Choosing a review method with a study partner | Learn Dutch in English

Sentence explanations

1. Ik wil de les van vandaag herhalen.

   I want to review today's lesson.

   Ik wil

   I want

   les

   lesson

   vandaag

   today

   herhalen

   review; repeat

   More detail

   Ik wil means “I want” here. wil is the first-person singular present form of willen (“to want”): ik wil, while plural subjects use wij willen. In Dutch, this verb is followed by an infinitive when expressing what someone wants to do, so the action comes later in the sentence. les means “lesson.” It is a countable noun and a de-word: de les; its plural is lessen. The article de belongs to the noun phrase de les, identifying the lesson intended here. vandaag is the adverb “today.” In de les van vandaag, van vandaag specifies which lesson: literally “of today,” giving the natural meaning “today’s lesson.” This is a reusable pattern: de film van gisteren means “yesterday’s film.” herhalen is the infinitive of the verb “to repeat.” In this sentence, the fixed translation makes “review” the intended meaning: the speaker wants to go over the lesson again. The same verb can describe repeating other material or an action; its infinitive form follows wil. Together, Ik wil + infinitive expresses “I want to …”; de les van vandaag is the object of the action. Thus Ik wil de les van vandaag herhalen. means “I want to review today’s lesson.”

2. Maar ik weet niet zeker waar ik moet beginnen.

   But I am not sure where to start.

   Maar

   but

   weet

   know

   niet zeker

   not sure

   waar

   where

   moet

   must; have to

   beginnen

   start; begin

   More detail

   Maar means “but” and links this sentence to a contrasting idea. It commonly introduces a qualification or limitation. Example: Ik wil beginnen, maar ik heb geen tijd. — “I want to start, but I have no time.” weet is the present-tense form of weten (“to know”) used with ik: ik weet — “I know.” Dutch uses weten for knowing a fact or having information; kennen is used for being familiar with a person, place, or work. Example: Ik weet het antwoord. — “I know the answer.” niet zeker means “not sure.” Here niet negates zeker, so ik weet niet zeker expresses uncertainty about the information that follows. zeker can also mean “certain” or “sure” in positive statements: Ik weet het zeker. — “I know it for sure.” waar means “where” and introduces the place-related question inside the larger sentence. In waar ik moet beginnen, it does not ask a separate direct question; it introduces the information the speaker is uncertain about. Example: Ik weet waar zij woont. — “I know where she lives.” moet is the present-tense form of the modal verb moeten with ik: ik moet — “I must,” “I have to,” or, depending on context, “I should.” In this sentence, the fixed translation presents the natural meaning as “to start” in the expression “where to start.” The infinitive that follows a modal remains beginnen, rather than taking a personal ending. beginnen is the infinitive “to begin” or “to start.” The form is the same after moet: ik moet beginnen — “I must start.” Example: We beginnen met de eerste oefening. — “We start with the first exercise.” Together, ik weet niet zeker means “I am not sure,” and waar ik moet beginnen specifies what is uncertain: the point or place at which to start. Dutch places the subject ik before the finite verb moet in this embedded waar-clause, with the infinitive beginnen after it. Thus the whole utterance means: “But I am not sure where to start.”

3. Begin met de aantekeningen die direct bij echte situaties passen.

   Start with the notes that connect directly to real situations.

   Begin

   start

   met

   with

   aantekeningen

   notes

   direct

   directly

   echte

   real

   situaties

   situations

   passen

   fit

   More detail

   Begin is the imperative of beginnen (“to start”): begin addresses one or more people without an expressed subject. A useful contrast is Ik begin (“I start”) versus Begin! (“Start!”). In this sentence, it gives direct advice rather than describing a past or future event. met introduces what the starting activity or selection is directed toward. The reusable pattern is begin met + noun (“start with + noun”); for example, Begin met de eerste vraag. means “Start with the first question.” aantekeningen means “notes” here. It is the plural of aantekening (“note”), and the plural form uses the article de: de aantekening / de aantekeningen. The adjective-like relative clause after it specifies which notes are meant. direct is an adverb meaning “directly” or “straightaway” here. It modifies the connection expressed by passen bij, so the notes connect to the situations without an intervening step. Unlike an adjective, this adverb does not agree with aantekeningen. echte is the inflected form of the adjective echt (“real” or “genuine”). Before the plural noun situaties, it takes the ending -e: echte situaties. The same adjective can appear without this ending in other contexts, such as een echt probleem (“a real problem”), so the form is determined by the noun phrase, not by direct. situaties is the plural of situatie (“situation”): een situatie / situaties. In the phrase bij echte situaties, bij means “with regard to” or “in connection with,” so the situations are the real-life contexts to which the notes relate. passen is the plural present form of passen in the construction passen bij (“fit” or “be appropriate for”). Here its subject is the plural relative pronoun die, referring to the notes, so Dutch uses passen, not singular past. For example, Deze voorbeelden passen bij de les. means “These examples fit the lesson.” The full structure is Begin met [de aantekeningen [die direct bij echte situaties passen]]: “Start with [the notes [that connect directly to real situations]].” die begins a relative clause describing the notes; because it refers to a plural noun, the clause has plural passen. The whole utterance therefore advises starting with the notes most directly relevant to real situations.

4. Ik lees meestal alles opnieuw, maar dat kost te veel tijd.

   I usually reread everything, but that takes too much time.

   lees

   read

   meestal

   usually

   alles

   everything

   opnieuw

   again; anew

   kost

   takes; costs

   te veel

   too much

   tijd

   time

   More detail

   lees is the present-tense first-person singular form of lezen (“to read”). The subject is ik, so Dutch uses lees; the same verb has leest with jij or hij/zij, and lezen is used with plural subjects. Here, lees is part of the reusable pattern ik lees .... meestal means “usually” and marks what happens in most cases, not every case. It is an adverb, so it does not change form. For example: Ik werk meestal thuis. — “I usually work at home.” alles means “everything” or “all of it.” It is a pronoun referring to the complete set of things being read; the sentence does not specify those things individually. Compare iets (“something”) and niets (“nothing”) when the quantity is not the whole set. opnieuw means “again” or “anew.” With lees, lees ... opnieuw expresses reading again: the action is repeated. A reusable pattern is iets opnieuw lezen — “to read something again.” kost is the present-tense third-person singular form of kosten, “to cost” or “to take” in the sense of requiring time or another resource. In this sentence its meaning is “takes,” because the resource is tijd. The subject of kost is dat, which refers to the preceding rereading activity; therefore the singular form kost is used. With a plural subject, Dutch uses kosten, as in Die taken kosten veel tijd. — “Those tasks take a lot of time.” te veel is the pattern “too much” or “too many.” Here it modifies the uncountable noun tijd, so it means “too much” time. te marks an excessive amount relative to what is wanted or manageable; veel means “much/many.” With a countable plural noun, the same spelling can mean “too many,” as in te veel vragen — “too many questions.” tijd means “time.” In veel tijd, it is treated as an uncountable amount rather than as individually counted units. A useful contrast is veel tijd (“a lot of time”) versus weinig tijd (“little time”). Together, Ik lees meestal alles opnieuw means “I usually reread everything”: ik lees supplies the first-person action, meestal says it is usual, alles identifies the complete set, and opnieuw marks repetition. maar introduces a contrast, and dat kost te veel tijd says that this rereading activity takes an excessive amount of time. The whole utterance therefore means: “I usually reread everything, but that takes too much time.”

5. Kies de delen die je in een kort gesprek kunt gebruiken.

   Choose the parts you can use in a short conversation.

   Kies

   choose

   delen

   parts

   kunt gebruiken

   can use

   kort

   short

   gesprek

   conversation

   More detail

   Kies is the imperative of kiezen (“to choose”). It gives a direct instruction; the person addressed is understood from the context. Compare ik kies (“I choose”) for the present-tense first-person form. delen means “parts” or “sections” here. Its singular is deel, and delen is the plural. With de, de delen means “the parts,” referring to selected parts rather than parts in general. Example: Ik kies twee delen. — “I choose two parts.” kunt gebruiken combines the modal verb kunnen (“can, be able to”) with the infinitive gebruiken (“to use”). kunt is the present form used with je in this clause; the subject is je, meaning “you.” The modal expresses possibility or ability, while gebruiken names the action that is possible. Example: Je kunt deze woorden gebruiken. — “You can use these words.” kort means “short.” Before the indefinite noun phrase een kort gesprek, it has no -e ending because gesprek is a neuter noun and this is an indefinite singular phrase. The adjective itself is kort; its comparative is korter (“shorter”). gesprek means “conversation” or “conversation session” here. Its standard definite form is het gesprek, and its plural is gesprekken. In the sentence, een kort gesprek means “a short conversation.” Example: We voeren een kort gesprek. — “We have a short conversation.” The structure is Kies de delen die je in een kort gesprek kunt gebruiken. Kies de delen gives the instruction “Choose the parts.” The relative clause die je ... kunt gebruiken specifies which parts: they are the parts that you can use in a short conversation. die connects the clause to de delen, while in een kort gesprek indicates the situation in which the parts can be used. Together, the utterance means: “Choose the parts you can use in a short conversation.”

6. We zouden voorbeeldzinnen kunnen opschrijven voordat we gaan oefenen met spreken.

   We could write example sentences before we practice speaking.

   We zouden

   we could

   voorbeeldzinnen

   example sentences

   kunnen

   can; could

   opschrijven

   write down

   voordat

   before

   oefenen

   practice

   spreken

   speak

   More detail

   We zouden introduces the subject we and a conditional possibility: “we could.” zouden is the plural form of the past form of zullen, and with an infinitive it commonly expresses a hypothetical or tentative proposal. The subject pronoun we is the form used for “we”; the following verb does not need a separate person ending after this modal construction. voorbeeldzinnen means “example sentences.” It is the plural of voorbeeldzin; the plural ending is visible in -zinnen. The word is a compound: voorbeeld means “example” and zin means “sentence,” but the complete compound is the useful noun here. kunnen is the infinitive meaning “can” or “be able to.” Here it follows zouden, so zouden kunnen together means “could,” expressing possibility or ability in the proposed situation. With a modal verb such as kunnen, the following lexical verb remains an infinitive: kunnen opschrijven. opschrijven means “to write down.” It is a separable verb, built from op and schrijven, but after a modal verb it stays together as the infinitive at the end of the clause. For example: Ik kan het opschrijven. — “I can write it down.” voordat means “before” and introduces a subordinate clause. In that clause, we is again the subject, and the clause describes the activity that has not yet happened at the reference point in the main clause. oefenen means “to practise” or “to practice.” In gaan oefenen, gaan is used with an infinitive to express going to practise or starting an activity; the fixed translation naturally renders this as “practice.” The phrase oefenen met is a reusable pattern for practising an activity or skill. spreken means “to speak.” After met in oefenen met spreken, it names the activity being practised: “practising speaking.” It is an infinitive, not a finite form marked for a particular subject. For example: We oefenen met spreken. — “We practise speaking.” Together, We zouden ... kunnen opschrijven means “We could write down ...”: zouden marks the conditional possibility, kunnen adds ability or possibility, and opschrijven gives the proposed action. The object is voorbeeldzinnen, “example sentences.” The subordinate clause voordat we gaan oefenen met spreken places that action before the activity of practising speaking. The complete utterance therefore means: “We could write example sentences before we practice speaking.”

7. Als je de voorbeeldzinnen hardop zegt, kun je zien of je de uitdrukkingen in een gesprek kunt gebruiken.

   Saying the example sentences aloud will show whether you can use the phrases in conversation.

   Als je

   if you

   voorbeeldzinnen

   example sentences

   hardop

   aloud

   zegt

   say

   kun je

   you can

   zien

   see

   uitdrukkingen

   phrases

   gesprek

   conversation

   kunt

   can

   gebruiken

   use

   More detail

   Als je introduces a condition: “if you …”. als is a conjunction, and je is the informal singular “you” (also used in many general statements). A reusable pattern is Als je ..., ... = “If you ..., ...”. voorbeeldzinnen means “example sentences”. It is the plural of voorbeeldzin; the plural ending is -en. The compound combines voorbeeld (“example”) and zin (“sentence”), but the observed word is one Dutch compound noun. hardop means “aloud”. It describes speaking or reading audibly, rather than silently. Example: Lees de zin hardop. — “Read the sentence aloud.” zegt is the present-tense form of zeggen (“to say”) for je/jij and also for u in the relevant present-tense pattern. The -t marks this form here: je zegt. Example: Je zegt het antwoord. — “You say the answer.” kun je means “you can”. The verb is kunnen (“can, be able to”), and kun is its present form with je/jij when the verb comes before the subject, as in a main-clause question or inversion. Here kun je is not a question; it is the inverted order after the initial conditional clause. Compare je kunt in ordinary subject-before-verb order. zien is the infinitive of zien (“to see”). After a modal verb such as kunnen, the other verb normally remains an infinitive: je kunt zien = “you can see”. Here “see” introduces the result or information obtained from the activity. uitdrukkingen means “phrases” or “expressions” in this context. It is the plural of uitdrukking. This noun can refer to a fixed expression or a way of phrasing something; the translation selects the “phrases” sense here. gesprek means “conversation”. The full noun phrase een gesprek is “a conversation”; een is an indefinite article, not by itself a claim about a numerical count. Example: We voeren een gesprek. — “We are having a conversation.” kunt is another present form of kunnen with je/jij, used here because the subject comes before the verb in the subordinate clause: of je ... kunt gebruiken. The sentence therefore shows the useful contrast kun je (inversion) versus je kunt (ordinary order). of introduces an indirect yes/no clause meaning “whether”. gebruiken is the infinitive of gebruiken (“to use”). It follows kunt, so the phrase kunt gebruiken means “can use”. In the subordinate clause, the modal and infinitive appear together at the end: of je de uitdrukkingen ... kunt gebruiken. Together, Als je de voorbeeldzinnen hardop zegt means “If you say the example sentences aloud”. The main clause kun je zien means “you can see”, and of je de uitdrukkingen in een gesprek kunt gebruiken means “whether you can use the phrases in a conversation”. The complete utterance is therefore: “If you say the example sentences aloud, you can see whether you can use the phrases in a conversation.”

8. Dat klinkt nuttiger dan de hele pagina weer overschrijven.

   That sounds more useful than copying the whole page again.

   Dat

   That

   klinkt

   sounds

   nuttiger

   more useful

   dan

   than

   hele

   whole

   pagina

   page

   weer

   again

   overschrijven

   copying

   More detail

   Dat means “that” here and refers to something already under discussion; the supplied translation supports that demonstrative reading. Dutch dat is the neuter singular form of the demonstrative, while die is used for common-gender singular nouns and plural nouns. Example: Dat klinkt goed. — “That sounds good.” klinkt is the present-tense third-person singular form of klinken, “to sound.” The -t form agrees with the singular subject dat; the infinitive is klinken. Dutch klinken can describe how something sounds and, as here, how an idea seems when expressed. Example: Dat klinkt logisch. — “That sounds logical.” nuttiger is the comparative of nuttig, “useful”: nuttig → nuttiger → het nuttigst (“useful” → “more useful” → “most useful”). It compares the option referred to by dat with the alternative introduced by dan. dan introduces the second side of a comparison, equivalent here to “than.” A reusable pattern is X is/klinkt ...er dan Y — “X is/sounds more ... than Y.” hele is the attributive form of heel, “whole/entire,” in de hele pagina. With a singular definite noun such as de pagina, Dutch uses hele; the word describes the page as a complete unit. Example: Ik lees het hele boek. — “I read the whole book.” pagina means “page.” It is a countable noun and takes the article de: de pagina. In this sentence, de hele pagina means “the whole page,” not merely part of it. weer means “again” here. It says that the copying would happen another time, without by itself specifying exactly how many previous times. Example: Ze probeert het weer. — “She tries it again.” overschrijven is the infinitive “to copy” in the sense of writing something out again. Its base form is already the infinitive; a finite present form would be ik schrijf over or hij schrijft over, with the separable prefix over placed after the verb in a main clause. After the comparison, the infinitive appears in the phrase dan de hele pagina weer overschrijven, “than copying the whole page again.” Together, Dat klinkt nuttiger says “That sounds more useful.” dan introduces the alternative, and de hele pagina weer overschrijven means “copying the whole page again.” The complete utterance therefore means: “That sounds more useful than copying the whole page again.”

9. Je ziet dan ook welke punten duidelijk zijn en welke meer oefening nodig hebben.

   It also shows which points are clear and which ones need more practice.

   Je ziet

   you see; it shows

   dan ook

   also

   welke

   which

   punten

   points

   duidelijk

   clear

   zijn

   are

   welke

   which ones

   meer

   more

   oefening

   practice

   nodig hebben

   need

   More detail

   Je ziet uses the present-tense form ziet of zien with the subject je. Literally, it means “you see”; in the supplied translation, the same observation is rendered as “it shows”. Example: Je ziet het verschil. — “You can see the difference.” dan ook is a compact connective meaning “also” here. Together with the first clause, it presents this as an additional observation: “it also shows …”. The meaning belongs to the combination, not to dan alone in isolation. welke introduces the first part of a contrast between two groups of points. It appears before the plural noun in welke punten; later it appears without that noun, with the same understood category of points. The two occurrences are separate choices in the sentence, even though they have the same form. punten is the plural of punt, “point”. The plural ending is -en: een punt — “a point”, punten — “points”. Here it refers to the points mentioned in the fixed translation. duidelijk is a descriptive adjective meaning “clear”. With zijn, it describes the points: De punten zijn duidelijk. — “The points are clear.” It does not carry plural marking here; duidelijk keeps the same form while zijn is the verb used with the plural subject. zijn is the present-tense plural form of zijn, “to be”. In welke punten duidelijk zijn, the subject is welke punten, so zijn is used. The form zijn is also the infinitive, but here it is a finite verb in a subordinate clause. The second welke means “which ones” and introduces the contrasting group: the points that need more practice. Its specific referent is supported by the parallel comparison of points in the sentence; no newly named noun is needed. meer means “more”. Here it modifies oefening, indicating a greater amount of practice. With an adjective such as duidelijk, Dutch normally uses the comparative duidelijker (“clearer”), rather than treating meer duidelijk as the standard comparison. oefening is a noun meaning “practice” in this context. It is singular and refers to an uncounted activity or amount: Ik heb meer oefening nodig. — “I need more practice.” The related verb oefenen means “to practise”, but it is not the form used in the fixed sentence. nodig hebben is the Dutch construction for “to need”; it combines nodig with hebben. Here it takes meer oefening as its object: “need more practice”. Example: De punten hebben meer oefening nodig. — “The points need more practice.” The whole sentence first presents the observation Je ziet dan ook, then contrasts two groups with welke … en welke …: the points that are clear and the points that need more practice. Thus the complete meaning is: “It also shows which points are clear and which ones need more practice.”

10. Laten we allebei een paar nuttige uitdrukkingen kiezen en ze na de les uitproberen.

    Let's each choose a few useful phrases and test them after class.

    Laten we

    let’s

    allebei

    both; each

    een paar

    a few

    nuttige

    useful

    uitdrukkingen

    phrases; expressions

    kiezen

    choose

    ze

    them

    na de les

    after class

    uitproberen

    try out; test

    More detail

    Laten we is a reusable Dutch way to make a proposal: “let’s …”. It is followed here by the infinitive kiezen, not by a finite verb. The we is plural; allebei specifies that the proposal concerns two people and gives the distributive meaning “each”. een paar means “a few” or “a small number of”. In this expression, een is part of the quantity expression; it does not by itself assert that there is exactly one item. The exact number remains unspecified. nuttige means “useful” here. Its base form is nuttig; before a plural noun it has the -e form nuttige. The adjective describes uitdrukkingen, rather than carrying the noun’s plural marking. uitdrukkingen is the plural of uitdrukking, meaning “phrase” or “expression” in this sentence. The ending -en marks the plural here. For example: Ik leer nieuwe uitdrukkingen. — “I am learning new phrases.” kiezen is the infinitive “to choose”. With Laten we, it names the first proposed action: “let’s choose”. A useful contrast is selecteren, a more formal word for selecting; kiezen is the ordinary general choice here. ze is an unstressed object pronoun meaning “them” in this sentence. The fixed translation identifies its referent as the previously mentioned useful phrases. The same form can have other grammatical uses in Dutch, but here it is the plural object of the second action. na de les means “after class” or “after the lesson”. na introduces a later time, and de les is the definite noun phrase “the class/lesson”. For example: Na de les drink ik koffie. — “After class, I drink coffee.” uitproberen means “to try out” or “to test”. It is a separable verb: in a finite clause, the parts can separate, as in We proberen de oefening uit. — “We try out the exercise.” In the infinitive at the end of this sentence, the full form remains together: uitproberen. The whole utterance has the pattern Laten we + infinitive + en + object + time phrase + infinitive: “Let’s choose a few useful phrases and try them out after class.” allebei applies to the two people represented by we; en joins the two proposed actions, and ze refers back to the phrases chosen in the first action.

11. Een korte routine kun je makkelijker herhalen dan een lang herhalingsplan.

    A short routine will be easier to repeat than a long review plan.

    korte

    short

    routine

    routine

    kun je

    you can

    makkelijker

    more easily; easier

    herhalen

    repeat

    dan

    than

    lang

    long

    herhalingsplan

    review plan

    More detail

    korte describes routine as short. Its base form is kort; before a singular common-gender noun after een, the adjective takes -e: een korte routine. The ending is determined by the noun phrase’s grammatical form, not simply by the idea of one item. Example: een korte les means “a short lesson.” routine means a routine or repeated procedure. In Dutch it is a common-gender noun: de routine. The indefinite article een introduces the noun phrase, but it does not by itself state a numerical count. kun je contains the finite form of kunnen (“can, be able to”) and the subject pronoun je (“you”). The usual statement order is je kunt ...; here kun je ... appears because the object een korte routine has been placed first. This is therefore not necessarily a question. After kunnen, the following verb stays in the infinitive. Example: Je kunt dit morgen herhalen. — “You can repeat this tomorrow.” makkelijker is the comparative form of makkelijk (“easy; easily”). Here it functions adverbially and says that the repeating can be done with less difficulty. The comparison pattern is makkelijker ... dan ..., “more easily ... than ...”. The same comparative form can also describe something as easier: Deze oefening is makkelijker. — “This exercise is easier.” herhalen is the infinitive meaning “to repeat.” Its base form is herhalen; after the modal kunnen, this infinitive remains unchanged. The object being repeated is the fronted noun phrase een korte routine. Example: Ik herhaal de zin. — “I repeat the sentence.” dan introduces the second side of the comparison: “than.” It links the easier repetition of the first object with the comparison object that follows. Example: Deze taak is makkelijker dan die taak. — “This task is easier than that task.” lang means “long.” Here it describes herhalingsplan, a singular neuter noun phrase introduced by een, so the adjective has no -e: een lang herhalingsplan. Compare the common-gender pattern een lange les (“a long lesson”) with the neuter pattern een lang plan (“a long plan”). herhalingsplan means “review plan” or “repetition plan.” It is a compound noun whose final part is plan; Dutch uses het plan and therefore het herhalingsplan. The compound refers to a plan for reviewing or repeating material, rather than to the act of repeating itself. Together, een korte routine is the object placed at the front, kun je ... herhalen says that you can repeat it, and makkelijker ... dan een lang herhalingsplan makes the comparison. The intended meaning is: “A short routine will be easier to repeat than a long review plan.” In terms of the Dutch structure, you are the person able to do the repeating, while the short routine and the long review plan are the two things compared as objects of repetition.