Using the library printer | Learn Dutch in English

Sentence explanations

1. Hoe gebruik ik de printer in de bibliotheek?

   How do I use the printer in the library?

   Hoe

   how

   gebruik

   use

   ik

   I

   printer

   printer

   bibliotheek

   library

   More detail

   Hoe asks about the manner or method: “how.” It is useful for asking how to carry out an action. For example, Hoe open ik dit bestand? means “How do I open this file?” gebruik is the first-person singular present form of gebruiken, “to use.” In a normal statement, the pattern is ik gebruik ... (“I use ...”). In this question, gebruik ik ... appears because Dutch places the finite verb before the subject in this type of question. The form gebruik can also occur as an imperative (“use!”), but that is not its function here. ik means “I” and identifies the speaker as the person carrying out the action. It is the first-person singular subject pronoun. For example, Ik lees. means “I read.” printer means “printer.” It is a noun used here as the object of gebruik: the speaker asks how to use the printer. In Dutch, this noun normally takes the definite article de: de printer. bibliotheek means “library.” It is a noun; with in de bibliotheek, it identifies the location of the printer. Dutch normally uses the definite article de with this noun: de bibliotheek. Together, Hoe gebruik ik forms the reusable question pattern “How do I use ...?” The object is de printer, and in de bibliotheek adds the location. Thus the complete utterance means “How do I use the printer in the library?” The present tense presents this as a question about the method for using it, without stating that the speaker has already used it or describing an outcome.

2. Kies eerst de printer op dit scherm.

   First, choose the printer on this screen.

   Kies

   choose

   eerst

   first

   printer

   printer

   op

   on

   dit

   this

   scherm

   screen

   More detail

   Kies means “choose” here. It is the imperative form of kiezen (“to choose”), used for a direct instruction to one or more people; the subject is normally left unstated. For example: Kies een optie. — “Choose an option.” eerst means “first” and indicates the order of the action. It can also occur in other instructions, such as Lees eerst de vraag. — “Read the question first.” printer is the noun “printer.” Its base form is printer; with the definite article, Dutch uses de printer, as in the earlier question about using the printer. Dutch nouns must be learned together with their article when article choice matters. op means “on” in this location expression. op dit scherm identifies the screen where the printer should be chosen. The preposition is followed here by dit, not by a separate English-style article. dit means “this” and is the demonstrative used with a singular neuter noun in Dutch. In dit scherm, it points to the specific screen being displayed. With a singular common-gender noun, Dutch uses deze, as in the example deze printer — “this printer.” scherm means “screen.” The phrase dit scherm is “this screen,” with scherm as a singular neuter noun; its definite form is het scherm. Together, Kies eerst gives the instruction “First, choose,” and de printer op dit scherm specifies what to choose and where it is located: “the printer on this screen.” The complete utterance is therefore: “First, choose the printer on this screen.”

3. Kan ik dubbelzijdig printen kiezen?

   Can I choose double-sided printing?

   Kan ik

   Can I …?

   dubbelzijdig

   double-sided

   printen

   print

   kiezen

   choose

   More detail

   Kan ik means “Can I …?” Here, kan is the present-tense form of kunnen (“can, be able to”) for ik (“I”). In a yes/no question, the finite verb comes before the subject: Kan ik ...? Compare the statement order Ik kan ... (“I can ...”). The modal is followed by an infinitive. dubbelzijdig describes printing on both sides of a sheet. It is built from dubbel (“double”) and zijdig (“-sided”), and here it functions with printen as “double-sided.” The same word can describe another two-sided item when the context supports that use. printen is the infinitive “to print.” Dutch uses this infinitive after a modal such as kan: Ik kan printen means “I can print.” Its past-tense form is printte (“printed”), while the infinitive remains printen after a modal. kiezen is the infinitive “to choose.” It is the lexical verb that says what the speaker wants to be able to do. Its present-tense forms include ik kies (“I choose”) and jij kiest (“you choose”); after kan ik, the infinitive is used: Kan ik ... kiezen? Together, Kan ik + dubbelzijdig printen + kiezen? asks whether the speaker can select the option of printing on both sides. The word order is a yes/no-question pattern: Kan ik + the desired option or activity + kiezen?, meaning “Can I choose ...?”

4. Verander de instelling voordat je print.

   Change the setting before you print.

   Verander

   change

   instelling

   setting

   voordat je

   before you

   print

   print

   More detail

   Verander means “change” here and is the imperative of veranderen (“to change”). The form addresses one person informally and does not show a written subject: Dutch imperatives commonly omit the subject. Example: Verander het plan. — “Change the plan.” instelling means “setting” here. Its plural is instellingen, so een instelling means “a setting” and de instellingen means “the settings.” In the fixed sentence, de identifies the setting as a specific one known from the situation; the noun itself is singular. voordat je introduces a time relation meaning “before you.” voordat is a conjunction, and je is the informal singular “you” subject. A clause introduced by voordat places its finite verb at the end: voordat je vertrekt — “before you leave.” print is the present-tense form of printen (“to print”) used with je in this clause. The infinitive is printen; do not treat the final t in print as part of the infinitive. Example: Je print het document. — “You print the document.” Together, Verander de instelling gives the command “Change the setting.” The time clause voordat je print specifies that this change must happen before the addressee prints. Thus the whole utterance means “Change the setting before you print.”

5. Ik hoef alleen een kort document te printen.

   I only need to print a short document.

   Ik hoef

   I need

   alleen

   only

   kort

   short

   document

   document

   te printen

   to print

   More detail

   Ik hoef means “I need to” here. The base form is hoeven; hoef is its present-tense form with ik. In this construction, hoeven is followed by te plus an infinitive. With alleen, it expresses that no more than the stated action is necessary: Ik hoef ... te printen = “I only need to print ...”. Moeten is another common verb for necessity, often presenting an obligation more directly. alleen means “only” and limits the necessity expressed by hoef: the speaker needs to do the stated action, and nothing more is presented as necessary. It does not itself state a numerical count. kort means “short” here and modifies document. Its base form is kort; the comparative is korter (“shorter”), and the superlative forms are kortst (“shortest” when used predicatively) and kortste before a noun. In een kort document, the adjective has no -e because it is attributive with an indefinite singular neuter noun phrase. document is a neuter noun meaning “document.” Its plural is documenten (“documents”). The indefinite article een introduces the noun phrase, but the sentence does not emphasize a numerical count. te printen is the reusable pattern te + infinitive. printen is the infinitive meaning “to print”; ik print is its present-tense form with ik. Here, te printen supplies the action that completes hoef. Together, Ik hoef + alleen + een kort document + te printen gives: “I only need to print a short document.” The object is een kort document, and the final te printen phrase completes the construction expressing what the speaker needs to do.

6. Controleer dan het voorbeeld voordat je begint.

   Then check the preview before you start.

   Controleer

   check

   dan

   then

   het voorbeeld

   the preview

   voordat

   before

   je begint

   you start

   More detail

   Controleer is the imperative form of controleren, “to check.” The imperative addresses one or more people without requiring an expressed subject: Controleer het bestand. means “Check the file.” dan means “then” here. It places the checking step after an understood earlier step or at the next point in the sequence. The compact pattern Dan + imperative is reusable: Dan lees je verder. — “Then you continue reading.” het voorbeeld is the noun phrase meaning “the preview” in this sentence. Voorbeeld can also mean “example” in other contexts, but the fixed translation and the printing context establish the intended preview-related reading here. The article het belongs to the noun phrase; Dutch articles are chosen by the noun’s grammatical gender/class, not by a numeric count. For example, het document means “the document,” while de pagina means “the page.” voordat introduces the event that must happen earlier: “before.” It starts a subordinate clause. A reusable pattern is voordat + clause: Was je handen voordat je eet. — “Wash your hands before you eat.” je begint means “you start.” Begint is the present-tense form of beginnen with the subject je; je is the informal second-person subject pronoun in this sentence. In the subordinate clause after voordat, the finite verb comes after the subject: voordat je begint. The same verb can appear in a main clause as Je begint. — “You start.” Together, Controleer dan gives the instruction “Then check,” het voorbeeld identifies what to check, and voordat je begint sets the earlier condition “before you start.” The complete meaning is: “Then check the preview before you start.”

7. Waar komen de geprinte pagina's uit?

   Where do the printed pages come out?

   Waar

   where

   komen … uit

   come out

   geprinte

   printed

   pagina's

   pages

   More detail

   Waar asks about a place. Here it asks where the pages emerge. Example: Waar woon je? — “Where do you live?” komen uit is a reusable combination meaning “come out” or “emerge from”. The verb komen is the present-tense plural form of komen, “to come”, because its subject here is the plural de geprinte pagina's. With a singular subject, Dutch uses komt: De pagina komt eruit. — “The page comes out of it.” Uit expresses movement from an interior place or source. Example: De brief komt uit de printer. — “The letter comes out of the printer.” geprinte means “printed” here. It is the attributive form of the past participle geprint from printen, “to print”. Before this plural noun, the adjective has the ending -e: geprinte pagina's. pagina's means “pages”. Its singular is pagina; this form is plural. The apostrophe in pagina's preserves the pronunciation when the plural ending is added to this noun. Together, Waar asks for the place, komen uit expresses the pages emerging, and geprinte pagina's identifies which pages are meant. The whole question is “Where do the printed pages come out?” In this Dutch question structure, the question word comes first, the finite verb komen follows it, and the subject comes afterward. The supplied continuation answers that they come out in the tray below.

8. Ze komen uit de lade eronder.

   They come out in the tray below.

   Ze

   they

   komen

   come

   uit

   out of

   lade

   drawer

   eronder

   below it

   More detail

   Ze means “they” here and refers to the previously mentioned printed pages. Dutch ze can also be a singular feminine pronoun (“she”), but the plural reading is established by the fixed translation and the preceding question. At the beginning of a sentence it is capitalized as Ze. komen is the present-tense plural form of komen, “to come.” The useful contrast is ik kom (“I come”) versus ze komen (“they come”): the verb form agrees with the subject’s number here. Komen can also be used for movement toward a place or for something emerging, as in De pagina's komen eruit — “The pages come out of it.” uit expresses movement out of or emergence from a place. In this sentence it introduces the source location of the pages: uit de lade means “out of/from the drawer.” It is different from in, which expresses movement into or location in a place. lade means “drawer” here; in a context involving a machine, it can refer to a drawer-like paper tray, matching the fixed translation’s “tray.” Its plural is laden: een lade — “a drawer,” twee laden — “two drawers.” eronder means “below it” or “underneath it.” It is a locative form built from er (“there/it” in this type of expression) and onder (“under/below”). It points to a contextually understood reference; the supplied sentence does not uniquely identify what that reference is. Dutch also uses forms such as erboven (“above it”) and ernaast (“beside it”) for comparable relative locations. Together, Ze komen gives “they come,” and uit de lade eronder gives “out of/from the drawer or tray below.” The whole utterance therefore says that the previously mentioned printed pages emerge from the lower drawer/tray, rendered in the fixed translation as “They come out in the tray below.”