Getting a washing machine to start | Learn Dutch in English

Sentence explanations

1. Deze wasmachine start niet.

   This washing machine won't start.

   Deze

   this

   wasmachine

   washing machine

   start

   starts

   niet

   not

   More detail

   Deze means “this” here and points to the washing machine being discussed. In Dutch, deze is used with a singular common-gender noun and with plural nouns; wasmachine is a singular common-gender de-word. It is not itself a marker of a numeric quantity. wasmachine means “washing machine.” It is a compound noun: was relates to washing, and machine means “machine.” The noun is the subject of the sentence, the thing that is supposed to start. start means “starts” or “begins operating” here. Its base form is the infinitive starten; start is the present-tense form used with a singular subject such as de wasmachine. Example: De computer start. — “The computer starts.” niet means “not.” It negates the statement that the washing machine starts. In this sentence, it follows the finite verb: De wasmachine start niet — “The washing machine does not start.” Together, Deze wasmachine identifies this washing machine, start states that it begins operating, and niet reverses that statement. The complete meaning is “This washing machine won’t start.”

2. Heb je de stekker en de aan-knop gecontroleerd?

   Did you check the plug and the power button?

   Heb je

   Did you …?

   stekker

   plug

   aan-knop

   power button

   gecontroleerd

   checked

   More detail

   Heb je is the Dutch question pattern “have you …?” Here heb is the present-tense form of hebben (“to have”) for je (“you”). In a yes/no question, the finite verb comes before the subject: Heb je ...? Compare the statement pattern Je hebt ... (“You have ...”). In this sentence, heb is an auxiliary; it does not mean possession by itself. stekker means “plug.” It is a noun and appears with the definite article de: de stekker (“the plug”). Example: De stekker zit erin. — “The plug is in.” aan-knop means “power button,” literally the button used to switch something on. It is a compound noun: aan (“on”) + knop (“button”), and it also takes de: de aan-knop. Example: Druk op de aan-knop. — “Press the power button.” gecontroleerd is the past participle of controleren, “to check.” With the auxiliary hebben, it forms the Dutch perfect: heb gecontroleerd = “have checked.” The participle does not change here to agree with je, stekker, or aan-knop. Example: Ik heb de kabel gecontroleerd. — “I have checked the cable.” Together, Heb je ... gecontroleerd? asks whether the listener has checked something. The coordinated objects are de stekker and de aan-knop, so the complete utterance means: “Did you check the plug and the power button?”

3. De stekker zit erin, maar er gebeurt niets.

   The plug is in, but nothing happens.

   stekker

   plug

   zit erin

   is in / is inserted

   maar

   but

   gebeurt

   happens

   niets

   nothing

   More detail

   stekker means “plug” here. Its base form is stekker; the plural is stekkers. With the definite article, Dutch uses de: de stekker. Example: Waar is de stekker? — “Where is the plug?” zit erin describes the plug’s position or state: it is inserted and remains inside something. zit is the present-tense singular form of zitten, whose basic meaning is “to sit” but which is also used for something being positioned in a place. erin means “in it” or “inside,” referring to an understood container, socket, or similar place. Example: De kaart zit erin. — “The card is in it.” maar connects two contrasting clauses and means “but.” It does not itself express the cause or result. Example: Ik kom, maar ik blijf niet lang. — “I’m coming, but I won’t stay long.” gebeurt is the present-tense third-person singular form of gebeuren, “to happen.” The subject in this clause is niets, so the singular form is used. Example: Er gebeurt iets. — “Something is happening.” niets means “nothing.” It is a negative indefinite pronoun and can function as the subject or object of a clause. In er gebeurt niets, it is the subject: literally, “nothing happens.” Example: Ik hoor niets. — “I hear nothing.” Together, De stekker zit erin says that the plug is in place or inserted. Maar introduces the contrast, and er gebeurt niets says that no event or response is occurring. The whole utterance therefore means: “The plug is in, but nothing happens.”

4. Misschien is de deur niet goed dicht.

   Maybe the door isn't closed properly.

   Misschien

   maybe

   is

   is

   de deur

   the door

   niet goed

   not properly

   dicht

   closed

   More detail

   Misschien means “maybe” and marks the statement as uncertain rather than asserting it as a fact. It can occur at the beginning of a sentence, as here. Example: Misschien komt hij morgen. — “Maybe he will come tomorrow.” is is the present-tense form of zijn (“to be”) for a singular subject such as de deur. In this sentence it links the subject with the description that follows. Example: De machine is stil. — “The machine is quiet.” de deur means “the door.” De is the definite article used with this noun; the article is part of the noun phrase and does not itself express a numerical count. Example: De deur is open. — “The door is open.” niet goed combines negation with goed, meaning “not properly” in this sentence. Niet negates the description, while goed means “well” or “properly” here rather than simply describing something as morally good. Example: De deur sluit niet goed. — “The door does not close properly.” dicht describes the door’s resulting state: “closed” or “shut.” In Dutch, dicht can be used after zijn to describe that state. It is distinct from open, its useful opposite in this context. Example: Het raam is dicht. — “The window is closed.” Together, de deur is dicht says that the door is closed. Adding niet goed changes this to “is not closed properly,” and Misschien makes the entire claim uncertain. Thus the utterance means: “Maybe the door isn’t closed properly.”

5. In de gebruiksaanwijzing staat dat de deur moet klikken voordat de machine start.

   The instructions say it should click before it starts.

   In de gebruiksaanwijzing

   in the instructions

   staat

   says; states

   de deur

   the door

   moet

   must; has to

   klikken

   click

   voordat

   before

   de machine

   the machine

   start

   starts

   More detail

   In de gebruiksaanwijzing means “in the instructions.” In marks the place or source where information is found, and de gebruiksaanwijzing is a Dutch noun phrase meaning “the instructions” or, more literally, “the user manual.” Gebruiksaanwijzing is a de-word, also called common gender in Dutch, so it takes de here. staat is the present-tense form of staan for a singular subject. Literally, staan means “to stand,” but with written information, in ... staat dat ... is a common way to say “... says/states that ...”: the information is written in the manual. The following dat introduces the content of the statement. de deur means “the door.” De is the definite article used with this noun; the phrase identifies a specific door in this utterance. moet is the singular present form of the modal verb moeten, “must” or “have to.” In de deur moet klikken, it expresses a requirement. After a modal verb, Dutch normally places the other verb in the infinitive: moet klikken, “must click.” klikken means “to click.” It is the infinitive after moet. The finite present form with a singular subject would be klikt, as in De deur klikt (“The door clicks”). Here, the sentence presents clicking as the required event for the door. voordat means “before” and introduces a time clause. A useful pattern is X voordat Y = “X before Y.” In a Dutch subordinate clause introduced by voordat, the finite verb is placed at the end: voordat de machine start. de machine means “the machine.” It is the subject of the clause after voordat, and de is the definite article used with this noun. start is the present-tense singular form of starten, “to start.” Its subject here is de machine, so the machine is the thing that starts. Compare De machine start (“The machine starts”) with De machines starten (“The machines start”); the verb changes with a singular versus plural subject. Together, In de gebruiksaanwijzing staat dat introduces information written in the instructions. de deur moet klikken states the required event, and voordat de machine start places that event earlier in time. The whole utterance means: “The instructions say it should click before it starts.” Here, the door is the thing expected to click, while the machine is the thing that starts.

6. Duw de deur nog een keer dicht en druk dan op start.

   Push the door once more, then press start.

   Duw

   push

   de deur

   the door

   nog een keer

   once more

   dicht

   closed; shut

   druk

   press

   dan

   then

   op start

   on start; start

   More detail

   Duw is the imperative of duwen (“to push”). The imperative uses the verb stem here and does not show a separate person ending. Example: Duw de lade open. — “Push the drawer open.” de deur means “the door.” De is the definite article used with this noun; the article is part of the noun phrase, while deur is the noun itself. Example: De deur is open. — “The door is open.” nog een keer means “once more.” Nog adds the idea of repetition, and een keer means “one time” in this time-expression. The phrase is reusable with other actions: Lees het nog een keer. — “Read it once more.” dicht describes the resulting closed position. In de deur dichtduwen or, as here, duw de deur dicht, it works with the pushing action to mean “push the door shut.” This is different from simply saying that the door is already closed: De deur is dicht. — “The door is closed.” druk is the imperative of drukken (“to press”). It is a different verb from duwen: duwen usually applies force by pushing something, while drukken is used for pressing a button or control. Example: Druk op de knop. — “Press the button.” dan means “then” and places the second action after the first one. It links the two imperatives in sequence: first push the door shut, then press the control. op start belongs to the pattern op ... drukken, “press ...”. Here start is the label or name of the start control, so druk op start means “press start.” The preposition op is part of this verb pattern; it is not the same as the English word “on” in every context. Together, Duw de deur nog een keer dicht instructs the listener to push the door shut once more. en druk dan op start adds the next instruction: after that, press the start control. The whole utterance therefore means: “Push the door once more, then press start.”

7. De deur klikte en nu werkt hij.

   The door clicked, and now it works.

   deur

   door

   klikte

   clicked

   nu

   now

   werkt

   works

   hij

   it

   More detail

   deur means “door.” Its base form is the noun deur; with the definite article, de deur means “the door.” Dutch uses de with this noun, rather than the neuter article het. klikte means “clicked” here. It is the past-tense form of klikken (“to click” or “to make a clicking sound”). For a regular Dutch verb, the past form can end in -te or -de; klikken uses -te, giving klikte. Example: De knop klikte. — “The button clicked.” nu means “now.” It places the situation at the present time. In this sentence, it contrasts the earlier event with the door’s current condition. werkt means “works” here. It is the present-tense form of werken (“to work”), used with a singular subject such as hij. The form chain is werken → werkt for “he/it works.” Example: De machine werkt. — “The machine works.” hij means “it” here because it refers back to de deur, as confirmed by the fixed translation. Grammatically, hij is the singular personal pronoun used for a male person or for a singular common-gender noun; it does not mean that the door is a person. A noun with het normally corresponds to het (“it”), while a de noun can correspond to hij in this use. Together, De deur klikte says “The door clicked.” The conjunction en connects that earlier event to the current result: nu werkt hij says “now it works.” The complete utterance is therefore “The door clicked, and now it works.”

8. Soms lossen simpele controles het probleem op.

   Sometimes simple checks solve the problem.

   Soms

   sometimes

   lossen … op

   solve

   simpele

   simple

   controles

   checks

   probleem

   problem

   More detail

   Soms means “sometimes.” It is a frequency adverb and can be placed at the beginning of a sentence to say that something happens on some occasions, not always. Example: Soms regent het. — “Sometimes it rains.” lossen ... op is the separable Dutch verb oplossen, meaning “to solve” in this sentence. In the present tense, lossen is the finite verb for a plural subject; the particle op appears separately later in the main clause. Example: We lossen het probleem op. — “We solve the problem.” In an infinitive or after a modal, the parts stay together: We willen het probleem oplossen. — “We want to solve the problem.” simpele means “simple.” Its base form is simpel; the form simpele is the attributive form used before the plural noun controles here. Example: een simpele vraag — “a simple question.” controles means “checks” here. Its singular is controle (“check” or “inspection”), and its plural is formed with -s: controles. Example: De controles zijn kort. — “The checks are brief.” probleem means “problem.” It is a singular noun; its plural is problemen. In this sentence it appears with the definite article het, forming het probleem — “the problem.” Example: Het probleem is opgelost. — “The problem has been solved.” Together, Soms sets the frequency, and lossen ... op says “solve.” Because Soms is placed first, the finite verb lossen comes before the subject simpele controles; this is the usual Dutch main-clause pattern in which the finite verb occupies the second position. Simpele controles is the plural subject, so lossen is plural. Het probleem is the object being solved, and the separated particle op completes oplossen. The whole utterance means: “Sometimes simple checks solve the problem.”