen is the present-tense form used with we and is also the infinitive after another verb. It is a modal verb: we kunnen afmaken means “we can finish,” while we moeten afmaken would mean “we must finish.” Because Dan occupies the first position, the finite verb kunnen comes before the subject we. volgende means “next” and describes deel. The base adjective is volgend; in het volgende deel, the adjective has the -e ending used here before a singular noun with the definite article het. Example: de volgende stap — “the next step.” deel means “part” or “section.” Its plural is delen. Example: We bespreken een deel. — “We are discussing a part.” afmaken means “to finish” or “to complete.” It is an infinitive here because it follows the modal verb kunnen; the sentence does not use a finite form of afmaken. Example: Ik wil het werk afmaken. — “I want to finish the work.” Together, Dan kunnen we gives “Then we can,” het volgende deel gives “the next part,” and afmaken completes the action: “Then we can finish the next part.”

7. Ik sla het bestand op voordat we weggaan.

   I will save the file before we leave.

   Ik

   I

   sla … op

   save

   bestand

   file

   voordat

   before

   we

   we

   weggaan

   leave

   More detail

   Ik means “I” here: the first-person singular subject. Dutch subject pronouns include ik (“I”), je/jij (“you,” singular), and we/wij (“we”). Sla ... op is the separable verb opslaan, “to save” in the computer-file sense. In the present tense with ik, opslaan becomes ik sla ... op: the finite part sla appears near the subject, while the particle op moves to the end of the main clause. The intervening object can come between them. Example: Ik sla de foto op. — “I save the photo.” bestand means “file.” Its base form is bestand; with the definite article it appears here as het bestand. A useful contrast is het bestand (“the file”) versus de map (“the folder”); the article reflects the noun’s grammatical gender and is not a statement about quantity. voordat introduces a time clause meaning “before.” It links one event to an earlier event in the stated sequence. In a subordinate clause introduced by voordat, the finite verb appears at the end of the clause. we means “we,” the first-person plural subject. It is the plural counterpart of ik (“I”) and has the same form for the grammatical roles relevant here. weggaan means “to leave” or “go away.” Its infinitive is weggaan, a separable verb made up of weg and gaan. In voordat we weggaan, however, weggaan is the finite present-tense form for we; it has the same spelling as the infinitive and remains joined in this subordinate clause. In a main clause, the finite verb and particle separate: We gaan weg. — “We leave” or “We are leaving.” Together, Ik sla het bestand op says “I will save the file” in the fixed translation. Dutch can use the present tense for a planned or imminent future action; no separate future auxiliary is present in the target sentence. voordat we weggaan adds the time relation “before we leave.” Thus the complete utterance means: “I will save the file before we leave.”

8. Sla het nu op, zodat we niets kwijtraken.

   Save it now, so we do not lose anything.

   Sla … op

   save

   het

   it

   nu

   now

   zodat

   so that

   we

   we

   niets

   nothing

   kwijtraken

   lose

   More detail

   Sla ... op is the separable verb opslaan, used here as an imperative meaning “save.” The imperative form does not by itself uniquely mark informal singular; the same form can be used with other address situations depending on context. In this main-clause imperative, sla comes first and the separable part op appears at the end. The present-tense form with ik is also sla ... op; for example, Ik sla het bestand op. means “I save the file.” het is the neuter singular object pronoun “it.” The preceding context mentions het bestand (“the file”), but the fixed sentence itself does not grammatically identify the referent more specifically. Dutch object pronouns also include hem and haar in relevant singular contexts; het is used for a neuter singular referent here. nu is the time adverb “now.” It places the saving at the current time. For example, Doe het nu. means “Do it now.” zodat introduces a subordinate clause expressing the intended result or purpose: “so that.” In the clause after it, the finite verb comes at the end, as in zodat we niets kwijtraken. we is the first-person plural subject pronoun, “we.” It refers to the speaker together with at least one other person. Its object form is ons, as in Ze helpen ons (“They help us”). niets means “nothing.” It is a negative indefinite pronoun and functions here as the object of “lose.” Dutch does not need an additional negative word in this construction: We verliezen niets means “We lose nothing.” kwijtraken means “lose” in the sense of no longer having or being unable to find something. With the plural subject we, the present-tense form in this subordinate-clause position is kwijtraken, which has the same spelling as the infinitive. In a main clause, the separable pattern is visible as We raken niets kwijt (“We lose nothing”). Together, Sla het nu op gives the instruction “Save it now.” The purpose clause zodat we niets kwijtraken says why: “so that we do not lose anything.” The complete utterance is therefore “Save it now, so we do not lose anything.”