Reporting a Heating Problem at a Hotel | Learn Dutch in English

Sentence explanations

1. Ik bel vanuit mijn kamer omdat de verwarming niet werkt.

   I am calling from my room because the heating is not working.

   bel

   call

   vanuit

   from; out of

   mijn

   my

   kamer

   room

   omdat

   because

   verwarming

   heating

   niet

   not

   werkt

   works; is working

   More detail

   bel is the present-tense first-person singular form of bellen, “to call.” Dutch present forms include ik bel (“I call / I am calling”) and hij/zij belt (“he/she calls”). Example: Ik bel mijn broer. — “I am calling my brother.” vanuit means “from” in the sense of originating from a place or position. It is useful for saying where an action or movement starts: Zij werkt vanuit huis. — “She works from home.” mijn is the possessive word “my.” It is used before a noun and does not change for the gender or number of the noun: mijn kamer means “my room.” Example: Mijn tas is hier. — “My bag is here.” kamer is the noun “room.” Its plural is kamers. The definite article is de, as in de kamer (“the room”); the possessive phrase here does not need an article: mijn kamer. omdat introduces a reason and means “because.” In Dutch, an omdat clause normally places its finite verb at the end. Example: Ik blijf thuis omdat ik ziek ben. — “I stay home because I am ill.” verwarming means “heating” or “the heating system.” In this sentence it is the subject of the subordinate clause and appears with de: de verwarming. niet negates the situation described by the clause: the heating is not working. Its exact scope comes from the whole clause, rather than from niet alone. Example: De lamp werkt niet. — “The lamp does not work.” werkt is the present-tense third-person singular form of werken, “to work.” The subject here is singular de verwarming, so Dutch uses werkt; with ik, the form is werk, as in Ik werk thuis. — “I work at home.” In this context, werkt means “is working” or “functions,” not employment. Together, Ik bel vanuit mijn kamer means “I am calling from my room.” omdat de verwarming niet werkt gives the reason: “because the heating is not working.” The complete utterance is therefore: “I am calling from my room because the heating is not working.”

2. Het spijt me. Is de kamer koud geweest sinds u bent aangekomen?

   I am sorry about that. Has the room been cold since you arrived?

   Het spijt me

   I’m sorry

   de kamer

   the room

   koud

   cold

   geweest

   been

   sinds

   since

   u

   you (formal)

   aangekomen

   arrived

   More detail

   Het spijt me is a fixed way to say “I’m sorry.” Literally, it uses spijten (“to regret” or “to be sorry”) with het as the thing causing regret and me as the affected person. In this utterance, the idiom expresses an apology; it is not a claim that the speaker personally caused the problem. de kamer means “the room.” Kamer is a common-gender noun, so its definite article is de; het is used with neuter nouns. Example: de deur van de kamer — “the door of the room.” koud means “cold.” It is an adjective describing the room’s temperature here. Before a definite common-gender noun, the attributive form is normally koude, as in de koude kamer — “the cold room”; after a form of zijn, the uninflected form is used: De kamer is koud — “The room is cold.” geweest is the past participle of zijn, “to be.” The form chain is zijn → was/waren (simple past) → geweest (past participle). With is, geweest forms a completed or continuing past state: De kamer is koud geweest — “The room has been cold.” sinds introduces the starting point for a situation that continues up to a later reference time. It can introduce a clause, as here, or a time expression: sinds maandag — “since Monday.” In this sentence, the cold condition is connected to the time when the listener arrived. u is the formal second-person pronoun “you.” It can refer to one or more people in formal address; this sentence does not itself establish the number. In the subordinate clause, the corresponding verb form is bent: u bent aangekomen — “you arrived” or “you have arrived,” depending on the time relationship. aangekomen is the past participle of aankomen, “to arrive.” The form chain is aankomen → kwam aan (simple past) → aangekomen (past participle). Arrival is expressed with zijn, so u bent aangekomen uses bent plus aangekomen. Example: We zijn laat aangekomen — “We arrived late.” Together, Is de kamer koud geweest asks whether the room has been cold. The question uses inversion: the finite verb is comes before the subject de kamer; geweest remains later in the verb group. sinds u bent aangekomen adds the starting point, “since you arrived.” Thus the whole utterance means: “I’m sorry about that. Has the room been cold since you arrived?”

3. Het is koud in de kamer sinds ik vanmiddag ben ingecheckt.

   It has been cold since I checked in this afternoon.

   koud

   cold

   in de kamer

   in the room

   sinds

   since

   vanmiddag

   this afternoon

   ben ingecheckt

   checked in

   More detail

   koud means “cold” here. It is the adjective describing the temperature or state. Dutch uses the same form after zijn in this pattern: Het is koud = “It is cold.” Example: De koffie is koud. — “The coffee is cold.” in de kamer places that state in the room: in means “in” and de kamer means “the room.” kamer is the noun; its plural is kamers. Example: Ik ben in de kamer. — “I am in the room.” sinds introduces the point from which a situation has continued. With a clause, the reusable pattern is sinds + subject + verb: “since …”. It differs from voor, which expresses a duration before or for a period rather than the starting point of an ongoing situation. vanmiddag means “this afternoon.” It is a time expression referring to the afternoon of the relevant day. Example: Ik werk vanmiddag. — “I am working this afternoon.” ben ingecheckt expresses “have checked in” or, in this sentence’s time relation, “checked in.” ben is the first-person singular present form of zijn (“be”) used as the perfect auxiliary, and ingecheckt is the past participle of inchecken (“check in”). The full perfect form is ik ben ingecheckt; with another subject, the auxiliary changes as required, for example zij is ingecheckt — “she has checked in.” Together, Het is koud states that it is cold, in de kamer locates the cold condition, and sinds ik vanmiddag ben ingecheckt gives the point when that condition began: “It has been cold in the room since I checked in this afternoon.” The sentence presents the cold condition as continuing up to the present.

4. Ik kan meteen iemand van de technische dienst sturen om het te bekijken.

   I can send maintenance to inspect it right away.

   Ik kan

   I can

   meteen

   right away

   iemand

   someone

   technische

   technical

   dienst

   service

   sturen

   send

   bekijken

   inspect

   More detail

   Ik kan means “I can” here. kan is the present-tense form of kunnen with ik; it expresses ability or possibility. With a modal such as kan, the other verb stays in the infinitive: Ik kan sturen = “I can send.” In the fixed sentence, Ik is the sender. meteen means “right away” and places the sending immediately in time. It is an adverb, so it does not change form for the person or number of another word. iemand is an indefinite pronoun meaning “someone” or “somebody.” It refers to an unspecified person, and it is the object of sturen here. Compare niemand (“nobody”) when the meaning is negative. technische is the adjective “technical” in its attributive form before dienst. The adjective has the form technisch when used predicatively or independently in suitable contexts, but technische is used here before this noun. The adjective describes the type of service, not the person being sent. dienst means “service” or “department.” Together, technische dienst is “technical service,” the maintenance department or service in this context. The phrase iemand van de technische dienst means “someone from the technical service”: van identifies the service that person belongs to or comes from. sturen is the infinitive “to send.” Its base form is also sturen; after kan, this infinitive appears without an additional infinitive marker. Example: Ik kan een monteur sturen. — “I can send a technician.” bekijken means “to inspect” or “to look at.” In om het te bekijken, it is part of the purpose construction om ... te + infinitive, meaning “in order to inspect it.” het is the object referred to as “it” in the fixed translation; the sentence does not need to name that object again. Taken together, Ik kan + meteen + iemand ... sturen says that the speaker can send someone immediately. van de technische dienst identifies who that person is, and om het te bekijken gives the purpose of sending them. The whole utterance means: “I can send someone from the technical service to inspect it right away.”

5. Als het vanavond niet kan worden gerepareerd, is er dan een andere kamer beschikbaar?

   If it cannot be fixed tonight, is another room available?

   Als

   if

   het

   it

   vanavond

   tonight

   niet

   not

   kan worden gerepareerd

   can be repaired

   is er

   is there

   dan

   then

   andere

   another; different

   kamer

   room

   beschikbaar

   available

   More detail

   Als introduces the condition: “if.” In Dutch, a clause beginning with als normally places its finite verb toward the end. Reusable pattern: Als ... , ... = “If ..., ...”. het means “it” here and refers to the thing that may need repair, consistent with the preceding context. It is the neuter singular personal pronoun; its exact referent is supplied by context rather than by the pronoun’s form alone. Example: Ik zie het. — “I see it.” vanavond means “tonight” and identifies the time of the possible repair. It is a single adverb, not an inflected noun. Example: Ik werk vanavond. — “I am working tonight.” niet is the ordinary Dutch negation word “not.” Here it negates the possibility of repair in the condition: “if it cannot be repaired.” Its scope is understood together with kan worden gerepareerd, rather than as a separate claim about the room. kan worden gerepareerd is a passive construction with a modal. kan is the present-tense form of kunnen (“can, be able to”) for hij/zij/het; worden gerepareerd means “be repaired,” with gerepareerd as the past participle of repareren (“to repair”). In a subordinate clause, this verbal group comes at the end: als het niet kan worden gerepareerd = “if it cannot be repaired.” The passive focuses on the thing receiving the repair, without naming who performs it. Example: De stoel kan worden gerepareerd. — “The chair can be repaired.” is er forms the main question. is is the present form of zijn (“to be”), and er is the existential “there” used to ask whether something is available or exists in a situation. Because the conditional clause comes first, the main clause has inversion: is er ...? rather than er is .... Example: Is er een oplossing? — “Is there a solution?” dan means “then” here. In a question following an als-condition, it connects the condition to its consequence: “then, is another room available?” It does not mean “than,” which is expressed by Dutch dan in comparisons but in a different structure. andere means “another” or “different” here. It is the form used before the common-gender singular noun kamer; it also occurs before plural nouns. Before a singular neuter noun, the corresponding attributive form is generally ander, as in the example een ander probleem — “another problem.” kamer means “room.” It is a common-gender noun: de kamer in the singular and de kamers in the plural. The indefinite phrase een andere kamer means “another room”; een marks an indefinite noun phrase, not a stated numerical count. beschikbaar is an adjective meaning “available.” After is, it is a predicate adjective and therefore appears in its uninflected form: de kamer is beschikbaar — “the room is available.” Its comparative is beschikbaarder (“more available”), though the basic form is the natural choice for stating availability here. Together, als het vanavond niet kan worden gerepareerd means “if it cannot be repaired tonight.” The following question, is er dan een andere kamer beschikbaar?, asks whether another room is available as the resulting option. The complete utterance is therefore: “If it cannot be fixed tonight, is another room available?”

6. Ik controleer de beschikbaarheid en houd een vergelijkbare kamer voor u vrij als we er een hebben.

   I will check availability and hold a similar room if we have one.

   Ik

   I

   controleer

   check

   de beschikbaarheid

   the availability

   houd

   hold; keep

   een vergelijkbare

   a similar

   kamer

   room

   voor u

   for you

   vrij

   available; free

   als

   if

   we

   we

   er een hebben

   have one

   More detail

   Ik means “I” and is the first-person singular subject form. Dutch uses ik for the speaker as subject; the object forms are mij and the shorter unstressed me. controleer is the present-tense form of controleren, “to check.” With ik, Dutch uses ik controleer. The present tense can also refer to a planned near-future action, so this form supports “I will check” here without a separate future marker. de beschikbaarheid means “the availability.” Beschikbaarheid is a noun referring to whether something is available; its related adjective is beschikbaar, “available.” The article de marks this noun phrase, but it does not itself express a number. houd is the first-person singular present form of houden, “to hold” or “to keep.” In houd ... vrij, it contributes the idea of keeping something available or reserved. The plural present form is houden, as in wij houden. Houd can also be an imperative, but the surrounding subject ik makes the first-person reading clear here. een vergelijkbare means “a similar.” Vergelijkbare is the adjective form of vergelijkbaar, “similar/comparable.” In een vergelijkbare kamer, the adjective has -e because it comes before the noun in this noun phrase; it describes kamer, not een. kamer means “room.” Its plural is kamers. In the fixed sentence it is singular. The article een introduces an unspecified room; it does not by itself assert a numerical count of one. voor u means “for you.” U is the formal or polite second-person pronoun and is used here for the person for whom the room is being held. Less formal alternatives include jou or unstressed je, depending on the construction and register. vrij means “free” or, in this context, “available.” As a predicate adjective after houden, it describes the room’s status: the speaker will keep it available or reserved for the addressee. This differs from vrije tijd, where vrij describes time not occupied by obligations. als introduces the condition “if.” It connects the holding action with the condition that a room of the relevant kind is available. In Dutch, a clause introduced by als commonly places its finite verb later in that clause, as in als we er een hebben. we means “we” and is the first-person plural subject form. It is the subject of hebben in the conditional clause. The corresponding singular subject is ik, and the object form is ons. er een hebben means “have one” in this context. Er and een allow the speaker to avoid repeating kamer when the type of thing is understood from the preceding phrase; the construction refers to having a room of that relevant type. Here een is an indefinite determiner, not by itself a claim that the quantity is numerically one. Hebben is the present form used with the plural subject we. A reusable example is We hebben er een, meaning “We have one.” Together, Ik controleer de beschikbaarheid says “I will check the availability.” Then houd een vergelijkbare kamer voor u vrij says that the speaker will keep a similar room available for the addressee. The final condition, als we er een hebben, limits this action to the case where they have such a room. The complete meaning is: “I will check availability and hold a similar room for you if we have one.”

7. Ik heb geen upgrade nodig, alleen een warme kamer om in te slapen.

   I do not need an upgrade, just a warm room for sleeping.

   heb … nodig

   need

   geen

   no; not any

   upgrade

   upgrade

   alleen

   just; only

   warme

   warm

   kamer

   room

   om in te slapen

   to sleep in

   More detail

   heb ... nodig is the Dutch pattern for “need”: literally, it uses hebben (“to have”) with nodig (“necessary”). heb is the first-person singular present form of hebben, used with ik. The two parts can be separated by other sentence material, as here: Ik heb geen upgrade nodig. geen negates an indefinite noun phrase. Here it means that the speaker does not need any upgrade. It is not a numeric statement about how many upgrades there are. Compare the reusable pattern geen + noun: Ik heb geen tijd. — “I have no time.” upgrade is a noun referring here to an upgrade, in the context of the room or booking. It is a loanword that can be used in Dutch in this form. In geen upgrade, the noun appears without an article because geen occupies that determiner position. alleen means “only” or “just” and limits the request that follows. alleen een warme kamer therefore introduces the one thing the speaker does need, without changing the earlier negation. warme is the inflected form of the adjective warm (“warm”). In een warme kamer, the adjective takes -e before kamer; this form is required by the noun phrase’s grammatical structure, not merely by the meaning “warm.” The base/comparison chain is warm — warmer — het warmst (“warm” — “warmer” — “the warmest”). Example: een warmer bed — “a warmer bed.” kamer means “room.” It is the noun being described by warme. Example: De kamer is warm. — “The room is warm.” om in te slapen expresses the purpose of the room: “to sleep in.” slapen is the infinitive “to sleep,” and te slapen is the infinitive construction used after om for a purpose. The preposition in appears before te slapen because the intended place is inside the room; Dutch places it in this construction rather than leaving it after the infinitive. Example: Ik zoek een stoel om op te zitten. — “I am looking for a chair to sit on.” Together, Ik heb geen upgrade nodig says “I do not need an upgrade.” alleen een warme kamer narrows the request to just a warm room, and om in te slapen explains the room’s intended use. The complete meaning is: “I do not need an upgrade, just a warm room for sleeping.”

8. We proberen het eerst te repareren en houden een andere kamer klaar als dat nodig is.

   We will try the repair first and keep another room ready if needed.

   We

   we

   proberen

   try

   te repareren

   to repair

   eerst

   first

   houden

   keep

   andere

   another

   kamer

   room

   klaar

   ready

   als dat nodig is

   if needed

   More detail

   We is the first-person plural subject pronoun, “we.” It identifies the speaker together with at least one other participant. Dutch also has ik (“I”) for one speaker and jij/je (“you”) for the person addressed. proberen means “to try” here. It is the infinitive/base form. A common reusable pattern is proberen te + infinitive: Ik probeer te slapen. means “I try to sleep.” The form proberen itself does not show who is trying; the subject we supplies that information. het is a neuter singular object pronoun meaning “it” in this sentence. The exact thing referred to is not identified by the supplied sentence or translation. In Dutch, het can also be the definite article “the” before a neuter singular noun, but here it is an object pronoun because it stands before the infinitive phrase. te repareren means “to repair.” repareren is the infinitive/base form, and te marks the infinitive in this construction. Together with proberen, the pattern is proberen het te repareren: “try to repair it.” Example: We proberen de deur te openen. — “We try to open the door.” eerst means “first.” It places the repair attempt before the other action described in the sentence. Dutch also uses daarna for “afterwards,” but that is a different time relationship. houden means “keep” here. It is the infinitive/base form, but with the subject we it is also the present-tense form: we houden. Dutch present-tense verbs commonly use this same form with we, while the singular form is ik houd or ik hou (“I keep”) and hij/zij houdt (“he/she keeps”). andere means “another” here. It describes kamer, so the phrase een andere kamer means “another room.” Before a singular common-gender noun after een, Dutch uses andere; before a singular neuter noun, the form can be ander, as in een ander hotel (“another hotel”). kamer means “room.” Its plural is kamers: een kamer means “a room,” while twee kamers means “two rooms.” In this sentence, kamer is singular and is modified by een andere. klaar means “ready.” In een andere kamer klaarhouden, it is a descriptive adjective used after the object as part of the meaning “keep another room ready.” The verb and adjective together form a useful pattern: iets klaarhouden — “keep something ready.” Example: Ik houd een stoel klaar. — “I keep a chair ready.” als dat nodig is means “if needed” in this sentence. Literally, it is “if that is necessary”: als introduces the condition, dat is a neuter singular demonstrative pronoun meaning “that,” nodig means “necessary,” and is is the third-person singular present form of zijn (“to be”). The fixed translation gives the intended concise English meaning “if needed”; it does not identify a separate concrete referent for dat. The sentence first gives the subject and intention: We proberen het te repareren — “We will try to repair it.” eerst makes that the first step. Then houden een andere kamer klaar adds the backup arrangement: “and keep another room ready.” Finally, als dat nodig is makes this arrangement conditional: “if needed.” Together: “We will try the repair first and keep another room ready if needed.”

9. Bel me alstublieft voordat de technische dienst naar boven komt.

   Please call before maintenance comes up.

   Bel

   call

   alstublieft

   please

   voordat

   before

   technische

   technical

   dienst

   service; maintenance

   naar boven

   upstairs; up

   komt

   comes

   More detail

   Bel is the imperative form of bellen (“to call”). In this sentence it gives a direct request to the listener. Dutch imperatives commonly use the verb stem: bellen → Bel. A reusable example is Bel me morgen. — “Call me tomorrow.” alstublieft adds polite “please.” It is a politeness expression, not part of the verb’s meaning. The same expression can also be used when offering or handing something to someone, but here it politely softens the request. voordat means “before” and introduces a subordinate clause. In Dutch, the finite verb normally moves to the end of this kind of clause. The reusable pattern is voordat + subject + other information + verb, as in Bel me voordat je vertrekt. — “Call me before you leave.” technische is the form of the adjective technisch (“technical”) used before the noun dienst. Here the adjective has -e because it is attributive, the noun is singular, and the noun phrase has the definite article de: de technische dienst. The adjective describes the type or function of the service; it does not itself mean “maintenance.” dienst is a noun meaning “service” or “department.” With technische here, technische dienst refers to the technical service or maintenance service. As a common noun, dienst is lowercase here; Dutch common nouns are generally lowercase except at the beginning of a sentence. A useful example is De technische dienst is aanwezig. — “The technical service is present.” naar boven is a movement expression meaning “up” or “upstairs.” naar marks direction, while boven identifies the higher or upstairs location. It describes movement toward that place, unlike boven alone in a location such as Hij is boven. — “He is upstairs.” komt is the third-person singular present form of komen (“to come”): komen → komt with hij, singular zij, or a singular noun. Here the subject is de technische dienst, so the singular verb agrees with that noun phrase. The present form describes the service coming up in the relevant situation; it is not an imperative. Together, Bel gives the request, alstublieft makes it polite, and voordat introduces the time condition. The subordinate clause has de technische dienst as its subject, naar boven as the direction of movement, and komt at the end. The complete meaning is a polite request to call before the technical service comes up.

10. Ik bel u voordat zij naar boven komen en nog een keer als ik nieuws heb.

    I will call you before they come up and again when I have an update.

    Ik

    I

    bel

    call

    u

    you

    voordat

    before

    zij

    they

    naar boven

    upstairs

    komen

    come

    nog een keer

    again

    als

    when

    nieuws

    news; update

    heb

    have

    More detail

    Ik is the first-person singular subject pronoun, “I.” It identifies the caller here. A useful contrast is jij/je, “you” in an informal singular subject role. bel is the present-tense singular form of bellen, “to call.” Dutch can use the present tense for a planned or expected future event when the context makes the time clear, so it is translated here as “will call.” For example: Ik bel je morgen. — “I’ll call you tomorrow.” u is the formal second-person pronoun, “you.” It can refer to one formal addressee or to multiple addressees; the fixed sentence does not need to specify which, and the translation identifies the addressee simply as “you.” voordat means “before” and introduces a time clause. In the clause it introduces, the finite verb comes at the end: voordat zij naar boven komen — “before they come up.” zij means “they” here: it is the third-person plural subject pronoun. Dutch also uses zij for “she” in a different grammatical setting, but the fixed translation selects the plural “they” reading here. naar boven is a directional phrase meaning “up” or “upstairs.” naar marks movement toward a direction or place, while boven supplies the upward location or direction. It describes where the people come, not who performs the coming. komen is the verb komen, “to come.” In this clause it is the infinitive-shaped form at the end of a subordinate clause; it is also the present-tense form used with a plural subject such as zij. Example: Zij komen morgen. — “They are coming tomorrow.” nog een keer means “again” or “once more.” It marks a repeated event. The phrase does not itself specify how much time passes before the repetition. als means “when” in als ik nieuws heb, introducing the time at which the second call will happen. In other contexts it can mean “if,” but the fixed translation makes the temporal meaning clear here. nieuws is the noun “news”; in this sentence it means news or an update that the speaker has. Dutch nieuws is ordinarily an uncountable noun, so it does not normally take a plural form for separate updates. The compact expression nieuws hebben means “to have news/an update.” heb is the first-person singular present form of hebben, “to have.” The subject is ik, so the form is heb: ik heb, “I have.” Example: Ik heb nieuws. — “I have an update.” The sentence first gives the main clause Ik bel u, “I will call you.” voordat zij naar boven komen adds that the call happens before they come up. en nog een keer adds a second call, and als ik nieuws heb places that repeated call when the speaker has news or an update. Together, the fixed utterance means: “I will call you before they come up and again when I have an update.”