Asking about the estimated wait | Learn Dutch in English

Sentence explanations

1. Pardon, wat is de geschatte wachttijd?

   Excuse me, what is the estimated waiting time?

   Pardon

   Excuse me

   wat

   what

   is

   is

   geschatte

   estimated

   wachttijd

   waiting time

   More detail

   Pardon is a polite way to get someone's attention before a question, much like “Excuse me.” It can also stand alone as a brief polite opener. wat means “what” when asking about an unknown thing, value, or information. In Wat is de prijs?, it asks “What is the price?” is is the present-tense third-person singular form of zijn, “to be.” The pattern wat is ...? asks what something is or what its value is. Example: Wat is dit? — “What is this?” geschatte means “estimated” here. geschat is the adjective form related to the verb schatten, “to estimate”; before this definite noun phrase, it takes the ending -e: de geschatte wachttijd. In Dutch, attributive adjectives generally take -e before a definite noun phrase; this is not determined by the noun being singular alone. Example: De geschatte duur is twintig minuten. — “The estimated duration is twenty minutes.” wachttijd means “waiting time.” It is a compound noun for the time spent waiting and is written as one word. Example: De wachttijd is kort. — “The waiting time is short.” Together, wat is de geschatte wachttijd? asks for the estimated waiting time. With Pardon as the polite opener, the complete utterance means: “Excuse me, what is the estimated waiting time?”

2. Ongeveer tien minuten, misschien iets langer.

   About ten minutes, maybe a little longer.

   Ongeveer

   about; approximately

   tien

   ten

   minuten

   minutes

   misschien

   maybe

   iets

   a little

   langer

   longer

   More detail

   Ongeveer means that the stated amount is approximate rather than exact. It can modify amounts and measurements: ongeveer vijf kilometer means “about five kilometres.” tien is the number “ten.” Dutch number words do not change for the gender or number of the noun they count. For example, tien dagen means “ten days.” minuten is the plural of minuut, “minute.” The singular is één minuut and the plural is tien minuten; the noun takes the plural form because the amount is greater than one. In this utterance, minuten identifies the unit of the estimated time. misschien introduces uncertainty: the speaker presents the following information as possible, not certain. For example, Misschien komt hij later. means “Maybe he will come later.” iets can mean “something,” but before a comparative it has the quantity meaning “a little” or “somewhat.” In iets langer, it slightly increases the comparison rather than naming a separate object. For example, Deze route is iets korter. means “This route is a little shorter.” langer is the comparative form of lang, “long.” The comparison is relevant to duration here: langer means “longer.” The basic chain is lang → langer → het langst (“long” → “longer” → “the longest”); langer does not itself specify what the duration is longer than, because that comparison can be understood from context. Together, ongeveer tien minuten gives an approximate duration, and misschien iets langer adds that the actual duration may exceed ten minutes by a small amount. As a complete reply to the question about the estimated waiting time, the utterance is a natural shortened answer meaning: “About ten minutes, maybe a little longer.”

3. Ik heb hierna nog een afspraak.

   I have another appointment after this.

   Ik

   I

   heb

   have

   hierna

   after this

   nog

   another

   afspraak

   appointment

   More detail

   Ik means “I” here: the speaker is the subject. Dutch subject pronouns include ik (I), jij/je (you, singular), and wij/we (we). The subject pronoun determines the present-tense form of many verbs, but ik itself does not change for grammatical gender. heb is the present-tense first-person singular form of hebben, “to have”: ik heb, jij hebt, hij/zij heeft, wij hebben. In this sentence, it expresses possession or scheduling: the speaker has an appointment. Example: Ik heb tijd. — “I have time.” hierna means “after this” or “afterwards.” It points to a time or event understood from the situation. In this utterance, it places the appointment after the current matter, consistent with “after this.” Example: Hierna ga ik naar huis. — “After this, I’m going home.” nog means “another” or “an additional” in this context. It indicates that there is an additional appointment after the current matter. In other contexts, nog can mean “still” or “yet,” so its meaning comes from the surrounding construction. Example: Ik wil nog een kop koffie. — “I want another cup of coffee.” afspraak means “appointment” here. It is a common-gender noun with the article de: de afspraak; its plural is afspraken. It can also refer more generally to an arrangement or agreement, depending on context. Example: De afspraak is om drie uur. — “The appointment is at three o’clock.” Together, Ik heb gives “I have,” hierna specifies that the time is after the current matter, nog een marks an additional indefinite item, and afspraak identifies that item as an appointment. The full utterance therefore means: “I have another appointment after this.”

4. Als dat te laat is, kunt u na de lunch terugkomen.

   If that is too late, you can come back after lunch.

   Als

   if

   dat

   that

   te laat

   too late

   is

   is

   kunt u

   you can

   terugkomen

   come back

   na

   after

   de lunch

   lunch

   More detail

   Als introduces a condition: “if …”. In Dutch, the clause after als normally has the finite verb later in the clause, as in dat te laat is. Reusable pattern: Als X ..., ... = “If X ..., ...”. Example: Als het regent, blijf ik thuis. — “If it rains, I stay home.” dat means “that” here. It is a demonstrative pronoun, but the supplied sentence does not identify exactly what it refers to. Do not automatically assign it to a nearby noun. The same form can also function as a conjunction in other sentences, but here it stands for the thing or situation that may be too late. te laat means “too late”. laat is the adjective/adverb meaning “late”; te marks an excessive degree, so te laat means later than is acceptable or useful. Compare laat — “late” and te laat — “too late”. Example: Het is te laat. — “It is too late.” is is the present-tense form of zijn, “to be”, for hij, zij, het, and singular noun subjects. In this sentence it completes the condition dat te laat is: “that is too late”. kunt u combines the modal verb kunnen (“can, be able to”) with the formal u (“you”). kunt is the present-tense form used with u; the subject comes after the verb because this is the main clause following the initial condition. Kunnen expresses possibility or ability here, and the fixed translation supports “can”. Example: U kunt wachten. — “You can wait.” terugkomen means “to come back” or “to return”. It is a separable compound verb built from terug (“back”) and komen (“come”). After a modal such as kunt, the infinitive remains together at the end: U kunt terugkomen. — “You can come back.” In a simple present main clause without a modal, the parts can separate: U komt terug. — “You come back.” na means “after” when it introduces a later time or event. de lunch means “lunch”; de is the definite article used with this noun. Together, na de lunch means “after lunch”. Example: We vertrekken na de lunch. — “We leave after lunch.” The full structure is Als dat te laat is, kunt u na de lunch terugkomen. The conditional clause says that the relevant thing or situation is too late. The main clause then says that you can come back after lunch. The comma separates the initial als-clause from the main clause, and the verb-first order in kunt u follows the initial subordinate clause.

5. Zou ik mijn plek houden als ik later terugkom?

   Would I keep my place if I came back later?

   Zou ik

   would I

   mijn

   my

   plek

   place; spot

   houden

   keep

   later

   later

   terugkom

   come back

   More detail

   Zou ik combines zou, the conditional use of zullen, with ik, “I”. In this question, inversion places zou before the subject: Zou ik ...? means “Would I ...?” The form zou is also the past-tense form of zullen, but here it expresses a hypothetical or conditional situation rather than simple past time. mijn means “my” and identifies the possessor as the speaker. It does not agree with the gender or number of plek; mijn is the ordinary form before both singular and plural nouns. For example, mijn plek means “my place” and mijn plekken means “my places.” plek means “place” or “spot”. Here it is the place the speaker may want to retain. The usual definite form is de plek, and the plural is plekken. houden is the infinitive “keep” or “retain”. After conditional zou, Dutch uses the infinitive: zou ik mijn plek houden means “would I keep my place?” The infinitive is houden; its present first-person forms are ik houd and the common variant ik hou. later is the time adverb “later”. It specifies that the return would happen at a later time without saying exactly when. terugkom means “come back” in the ik form. It belongs to the verb terugkomen. In a main clause, the separable pattern is ik kom terug; in the subordinate clause introduced by als, the finite verb comes at the end and is written as one word: ik ... terugkom. The conditional question is assembled as Zou ik mijn plek houden (“Would I keep my place”), followed by als ik later terugkom (“if I come back later”). Together, the utterance asks whether the speaker would retain that place if the speaker returned later. It asks about a possible result; it does not state that the place will definitely be kept or lost.

6. U zou na de lunch een nieuw ticket moeten nemen.

   You would need to take a new ticket after lunch.

   U zou

   you would

   na

   after

   lunch

   lunch

   nieuw

   new

   ticket

   ticket

   moeten

   need to

   nemen

   take

   More detail

   U zou means “you would” here. U is the formal second-person pronoun; in this sentence it is paired with zou, the singular past form of zullen. In a conditional or modal frame, zou can express a projected or conditional situation rather than a simple present statement. The reusable pattern zou ... moeten means “would need to” or “would have to.” na is a preposition meaning “after” when it places one event later than another. For example: na het werk — “after work.” Here it introduces the time expression na de lunch, so the taking is situated after lunch. lunch is the noun “lunch.” Dutch commonly uses de lunch; the article is not part of the selected quote, but it forms the complete time phrase na de lunch. nieuw means “new” and describes ticket. Its form is nieuw, not nieuwe, because ticket is a neuter noun (het ticket) and this is an indefinite singular noun phrase: een nieuw ticket. With a definite noun phrase, the adjective is normally nieuwe: het nieuwe ticket — “the new ticket.” ticket is a noun meaning “ticket.” Its plural is tickets. In this sentence, een nieuw ticket refers to a new ticket to be taken; the indefinite article does not by itself state a numerical count beyond presenting the noun phrase as indefinite. moeten is the infinitive meaning “to need to” or “to have to.” After zou, it stays in the infinitive: zou moeten — “would need to.” The present-tense form moet is used with ik, jij, u, hij, and singular zij: U moet wachten — “You have to wait.” With plural zij, the form is moeten. nemen is the infinitive meaning “to take.” In moeten nemen, it is the action required by moeten. For example: Je moet de bus nemen — “You have to take the bus.” Together, the sentence has the structure U zou + na de lunch + een nieuw ticket + moeten nemen: “You would need to take a new ticket after lunch.” The time phrase places the action after lunch, een nieuw ticket identifies what is to be taken, and zou moeten nemen presents that action as a conditional or projected necessity.

7. Dan wacht ik voorlopig, want ik ben er nu al.

   Then I'll wait for now since I'm already here.

   Dan

   then

   wacht

   wait

   ik

   I

   voorlopig

   for now

   want

   because; since

   ben

   am; am being

   er

   there

   nu al

   already

   More detail

   Dan means “then” here and refers to the decision expressed in the sentence: “Then…”. When an adverb such as dan comes first, Dutch commonly places the finite verb before the subject: Dan wacht ik (“Then I wait / I’ll wait”). The subject is still ik (“I”); the order does not change who acts. wacht is the present-tense form of wachten (“to wait”) for ik: ik wacht = “I wait” or, in this context, “I’ll wait.” The infinitive is wachten; the final -en is not present in this finite form. Example: Ik wacht hier. — “I’m waiting here.” ik is the first-person singular subject pronoun, “I.” It identifies the speaker as the person who waits and who is present in the later clause. voorlopig means “for now” or “for the time being.” It limits the waiting to the current period without specifying how long it will last. Example: We blijven voorlopig hier. — “For now, we’re staying here.” want means “because” or “since” and introduces an explanation. Unlike a subordinating conjunction such as omdat, want is coordinating: the clause after it keeps ordinary main-clause word order, as in ik ben rather than an inverted or verb-final arrangement. ben is the first-person singular present form of zijn (“to be”): ik ben = “I am.” The form agrees with ik; it is not a form of the nearby noun or of er. er has a locative function here, referring to the place understood from the situation. With ik ben, ik ben er means “I’m there” or, as the fixed translation makes clear, “I’m here.” The exact English choice depends on the conversational viewpoint; in this utterance the intended meaning is that the speaker is already at the relevant place. nu al combines nu (“now”) with al (“already”). Together they mean “already now” or simply “already” in this context: the speaker is already there at the present time. al can also mean “already” in other contexts, while nu specifically anchors the situation in the present. Putting the parts together, Dan wacht ik voorlopig means “Then I’ll wait for now.” want ik ben er nu al gives the reason: “since I’m already here.” The complete utterance is therefore: “Then I’ll wait for now since I’m already here.”

8. Houdt u alstublieft het scherm in de gaten.

   Please keep an eye on the screen.

   Houdt

   keep

   u

   you (formal)

   alstublieft

   please

   scherm

   screen

   in de gaten

   under observation

   More detail

   Houdt is the verb form used in the formal imperative here: it addresses one person politely with u. The informal imperative of houden is houd; the formal pattern is Houdt u .... The verb houden has several uses, so its monitoring meaning here comes from the construction with in de gaten. u is the formal second-person pronoun, used here for the person being asked to monitor the screen. In less formal speech, Dutch commonly uses je or jij instead, but that choice also affects the surrounding verb pattern. alstublieft is a polite way to say “please.” It can accompany a request without changing the request’s basic action. scherm is the noun “screen.” In this sentence it appears as het scherm, with the neuter definite article het. Its plural is schermen, as in de schermen (“the screens”). in de gaten is part of the fixed Dutch construction iets in de gaten houden, meaning to monitor something or keep an eye on it. In this sentence, Houdt and in de gaten form a discontinuous construction because u alstublieft appears between them. The construction uses houden for the monitored object, here het scherm. Putting the parts together, Houdt ... in de gaten forms a formal request to monitor something, u identifies the person addressed, alstublieft makes the request polite, and het scherm identifies what should be monitored. The complete meaning is: “Please keep an eye on the screen.”