Reading Medicine Instructions | Learn Dutch in English

Sentence explanations

1. Ik heb dit medicijn bij de apotheek opgehaald.

   I picked up this medicine at the pharmacy.

   Ik heb

   I have

   dit

   this

   medicijn

   medicine

   bij

   at

   apotheek

   pharmacy

   opgehaald

   picked up

   More detail

   Ik heb means “I have” here and forms the subject–auxiliary part of the Dutch perfect tense. heb is the first-person singular form of hebben (“to have”); the lexical action appears later in the past participle opgehaald. In a present-time possession sentence, Ik heb een medicijn would mean “I have a medicine,” but with opgehaald the combination expresses a completed pickup. dit means “this.” It is the singular neuter demonstrative form, used here with medicijn, a neuter noun (het medicijn). The corresponding common-gender singular form is deze, as in deze apotheek (“this pharmacy”). The form dit itself does not indicate who picked up the medicine; that information comes from Ik heb. medicijn means “medicine.” Its useful article pattern is het medicijn; the plural is medicijnen (“medicines”). In this sentence, dit medicijn identifies the medicine being picked up as “this medicine.” bij means “at” in this location phrase. Dutch uses bij for being at or going to a place or person associated with an activity, as in Ik ben bij de apotheek (“I am at the pharmacy”). Its exact contribution here is the location relation; de apotheek supplies the place. apotheek means “pharmacy.” It is a common-gender noun with the article de: de apotheek. The phrase bij de apotheek therefore means “at the pharmacy.” opgehaald means “picked up” here. It is the past participle of ophalen (“to pick up”); the verb is separable in other forms, for example Ik haal het medicijn op (“I pick up the medicine”). With the auxiliary heb in the perfect, the parts combine as Ik heb ... opgehaald. The participle does not change here to agree with medicijn; the person and number are shown by heb and its subject. Together, Ik heb + dit medicijn + bij de apotheek + opgehaald gives: “I picked up this medicine at the pharmacy.” The subject is “I,” the object is “this medicine,” the location is “at the pharmacy,” and the perfect construction presents the pickup as completed.

2. Heeft de apotheker de instructies uitgelegd?

   Did the pharmacist explain the instructions?

   Heeft

   has / did here

   apotheker

   pharmacist

   instructies

   instructions

   uitgelegd

   explained

   More detail

   Heeft is the present-tense auxiliary form of hebben. In this yes/no question it comes before the subject, so Heeft de apotheker ...? means “Did the pharmacist ...?” The same auxiliary appears in a statement as De apotheker heeft .... apotheker means “pharmacist.” Its plural is apothekers; the singular form refers here to one pharmacist as the actor. The article de belongs with this common-gender noun: de apotheker. instructies means “instructions” and is the plural of instructie. The article is also de in de instructies. A useful singular/plural contrast is de instructie / de instructies. uitgelegd is the past participle of uitleggen, “to explain.” Uitleggen is a separable verb built from uit and leggen; in the past participle, the prefix is attached, giving uitgelegd. With the auxiliary heeft, it forms the Dutch present perfect: heeft uitgelegd, referring here to an explaining event viewed as completed. For example, De leraar heeft de regel uitgelegd. means “The teacher has explained the rule.” Together, Heeft + subject + object + uitgelegd creates a yes/no question in the Dutch present perfect. De apotheker is the actor, de instructies is what was explained, and Heeft ... uitgelegd? asks whether that completed explanation happened. The whole utterance therefore means: “Did the pharmacist explain the instructions?”

3. Op het etiket staat dat je het na het eten moet innemen.

   The label says to take it after meals.

   etiket

   label

   staat dat

   says that

   je

   you

   het

   it

   na het eten

   after eating

   moet

   must

   innemen

   take

   More detail

   etiket is a noun meaning “label.” In Dutch, ordinary nouns are generally written with a lowercase initial letter, whether or not they follow het; this lowercase form is therefore normal. For example: Lees het etiket. — “Read the label.” staat dat uses the finite form staat of staan with dat to introduce information written on something. In this use, staat means “says” or “states,” not physical standing. Staat is the singular present form because the subject is het etiket. A reusable pattern is Op de website staat dat ... — “The website says that ...”. je is the subject pronoun “you” here. Dutch je can refer to one person informally and can also be generic in suitable contexts; the fixed translation presents the instruction as “you.” In the subordinate clause, it is the person who must carry out the action. het is an object pronoun meaning “it.” Its form is a neuter singular object form, while the fixed translation identifies the intended object only as “it”; the pronoun itself does not name that object. For example: Neem het mee. — “Take it with you.” na het eten means “after eating” or, in this routine-instruction context, “after the meal occasion,” matching the fixed translation “after meals.” Na places one event after another. Eten is the verb eten, “to eat,” used here in the noun phrase het eten, referring to eating or the meal occasion. For example: Drink water na het eten. — “Drink water after eating.” moet is the present form of the modal verb moeten, “must” or “need to.” With singular je, the form is moet; the infinitive that depends on it appears later in the subordinate clause. Compare Ik moet gaan. — “I must go.” innemen is an infinitive meaning “to take,” especially something such as medicine. It is the separable verb innemen; after a modal verb, the infinitive remains together at the end of the subordinate clause. For example: Je moet deze tablet innemen. — “You must take this tablet.” The opening phrase Op het etiket identifies the label as the place where the information is written. Then staat dat introduces its content: je is the person instructed, het is the item to take, and na het eten gives the timing. The modal moet expresses the requirement, and innemen names the required action. Together, the utterance means: “The label says to take it after meals.”

4. Neem het dan niet vóór het ontbijt in.

   Then do not take it before breakfast.

   Neem … in

   take in

   het

   it

   dan

   then

   niet

   not

   vóór

   before

   ontbijt

   breakfast

   More detail

   Neem ... in is the separable verb innemen, meaning “to take” when referring to medicine or another substance. In the sentence, Neem is the imperative form used for a direct instruction. The particle in appears at the end, a normal position for a separable verb in a main-clause imperative. Example: Neem de tablet in. — “Take the tablet.” het is the neuter singular object pronoun “it.” Here, the fixed translation and the surrounding medication context support understanding it as the medicine being taken. It is the object of innemen; this pronoun form does not change for this use. dan means “then” here. It connects this instruction with the relevant timing or condition and occurs after the object in Neem het dan ... in. niet negates the instruction. With the verb phrase here, it produces “do not take it”; the surrounding words specify when that prohibition applies. vóór means “before” in this time expression. The accent commonly marks emphasis or contrast in writing; the ordinary preposition is also often written voor without an accent. vóór het ontbijt means “before breakfast.” Example: Neem het vóór het slapen in. — “Take it before going to sleep.” ontbijt is the noun “breakfast.” In the fixed phrase it occurs with the definite article het: het ontbijt. The noun itself is not marked for the time relation; vóór introduces that relation. Together, Neem het ... in gives the instruction “take it,” while dan niet makes it “then do not take it.” The time phrase vóór het ontbijt specifies the prohibited time, so the complete utterance means: “Then do not take it before breakfast.”

5. Ik weet niet zeker welke dosis ik moet nemen.

   I am not sure about the dose.

   weet

   know

   niet zeker

   not sure

   welke

   which

   dosis

   dose

   ik moet

   I must / need to

   nemen

   take

   More detail

   weet means “know” here. It is the first-person singular present form of weten (“to know”): ik weet = “I know.” The negative form is made with niet: ik weet het niet = “I don’t know.” niet zeker means “not sure.” zeker means “certain/sure,” and niet negates it. The phrase niet zeker zijn is a reusable way to say that someone lacks certainty: Ik ben niet zeker. = “I am not sure.” welke means “which” when selecting one option from a set. It appears with dosis in welke dosis = “which dose.” In Dutch, welk is used instead of welke in some singular neuter-noun phrases, while welke is used with common-gender singular nouns and with plural nouns; the form here is welke. dosis is the noun “dose.” Its plural is doses: één dosis = “one dose,” twee doses = “two doses.” The sentence identifies the dose as the thing being selected, without stating how many doses are to be taken. ik moet means “I must” or, in this context, “I need to.” moet is the first-person singular present form of the modal verb moeten (“must/need to”). A modal verb is commonly followed by an infinitive: Ik moet wachten. = “I need to wait.” nemen is the infinitive “to take.” In this sentence it refers to taking the selected dose. After moet, the infinitive comes at the end of this embedded question: welke dosis ik moet nemen = “which dose I need to take.” Together, Ik weet niet zeker expresses uncertainty, and welke dosis ik moet nemen says what the uncertainty concerns. The full utterance means: “I am not sure which dose I need to take.”

6. Bel de apotheek als het etiket onduidelijk is.

   Call the pharmacy if the label is unclear.

   Bel

   call

   apotheek

   pharmacy

   als

   if

   etiket

   label

   onduidelijk

   unclear

   is

   is

   More detail

   Bel is the imperative of bellen, “to call.” It gives a direct instruction; the subject is understood as “you.” The present-tense form is ik bel, jij/hij/zij belt, while the imperative is bel. apotheek means “pharmacy.” It is a common-gender noun, normally used with the article de: de apotheek. Example: De apotheek is open. — “The pharmacy is open.” Als introduces a condition: “if” in this sentence. In the subordinate clause after als, Dutch commonly places the finite verb at the end: als het etiket onduidelijk is — “if the label is unclear.” etiket means “label,” especially a label attached to a product or container. It is a neuter noun, so the singular definite form is het etiket. Example: Lees het etiket. — “Read the label.” onduidelijk means “unclear” or “not clear.” It is formed with the negative prefix on- from duidelijk (“clear”); duidelijk is the useful opposite. Example: De uitleg is onduidelijk. — “The explanation is unclear.” Is is the third-person singular present form of zijn, “to be.” Here it agrees with singular het etiket: het etiket is. In the conditional clause, it appears at the end: als het etiket onduidelijk is. Together, Bel de apotheek means “Call the pharmacy,” and als het etiket onduidelijk is adds the condition “if the label is unclear.” The complete utterance is: “Call the pharmacy if the label is unclear.”

7. Dat is veiliger dan raden.

   That is safer than guessing.

   Dat

   That

   is

   is

   veiliger

   safer

   dan

   than

   raden

   guessing

   More detail

   Dat means “that” here. It is a Dutch demonstrative pronoun: it can refer to something already identifiable from the situation or conversation, but this sentence alone does not specify exactly what it refers to. The form dat is used with a singular neuter noun when it modifies a noun, and as a pronoun its choice depends on the demonstrative system and the intended referent. is is the present-tense form of zijn (“to be”) for the third-person singular. The basic pattern is X is Y, meaning that X has the property or identity expressed by Y. For example: Het antwoord is duidelijk. — “The answer is clear.” veiliger means “safer” in this sentence. It is the comparative form of veilig (“safe”): veilig → veiliger (“safer”). The comparative presents the situation referred to by dat as having a greater degree of safety than the activity introduced by dan. For example: Deze keuze is veiliger. — “This choice is safer.” dan introduces the thing or activity used for comparison. In this sentence it corresponds to “than” and links the comparative veiliger with raden. raden means “guessing” here. The form is the infinitive of raden, whose relevant meaning is “to guess”; after dan, Dutch can use an infinitive to name the activity being compared. Do not confuse this verb with a noun: the sentence compares safety with the activity of guessing. For example: Het is beter om te controleren dan te raden. — “It is better to check than to guess.” Together, Dat is veiliger says “That is safer,” and dan raden specifies the comparison: “than guessing.” The complete utterance therefore means “That is safer than guessing.”

8. De apotheker kan je de juiste dosis vertellen voordat je het inneemt.

   The pharmacist can tell you the correct dose before you take it.

   apotheker

   pharmacist

   kan

   can

   je

   you

   juiste

   correct

   dosis

   dose

   vertellen

   tell

   voordat

   before

   je

   you

   het

   it

   inneemt

   take in

   More detail

   apotheker means “pharmacist.” It is a singular noun; its plural is apothekers. In this sentence, it is the subject—the person who can provide the information. kan is the present-tense singular form of the modal verb kunnen, “can.” The subject is singular here, so Dutch uses kan; for example, Wij kunnen helpen means “We can help.” With a modal verb, the other verb commonly appears as an infinitive later in the clause. The first je means “you” and functions as the person receiving the information. Dutch uses je as an unstressed second-person form in several grammatical roles; the stronger object form is jou, while jij is the stressed subject form. The exact role here comes from the surrounding construction, not from je alone. juiste means “correct” or “right” here. It is the attributive form of juist, and the -e form occurs before the definite noun phrase de dosis. This adjective describes the dose; it is not the form of the noun. dosis means “dose.” It is a singular noun referring to an amount of medicine to be taken. Dutch commonly has dosissen or doses as plural forms, depending on usage. vertellen means “to tell.” This is the infinitive of vertellen; the construction kan ... vertellen means “can tell.” Example: De arts kan het uitleggen. — “The doctor can explain it.” voordat means “before” and introduces the later time clause. The event in that clause is presented as happening before the taking event. The second je is again the unstressed second-person form “you,” but here it is the subject of the clause introduced by voordat. A repeated form can therefore have a different grammatical role when the surrounding clause changes. het means “it” here and is the object of inneemt. Dutch het is the neuter singular pronoun form; the fixed translation likewise uses “it” for the thing being taken. inneemt comes from the separable verb innemen, “to take in” or, for medicine, “to take.” It is the present-tense second-person singular form: je neemt ... in becomes je inneemt when the verb is inside this subordinate clause. In a main clause, the separable parts are separated: Je neemt het in. — “You take it.” In the voordat clause, they remain together as inneemt at the end. Together, De apotheker kan je de juiste dosis vertellen means “The pharmacist can tell you the correct dose.” The modal kan combines with the infinitive vertellen, and je marks the person receiving that information. voordat je het inneemt adds “before you take it”: voordat introduces the subordinate clause, je is its subject, and inneemt is placed at the end. The complete utterance is therefore: “The pharmacist can tell you the correct dose before you take it.”