A quick walk outside | Learn Dutch in English

Sentence explanations

1. Het voelt te warm en stil in de ruimte.

   The room feels too warm and quiet.

   voelt

   feels

   te warm

   too warm

   stil

   quiet

   ruimte

   room; space

   More detail

   voelt is the present-tense form of voelen (“to feel”). With het, the form is third-person singular: het voelt; compare ik voel and wij voelen. In this sentence, voelen describes how the situation is experienced, rather than someone touching something. Example: Het voelt goed. — “It feels good.” te warm combines the adjective warm (“warm”) with te (“too”). Te warm means that the temperature is higher than desired or suitable, not simply “very warm.” The adjective is in its predicate form here: De kamer is warm (“The room is warm”), but de warme kamer (“the warm room”) has the attributive form warme. stil means “quiet” here: there is little or no sound. It can also describe something being still, depending on context. Like warm, it is a predicate adjective in this sentence. Example: De straat is stil. — “The street is quiet.” ruimte is a noun meaning “room” or “space.” The form de ruimte is definite, meaning “the room” or “the space”; een ruimte means “a room” or “a space.” In in de ruimte, in introduces the location, so the phrase means “in the room.” The sentence begins with Het voelt, a Dutch way to describe an experienced atmosphere or condition. en connects the two descriptions: te warm and stil. The location phrase in de ruimte specifies where this impression applies. Together, Het voelt te warm en stil in de ruimte. means “The room feels too warm and quiet.”

2. Wil je even naar buiten voor een korte wandeling?

   Do you want to take a quick walk outside?

   Wil je

   do you want

   even

   briefly; just

   naar buiten

   outside

   korte

   short; quick

   wandeling

   walk

   More detail

   Wil je contains wil, the present-tense form of willen (“to want”) for the second-person singular, together with je (“you”). In a yes/no question, the finite verb comes before the subject: Wil je ...? means “Do you want ...?” The same forms in ordinary statement order are Je wilt ... (“You want ...”); je wil is also used in contemporary Dutch, but je wilt is a common standard form. Example: Wil je koffie? — “Do you want coffee?” even literally relates to a short moment, but here it is mainly a lightening particle: it makes the invitation sound like “just” or “for a moment,” without asserting an exact duration. In this sentence it softens the suggestion of going outside rather than changing who wants what. Example: Kijk even. — “Just have a look.” naar buiten expresses movement or direction to the outside. naar is used for a destination or direction, while buiten means “outside.” The phrase contrasts with buiten used without naar, which can simply describe location: Ik ben buiten. — “I am outside.” korte is the attributive form of the adjective kort (“short”). It describes wandeling here, so korte wandeling means “short walk.” Dutch attributive adjectives commonly take -e in this environment: een korte wandeling. The comparison chain is kort (“short”), korter (“shorter”), het kortst (“the shortest”). Example: Dit is een korte pauze. — “This is a short break.” wandeling is a noun meaning “walk” or “stroll,” specifically a walk taken as an activity. It is a de-word: de wandeling; its plural is wandelingen. The related verb wandelen means “to walk” or “to go for a walk,” but the observed form wandeling is the noun. Example: De wandeling was rustig. — “The walk was peaceful.” The remaining small words connect these pieces: voor introduces the purpose or activity (“for”), and een is an indefinite article (“a”), not by itself a numerical claim. Thus voor een korte wandeling means “for a short walk.” The direction phrase naar buiten combines with that activity phrase: naar buiten voor een korte wandeling means “outside for a short walk.” Taken as a whole, Wil je even naar buiten voor een korte wandeling? asks whether the listener wants to go outside for a short walk. In the supplied context, this is a suggestion connected with the room feeling too warm and quiet; the sentence itself remains a question about the listener’s willingness.

3. Frisse lucht zou helpen.

   Fresh air would help.

   Frisse

   fresh

   lucht

   air

   zou

   would

   helpen

   help

   More detail

   Frisse is the attributive form of fris, meaning “fresh” here. In Dutch, an adjective placed before a singular common-gender noun normally takes -e: fris becomes frisse before lucht. The same adjective is fris when used predicatively: De lucht is fris. — “The air is fresh.” lucht means “air” in this sentence. It is a noun, and the phrase frisse lucht refers to fresh air as a substance or environmental condition, not to a person or object. zou is the past form of zullen, but here it does not express ordinary past time. With an infinitive, it commonly forms a conditional or tentative “would”: zou helpen = “would help.” For example, Dat zou goed zijn. — “That would be good.” helpen is the infinitive “to help.” After zou, Dutch uses the infinitive, so the form remains helpen rather than changing for a present-tense subject. The verb can also appear in the present tense: Frisse lucht helpt. — “Fresh air helps.” Together, frisse lucht supplies what would be helpful, while zou helpen presents the benefit as a conditional or tentative possibility. The complete utterance therefore means “Fresh air would help.” In this context, it is a concise suggestion connected with going outside for a short walk.

4. We kunnen in de buurt van het gebouw blijven en snel terugkomen.

   We can stay near the building and come back soon.

   We kunnen

   we can

   in de buurt van

   near

   gebouw

   building

   blijven

   stay

   snel

   quickly; soon

   terugkomen

   come back

   More detail

   We kunnen means “we can” here. kunnen is the infinitive “to be able to/can”; with subject we, the present-tense form is kunnen. A modal verb is followed by an infinitive: We kunnen blijven = “We can stay.” in de buurt van is a reusable Dutch prepositional phrase meaning “near” or “in the vicinity of.” The preposition van introduces what the location is near. Example: Ik woon in de buurt van het station. — “I live near the station.” gebouw means “building” here. Its full noun phrase is het gebouw: het is the definite article used with this noun in the singular. The plural is gebouwen (“buildings”). Example: Het gebouw is groot. — “The building is large.” blijven is the infinitive “to stay” or “to remain.” After kunnen, it stays in the infinitive: We kunnen blijven = “We can stay.” It is distinct from gaan (“to go”); blijven focuses on remaining in a place. snel means “soon” in this sentence, as confirmed by the fixed translation. Dutch snel can also mean “quickly” or “fast,” depending on what it modifies. Here it describes the time of returning: snel terugkomen = “come back soon.” Example: Kom snel! — “Come quickly!” terugkomen is the infinitive “to come back” or “to return.” It combines terug (“back”) with komen (“to come”). In a finite clause, Dutch commonly separates this compound: Ik kom terug — “I come back.” After the modal kunnen, the infinitive remains together: We kunnen ... terugkomen. Together, in de buurt van het gebouw specifies the location, while blijven expresses staying there. The coordinated second action is snel terugkomen, “come back soon.” Thus We kunnen in de buurt van het gebouw blijven en snel terugkomen. means “We can stay near the building and come back soon.”

5. Er is nog wat daglicht.

   There's still some daylight.

   Er is

   there is

   nog

   still

   wat

   some

   daglicht

   daylight

   More detail

   Er is is the Dutch existential pattern meaning “there is” or “there’s.” is is the present-tense form of zijn (“to be”) for a singular noun phrase; the fixed expression uses er to introduce what exists. Reusable pattern: Er is + noun. For more than one thing, Dutch uses Er zijn + plural noun, as in Er zijn twee stoelen. — “There are two chairs.” nog means “still” here: the situation continues at the relevant time. It can also mean “yet” in other contexts, so its exact English rendering depends on the sentence. Example: Het is nog licht. — “It is still light.” wat means “some” in this sentence. Here it introduces an unspecified amount of daglicht; it does not assert a particular numerical count. In other contexts, wat can have other functions, including “what,” but that is not its meaning here. daglicht is the noun “daylight.” It is a compound formed from dag (“day”) and licht (“light”), written as one word in Dutch. Dutch nouns are capitalized only at the beginning of a sentence here, so the observed form is lowercase. Example: Er komt daglicht binnen. — “Daylight comes in.” Together, Er is introduces something that exists, nog says that it remains, and wat daglicht identifies that thing as an unspecified amount of daylight. The whole utterance therefore means “There’s still some daylight.”

6. Dan gaan we voordat het donker wordt.

   Then let's go before it gets dark.

   Dan

   then

   gaan

   go

   we

   we

   voordat

   before

   het

   it

   donker

   dark

   wordt

   gets; becomes

   More detail

   Dan means “then” and places the suggestion in sequence with what has just been said. At the start of a Dutch main clause, it can be followed by the verb and then the subject. gaan is the present-tense form of gaan, “to go.” With we, gaan we ... can function as a suggestion equivalent to “let’s go.” Example: We gaan naar huis. — “We are going home.” we is the first-person plural pronoun “we.” In gaan we, it is the subject of gaan; the verb precedes the subject because Dan occupies the first position. This is ordinary Dutch main-clause inversion after an initial element, not necessarily a question. voordat is a subordinating conjunction meaning “before.” It introduces the time relation “before [something happens].” In the subordinate clause, the finite verb appears at the end. het is the neuter-form word used here as the grammatical subject of the weather or change-of-state expression het wordt donker. In this expression, it does not mean that a previously mentioned concrete object becomes dark. donker means “dark.” Here it is a predicative adjective: it describes the state that comes about, rather than modifying a separate noun. Example: De kamer is donker. — “The room is dark.” wordt is the third-person singular present form of worden, “to become” or “to get.” In het donker wordt, the subordinate-clause order places wordt after donker; the corresponding main-clause order is Het wordt donker. — “It gets dark.” Other present forms include ik word and we worden. Together, Dan gaan we means “Then let’s go.” The subordinate clause voordat het donker wordt means “before it gets dark”: het is the grammatical subject, donker describes the resulting state, and wordt expresses the change into that state. The complete utterance therefore means: “Then let’s go before it gets dark.”

7. Laten we terugkomen zodra we ons weer fris voelen.

   Let's come back once we feel refreshed.

   Laten we

   let’s

   terugkomen

   come back

   zodra

   once; as soon as

   weer

   again

   fris

   refreshed; fresh

   voelen

   feel

   More detail

   Laten we introduces a proposal or invitation: “let’s …”. The following verb stays in the infinitive, so this pattern is reusable with another verb, for example Laten we beginnen — “Let’s begin.” terugkomen means “come back” here. It is an infinitive and a separable Dutch verb: the parts can be separated in some finite clauses, as in We komen morgen terug — “We are coming back tomorrow.” The form in the sentence remains the infinitive because it follows Laten we. zodra means “once” or “as soon as” and introduces the condition in time. The clause after it gives the point at which the proposed return should happen. For example, Bel me zodra je aankomt means “Call me as soon as you arrive.” weer means “again” here: the feeling is expected to return or recur. It is separate from terugkomen; terugkomen expresses coming back, while weer adds the idea of repetition or restoration. fris is an adjective meaning “fresh” or, in this sentence, “refreshed.” After voelen it describes how the subject feels. It does not change here for the plural subject we. For example, Ik voel me fris means “I feel refreshed.” voelen means “feel.” In we ... voelen, it is the present-tense plural form; the infinitive is also voelen. Dutch uses the reflexive expression zich voelen for “feel” in this sense. Here ons is the reflexive form referring back to we, giving we ons ... voelen — “we feel ...”. Together, Laten we terugkomen proposes returning. zodra we ons weer fris voelen sets the time condition: the return is to happen once the speakers feel refreshed again. The complete utterance therefore means: “Let’s come back once we feel refreshed.”

8. Dan zijn we weer klaar om ons te concentreren.

   Then we'll be ready to focus again.

   Dan

   then

   zijn we

   we are

   weer

   again

   klaar

   ready

   concentreren

   to focus

   More detail

   Dan means “then” here: it places the situation after an earlier condition or point in time. A useful contrast is nu (“now”) versus dan (“then”). zijn we uses the present-tense form of zijn (“to be”) with subject we (“we”). Because Dan comes first, Dutch places the finite verb before the subject: Dan zijn we .... This is normal main-clause inversion after an initial adverbial element, not necessarily a question. For example, We zijn klaar means “We are ready.” weer means “again” here. It indicates that the focusing will happen again, rather than stating that the state of being ready itself necessarily happened before. Dan zijn we weer ... therefore contributes “Then we ... again” in the fixed translation. klaar is an adjective meaning “ready” or “finished,” depending on context. Here it means prepared, not completed. With zijn, it describes a state: Ik ben klaar means “I am ready.” ons is the first-person plural object/reflexive form associated with we. In ons te concentreren, it refers back to the group represented by we. The construction om ... te introduces an infinitive phrase; here it expresses what the group is ready to do. concentreren is the infinitive “to focus” or “to concentrate,” and after te it remains in that form. Putting the parts together, Dan (“then”) + zijn we (“we are”) + weer (“again”) + klaar (“ready”) + om ons te concentreren (“to focus”) gives: “Then we’ll be ready to focus again.” Dutch uses the present form zijn, while the future-time interpretation is supplied by the context and the fixed translation.