Choosing an activity based on the weather | Learn Dutch in English

Sentence explanations

1. Zullen we morgen iets binnen of buiten doen?

   Should we do something indoors or outdoors tomorrow?

   Zullen we

   Shall we ...?

   morgen

   tomorrow

   iets

   something

   binnen

   indoors

   buiten

   outdoors

   doen

   do

   More detail

   Zullen we is a reusable way to suggest a shared action: “Shall we …?” In this question, zullen is the finite verb and we is its subject. Dutch places the finite verb before the subject in this yes/no question. The verb zullen is followed by the infinitive of the proposed action: Zullen we gaan? — “Shall we go?” This construction presents the action as a joint possibility, not as a statement that it will definitely happen. morgen means “tomorrow” and specifies when the proposed activity would take place. It is a time adverb, so it does not change form for person or number. Example: Ik werk morgen. — “I’m working tomorrow.” iets means “something.” It is an indefinite pronoun used when the exact thing is not specified. It can combine with an adjective or location phrase: We doen iets leuks. — “We’re doing something fun.” binnen means “indoors” or “inside,” referring to a location within a building or enclosed space. Here it is one option for where the activity could take place. The contrasting location word in this utterance is buiten, “outdoors” or “outside.” Example: We eten binnen. — “We eat indoors.” buiten means “outdoors” or “outside.” It can describe location or movement toward the outside, depending on the sentence; here it describes the possible location of the activity. Example: De kinderen spelen buiten. — “The children play outside.” doen means “to do” and is the infinitive required after zullen in this construction. The broad verb doen is useful when the specific activity is left open, as it is with iets doen, “to do something.” Example: Wat zullen we doen? — “What shall we do?” Together, Zullen we ... doen? forms the suggestion “Shall we do ...?” The object iets keeps the activity unspecified, while binnen of buiten gives two alternatives for its location: indoors or outdoors. With morgen added, the complete utterance means: “Should we do something indoors or outdoors tomorrow?”

2. Bekijk de weersvoorspelling voordat we beslissen.

   Check the forecast before we decide.

   Bekijk

   check; look at

   weersvoorspelling

   forecast

   voordat

   before

   we

   we

   beslissen

   decide

   More detail

   Bekijk is the imperative of bekijken, “to look at” or “to check.” It gives a direct instruction; the person being addressed is understood from the situation rather than written in the sentence. The infinitive ends in -en: bekijken → imperative bekijk. weersvoorspelling is a compound noun: weer (“weather”) + voorspelling (“forecast or prediction”). Together, it means “weather forecast.” Dutch compounds are written as one word. Example: Ik lees de weersvoorspelling. — “I read the weather forecast.” voordat means “before” and introduces an event that must happen later than the reference point in the sentence. It introduces the clause we beslissen. we is the first-person plural subject pronoun, “we.” Its fuller, more emphatic counterpart is wij; we is the usual unstressed form in ordinary speech and writing. Example: We gaan morgen. — “We are going tomorrow.” beslissen means “to decide.” Here it is the present-tense form used with we; in Dutch, the first-person plural present form is spelled like the infinitive: beslissen. Thus we beslissen means “we decide,” while the infinitive is also beslissen. After voordat, the verb appears at the end of its subordinate clause, giving voordat we beslissen. Together, Bekijk de weersvoorspelling means “Check the weather forecast,” and voordat we beslissen means “before we decide.” The complete utterance is therefore: “Check the forecast before we decide.”

3. Er staat dat het 's ochtends zonnig wordt.

   It says the morning will be sunny.

   Er staat

   It says

   dat

   that

   het

   it

   's ochtends

   in the morning

   zonnig

   sunny

   wordt

   will be

   More detail

   Er staat is a fixed way to report that information is written or stated somewhere, such as in a forecast. Here it means “it says,” not that a person is physically standing. The pattern Er staat dat ... introduces the information being reported. dat means “that” and introduces the content of the statement. In the clause after dat, Dutch places the finite verb at the end: dat ... wordt. het is the impersonal subject used here for the weather situation. It does not identify a particular person or object; in het wordt zonnig, the sentence describes a change in weather conditions. 's ochtends means “in the morning” and is a common time expression. The apostrophe reflects a shortened historical form; learn the expression as a whole rather than treating 's as an independent modern word. For example, Ik werk 's ochtends. means “I work in the morning.” zonnig is the adjective “sunny,” describing weather with sunshine. Its base form is zonnig; in this sentence it follows worden in the pattern het wordt zonnig, “it becomes/will become sunny.” wordt is the singular present form of worden, “to become” or “to get.” The base form is worden; het wordt uses the singular form. In this forecast, the present form refers to an expected future change, so it is naturally translated as “will become” or “will be.” Compare Het wordt koud. — “It will get cold.” Together, Er staat dat reports forecast information, and het 's ochtends zonnig wordt says that the weather will become sunny in the morning. Thus the whole utterance means: “It says the morning will be sunny.”

4. Dan kunnen we voor de lunch een wandeling maken.

   Then we could take a walk before lunch.

   Dan

   then

   kunnen we

   we can / could

   voor de lunch

   before lunch

   wandeling

   walk

   maken

   make; do

   lunch

   lunch

   More detail

   Dan means “then” here, linking this possible action to the situation already mentioned. It can also introduce a consequence or next step. Example: Dan gaan we naar huis. — “Then we’ll go home.” kunnen we combines kunnen (“can; be able to”) with we (“we”). Here, kunnen expresses possibility, so the combination means “we could.” With the subject we, the present-tense form is kunnen. In the present tense, the same verb has forms such as ik kan, hij kan, and wij kunnen; with jij, both jij kunt and jij kan occur, with jij kunt common in standard usage. After kunnen, the other verb remains an infinitive. Example: We kunnen wachten. — “We can wait.” voor de lunch means “before lunch” here. The preposition voor can express an earlier time, and de lunch is the definite noun phrase “lunch.” Example: We vertrekken voor de lunch. — “We leave before lunch.” wandeling is a noun meaning “walk” or “stroll.” Its plural is wandelingen. In een wandeling, the indefinite article een introduces an unspecified walk. Example: De wandeling was kort. — “The walk was short.” maken means “make” and occurs in the reusable expression een wandeling maken, meaning “take a walk.” After the modal kunnen, it stays in the infinitive. The same verb is used more literally in een plan maken — “make a plan.” Together, Dan kunnen we voor de lunch een wandeling maken means “Then we could take a walk before lunch.” Kunnen presents the activity as a possibility, while een wandeling maken is the Dutch construction for “take a walk.”

5. Als het later regent, kunnen we een café bezoeken.

   If it rains later, we can visit a cafe.

   Als

   if

   het

   it

   later

   later

   regent

   rains

   kunnen we

   we can

   een

   a/an

   café

   café

   bezoeken

   visit

   More detail

   Als introduces a condition: “if/when.” It commonly starts a conditional subordinate clause. In this sentence, the condition is Als het later regent (“If it rains later”). Example: Als ik tijd heb, lees ik. — “If I have time, I read.” het is the singular neuter pronoun used here in the Dutch weather expression het regent, literally “it rains.” In this expression, het does not identify a particular person or object; it is the grammatical subject of the weather clause. later is an adverb meaning “later.” It places the raining at a later time without specifying exactly when. Example: We vertrekken later. — “We are leaving later.” regent is the present-tense form of regenen (“to rain”) used with the singular subject het: het regent. The verb is in the subordinate clause after Als; Dutch places the finite verb at the end of this clause. Example: Als het sneeuwt, blijven we thuis. — “If it snows, we stay home.” kunnen we combines kunnen (“can” or “be able to”) with we (“we”). In the main clause, kunnen is the finite modal verb and we follows it because the conditional clause comes first. With a modal verb, the other verb normally appears as an infinitive at the end: We kunnen gaan. — “We can go.” een is the Dutch indefinite article, used here before the singular noun café. It marks an unspecified café; by itself, it does not assert a numerical count as a teaching point. café is a noun meaning “café” or “coffee shop.” The acute accent is part of the spelling shown in the sentence. Example: We bezoeken een café. — “We visit a café.” bezoeken is the infinitive “to visit.” It is the lexical verb governed by the modal kunnen, so it remains in the infinitive and appears at the end of the main clause. Its present-tense forms include ik bezoek (“I visit”) and we bezoeken (“we visit”); the observed form here is the infinitive, not a finite form. Together, Als het later regent sets a future condition: “If it rains later.” The main clause kunnen we een café bezoeken says that, under that condition, “we can visit a café.” The complete utterance is therefore: “If it rains later, we can visit a café.”

6. Dat houdt het plan flexibel.

   That keeps the plan flexible.

   Dat

   That

   houdt

   keeps

   plan

   plan

   flexibel

   flexible

   More detail

   Dat means “that” here and functions as the subject. As a demonstrative pronoun, it points to an already identifiable thing or situation; the sentence itself does not specify exactly what that referent is. In Dutch, dit is the nearby form (“this”), while dat is the corresponding “that” form for a neuter singular referent or situation. houdt is the present-tense form of houden (“to keep”): ik houd, jij houdt, hij/zij/het houdt. The -t ending marks the third-person singular form here, because dat is the subject. With a plural subject, Dutch uses houden, for example: Deze regels houden het plan flexibel. — “These rules keep the plan flexible.” plan means “plan.” The full noun phrase is het plan; plan is a neuter singular noun, so it takes the definite article het. The noun itself does not show a special plural ending in this sentence; its plural is plannen. flexibel means “flexible.” It is an adjective used after the verb to describe the state that the plan is kept in. In this position, after houden with this meaning, the adjective is not given an additional ending: iets flexibel houden means “to keep something flexible.” For example: We houden de planning flexibel. — “We keep the schedule flexible.” Together, Dat houdt het plan flexibel has the reusable pattern iets houdt iets + adjective: a subject keeps another thing in a particular state. Here, dat is the subject, het plan is the thing affected, and flexibel describes the resulting state. The complete meaning is “That keeps the plan flexible.”

7. Laten we een ochtendwandeling plannen.

   Let's plan on a morning walk.

   Laten we

   let’s

   ochtendwandeling

   morning walk

   plannen

   plan

   More detail

   Laten we is the Dutch first-person plural suggestion pattern, equivalent to “let’s …”. It uses the form laten with we and is followed by an infinitive: Laten we beginnen. means “Let’s begin.” This is a reusable proposal pattern, not the ordinary meaning “we let” in every context. ochtendwandeling is a compound noun meaning a walk taken in the morning. It combines ochtend (“morning”) and wandeling (“walk”). The noun is singular here; its plural is ochtendwandelingen. Dutch compounds are written as one word, so this is not normally written as two separate words. plannen is the infinitive “to plan.” The infinitive is used after the Laten we suggestion pattern: Laten we de reis plannen. means “Let’s plan the trip.” The same verb also has the present-tense form plant with a singular subject, as in Zij plant een reis (“She plans a trip”), but that form is not used here. Together, Laten we introduces a suggestion, een ochtendwandeling names the activity being planned, and plannen supplies the action. The complete utterance means “Let’s plan a morning walk.”

8. We kunnen naar binnen gaan als het weer verandert.

   We can move indoors if the weather changes.

   kunnen

   can; be able to

   naar binnen

   indoors; inside

   gaan

   go

   als

   if; when

   weer

   weather

   verandert

   changes

   More detail

   kunnen means “can” here: it expresses ability or possibility. Its base form is kunnen; with the subject we, this plural present form is used. Compare ik kan (“I can”) with we kunnen (“we can”). naar binnen means movement to an inside place, rather than simply being indoors. naar marks direction, while binnen means “inside.” In this sentence it combines with gaan in the reusable pattern naar binnen gaan (“go indoors / move inside”). gaan is the base form “to go.” After the modal verb kunnen, Dutch uses the infinitive: We kunnen ... gaan (“We can ... go”). The modal and infinitive together express the possibility of carrying out the movement. als introduces the condition “if” here. It can also mean “when” when the speaker presents an event as expected, but the fixed translation supports the conditional reading “if.” A useful pattern is als + a clause, followed by the result or main clause. weer means “weather” in this sentence. It is a noun; the article is not included in the selected quote. Do not confuse this use with other Dutch forms spelled weer, such as the adverb meaning “again” or “back.” verandert means “changes” here. Its base form is veranderen (“to change”); verandert is the present-tense form used with a singular subject such as het weer. The ending -t marks this form in the present tense. For example, Het plan verandert means “The plan changes.” Together, We kunnen naar binnen gaan says that the group can move inside. als het weer verandert gives the condition: this is possible if the weather changes. The complete utterance therefore means: “We can move indoors if the weather changes.”