Changing Travel Plans When Someone Is Sick | Learn Dutch in English

Sentence explanations

1. Een vriendin zegt dat ze koorts heeft en morgen waarschijnlijk niet kan reizen.

   A friend says she has a fever and probably cannot travel tomorrow.

   vriendin

   friend (female)

   zegt

   says

   dat

   that

   ze

   she

   koorts

   fever

   heeft

   has

   morgen

   tomorrow

   waarschijnlijk

   probably

   kan

   can

   reizen

   travel

   More detail

   vriendin means a female friend here. It is built from vriend (“friend”) with the feminine-person ending -in; compare vriend and vriendin. Example: Mijn vriendin woont hier. — “My female friend lives here.” zegt is the present-tense form of zeggen (“to say”) for a singular subject: zij zegt — “she says.” The form zegt identifies the saying as present or current in this sentence. dat introduces the content of what she says. A clause after dat commonly gives the proposition being reported: Hij zegt dat hij ziek is. — “He says that he is ill.” ze is the unstressed Dutch pronoun meaning “she” here, as confirmed by the fixed translation. Dutch ze can have other grammatical uses in other contexts, but this sentence uses it as a singular feminine subject referring to the friend. koorts is the noun “fever.” In koorts hebben, Dutch uses the verb hebben (“to have”) to express having a fever: Ik heb koorts. — “I have a fever.” heeft is the third-person singular present form of hebben: hebben → heeft. It agrees with the singular subject ze; it is not an inflection of koorts. morgen means “tomorrow,” a time word that places the relevant event on the following day. Example: Ik vertrek morgen. — “I am leaving tomorrow.” waarschijnlijk means “probably” and marks the travel as likely rather than certain. It applies to the proposition that follows in this sentence: she probably cannot travel tomorrow. kan is the third-person singular present form of the modal verb kunnen (“can, be able to”): kunnen → kan. A modal verb is followed by an infinitive; here kan ... reizen means “can travel.” The negation niet makes this “cannot travel.” reizen is the infinitive “to travel.” After the modal kan, it remains in the infinitive rather than taking a present-tense ending. Example: Zij kan morgen reizen. — “She can travel tomorrow.” Together, Een vriendin zegt means “A female friend says.” The dat clause reports her statement: ze koorts heeft literally uses “she has fever,” meaning “she has a fever.” The time word morgen places the travel on tomorrow, while waarschijnlijk niet kan reizen says that she probably cannot travel. Thus the whole utterance means: “A friend says she has a fever and probably cannot travel tomorrow.”

2. Dan moeten we rekening met haar houden en bespreken of we de reis moeten verzetten.

   Then we should be considerate and discuss whether to reschedule.

   Dan

   then

   moeten we

   we must / should

   rekening … houden

   take into account; be considerate of

   haar

   her

   bespreken

   discuss

   of

   whether

   we

   we

   reis

   trip

   moeten

   must / should

   verzetten

   reschedule

   More detail

   Dan means “then” here: it links this proposed action to the situation just mentioned. Example: Dan gaan we morgen. — “Then we’ll go tomorrow.” moeten we places the present-tense modal moeten before the subject we. With we, moeten is the plural present form; it can express obligation or, as in this translation, a recommendation such as “should.” The following infinitives show what the group should do. Example: We moeten wachten. — “We must/should wait.” rekening houden is a fixed construction meaning “to take into account” or “to be considerate of.” The full reusable pattern is rekening houden met + a person or thing. houden is the infinitive; its literal uses include “hold” or “keep,” but in this construction it does not mean physically holding something. Example: Houd rekening met de tijd. — “Take the time into account.” haar is the object form meaning “her” in this sentence. It follows the preposition met in the construction rekening houden met haar, and the surrounding context identifies the person as the female friend who is ill. This is different from possessive haar, meaning “her” before a noun, as in haar tas — “her bag.” bespreken is an infinitive meaning “to discuss.” It is coordinated with rekening houden: the modal moeten at the start applies to both actions, so the sentence presents two things the group should do. Example: We bespreken het plan. — “We discuss the plan.” of introduces an indirect yes-or-no question and means “whether” here. The clause after it gives the matter for discussion. Example: Ik weet niet of hij komt. — “I do not know whether he is coming.” we is the subject pronoun “we,” referring to the group that is deciding and acting. In the subordinate clause introduced by of, it remains the subject of moeten. reis is the noun “trip” or “journey.” In the fixed sentence it appears with de, forming the definite noun phrase de reis, “the trip.” The noun itself does not carry the definiteness; de marks the noun phrase as definite. Example: De reis duurt lang. — “The trip takes a long time.” The second moeten is again the present plural form of the modal verb for subject we. Here it belongs to the subordinate clause introduced by of, and it means that rescheduling is the action under consideration: “whether we should reschedule.” verzetten is the infinitive meaning “to reschedule” or “to postpone” in this context. It is the action governed by the second moeten. Example: We moeten de afspraak verzetten. — “We have to reschedule the appointment.” Taken together, Dan sets the consequence or next step; moeten we introduces what the group should do; rekening houden met haar means being considerate of her; and bespreken of we de reis moeten verzetten means discussing whether the group should reschedule the trip. The complete meaning is: “Then we should take her situation into account and discuss whether we should reschedule the trip.”

3. Het kan moeilijk zijn om de reis te verzetten als we nog veel langer wachten.

   It may be hard to reschedule the trip if we wait much longer.

   Het kan

   it may

   moeilijk

   difficult; hard

   zijn

   to be

   de reis

   the trip

   te verzetten

   to reschedule

   als

   if

   langer

   longer

   wachten

   to wait

   More detail

   Het kan introduces a possibility: here, “it may.” In this impersonal pattern, het is the grammatical subject of the following description and does not identify a specific thing. kan is the present-tense form of kunnen with het; in other contexts, kunnen can express ability as well as possibility. Example: Het kan regenen. — “It may rain.” moeilijk means “hard” or “difficult” here. It describes how difficult the situation may be. A useful opposite is makkelijk or gemakkelijk, “easy.” Example: Dat is moeilijk. — “That is difficult.” zijn is the infinitive “to be.” After a modal verb such as kan, Dutch uses the infinitive: kan zijn, “may be.” The same pattern works with other infinitives: Het kan helpen. — “It may help.” de reis means “the trip” or “the journey.” reis is a noun, and de is its definite article. The article marks the noun as definite; it does not itself state how many trips there are. Example: De reis begint morgen. — “The trip begins tomorrow.” te verzetten means “to reschedule” in this sentence. Its base form is verzetten; te marks the infinitive in this construction. Here verzetten means moving an appointment, arrangement, or trip to another time, rather than simply moving a physical object. Example: We proberen de afspraak te verzetten. — “We are trying to reschedule the appointment.” als introduces the condition “if.” It starts the condition clause als we nog veel langer wachten, which gives the circumstance under which the main statement applies. Example: Als het regent, blijven we binnen. — “If it rains, we stay inside.” langer is the comparative form of lang, “long.” It means “longer,” comparing the waiting time with a time already understood. In nog veel langer, nog adds “still/even” and veel strengthens the comparison: “much longer.” Example: Wacht niet langer. — “Do not wait any longer.” wachten means “to wait.” Its infinitive and its present-tense form with we have the same visible form: wachten; we wachten means “we wait” or “we are waiting.” In the condition clause, we wachten is the finite verb phrase, and wachten stands at the end of the clause. Example: We wachten buiten. — “We are waiting outside.” Together, Het kan moeilijk zijn says “It may be hard,” and de reis te verzetten specifies what may be hard: rescheduling the trip. The conditional clause als we nog veel langer wachten adds “if we wait much longer.” The complete utterance therefore means: “It may be hard to reschedule the trip if we wait much longer.”

4. Kunnen we de boeking verplaatsen in plaats van die helemaal te annuleren?

   Can we move the booking instead of canceling it completely?

   Kunnen we

   can we

   de boeking

   the booking

   verplaatsen

   move; reschedule

   in plaats van

   instead of

   die

   it

   helemaal

   completely

   annuleren

   cancel

   More detail

   Kunnen we means “Can we …?” Here kunnen is the present-tense form of kunnen for we; it expresses ability or permission in this question. Dutch questions commonly place the finite verb before the subject: Kunnen we ...? Compare the reusable pattern Kunnen we morgen vertrekken? — “Can we leave tomorrow?” de boeking means “the booking.” Boeking is a common-gender noun, so it takes the definite article de. The plural is boekingen. Example: Ik heb de boeking bevestigd. — “I confirmed the booking.” verplaatsen means “to move” and, with a booking or appointment, “to reschedule.” It is the infinitive here, following the modal verb kunnen: Kunnen we de boeking verplaatsen? — “Can we reschedule the booking?” The form verplaatsen can also describe physically moving something; the booking context gives it the scheduling meaning here. in plaats van means “instead of.” It introduces the alternative action. With an action, Dutch uses in plaats van followed by an infinitive, as in in plaats van te wachten — “instead of waiting.” die means “it” here and refers back to the booking. As a standalone object pronoun, die is used for a singular de-word such as de boeking; it is not the form used for a singular het-word. In this sentence, die is the object of annuleren. helemaal means “completely” or “entirely.” It modifies the cancellation, showing that the proposed alternative is moving the booking rather than canceling it completely. Example: We hoeven het plan niet helemaal te veranderen. — “We do not have to change the plan completely.” annuleren means “to cancel.” It is another infinitive after in plaats van te: in plaats van die helemaal te annuleren — “instead of canceling it completely.” Example: Ze willen de afspraak annuleren. — “They want to cancel the appointment.” The sentence combines the question pattern Kunnen we ...? with two alternatives: de boeking verplaatsen (“move/reschedule the booking”) and die helemaal te annuleren (“cancel it completely”). Together, Kunnen we de boeking verplaatsen in plaats van die helemaal te annuleren? means “Can we move the booking instead of canceling it completely?”

5. Laat me bellen en vragen welke mogelijkheden er zijn.

   Let me call and ask what options are available.

   Laat me

   let me

   bellen

   call

   vragen

   ask

   welke

   which

   mogelijkheden

   options

   er zijn

   are available

   More detail

   Laat me is a fixed, reusable way to say “let me …”. Laat is the imperative of laten (“to let”); with me, it gives permission or proposes that the speaker do the following action. The verb after it stays in the infinitive: Laat me kijken = “Let me look.” bellen is the infinitive “to call”. After laat me, it names the action the speaker wants permission to perform. Its related finite forms include ik bel (“I call / am calling”) and ik belde (“I called”). Example: Ik bel morgen. — “I’ll call tomorrow.” vragen is the infinitive “to ask”. It is coordinated with bellen by en, so the speaker proposes two linked actions: calling and asking. Example: Ik wil iets vragen. — “I want to ask something.” welke means “which” and introduces a choice among relevant possibilities. It is used here before the plural noun mogelijkheden. Dutch also has wat for “what”, but welke presents the answer as a selection or identification of options. Example: Welke trein nemen we? — “Which train are we taking?” mogelijkheden means “options” or “possibilities”. Its singular base form is mogelijkheid; the ending -heden marks the plural in this word. Example: Er zijn verschillende mogelijkheden. — “There are several options.” er zijn literally contains existential er plus zijn (“are”), and here means that options are available or exist. In the embedded question welke mogelijkheden er zijn, the finite verb zijn comes after the subject phrase, as is normal in this type of subordinate clause. Compare the main-clause order Er zijn mogelijkheden with the embedded order welke mogelijkheden er zijn. Together, Laat me bellen en vragen means “Let me call and ask”. The embedded question welke mogelijkheden er zijn specifies what the speaker will ask about: which options are available. The complete utterance therefore means “Let me call and ask what options are available.”

6. Vraag ook of ze het goed zou vinden als wij zonder haar gaan.

   Also ask whether she would be comfortable with us going without her.

   Vraag

   ask

   ook

   also

   of

   whether

   ze

   she

   het goed zou vinden

   would be okay with it

   als

   if

   wij

   we

   zonder haar

   without her

   gaan

   go

   More detail

   Vraag is the imperative of vragen (“to ask”): it gives the instruction “ask.” A reusable pattern is Vraag ... (“Ask ...”). ook means “also/too.” It adds this request to another request; it does not change who is being asked. of introduces an indirect yes/no question. Here it means “whether,” as in Vraag of ... (“Ask whether ...”). In Dutch, an indirect question commonly has the finite verb later in its clause. ze means “she” here, as confirmed by the fixed translation. Dutch ze can also have other grammatical uses in other contexts, but this sentence uses it as a third-person singular subject pronoun referring to the woman in question. het goed zou vinden is the reusable expression “would find it okay” or “would be comfortable with it.” The lexical verb is vinden, “to find”; vinden becomes vindt in a present-tense third-person singular form, while zou vinden presents a hypothetical or conditional perspective. het is the neutral object (“it”) whose acceptability is being evaluated. For example: Zij zou het goed vinden. — “She would be okay with it.” als introduces the situation being evaluated: “if” or, in some contexts, “when.” Here it connects the judgment to the proposed action. wij is the subject pronoun “we.” It is the form used for the group carrying out the action in the following clause. A shorter unstressed form, we, is also common in Dutch, but the sentence uses the explicit form wij. zonder haar means “without her.” zonder expresses absence or exclusion, and haar is the object form used after it for “her.” The phrase therefore identifies who will not accompany the group. gaan is the infinitive of gaan, “to go.” In als wij zonder haar gaan, it follows the subject and describes the proposed action. Dutch can use a present-tense form in such a clause for a future or planned action when the context makes that timing clear. Together, Vraag ook means “Also ask,” and of ze het goed zou vinden asks about her acceptance of something. The als-clause specifies what that something is: wij zonder haar gaan, “we go without her.” Thus the whole utterance means: “Also ask whether she would be comfortable with us going without her.”

7. Ik zou de reis liever uitstellen, omdat de reis als groepsreis gepland was.

   I would rather postpone, because it was planned as a group trip.

   Ik zou

   I would

   de reis

   the trip

   liever

   rather

   uitstellen

   postpone

   omdat

   because

   groepsreis

   group trip

   gepland

   planned

   More detail

   Ik zou introduces a conditional or tentative personal preference: “I would…”. zou is the singular first-person form of zullen used here with the infinitive uitstellen; the combination zou ... uitstellen expresses a hypothetical or softened choice, not a simple past event. Compare Ik zal de reis uitstellen = “I will postpone the trip,” which is more direct and future-oriented. de reis means “the trip” in this sentence. reis is a common-gender noun, so its definite article is de; the plural is reizen. The same noun appears again later in the sentence, where it is specified more precisely as a groepsreis. liever means “rather” and marks a preference. It is the comparative form related to graag (“gladly” or “with pleasure”): graag expresses a positive preference, while liever compares one preferred option with another, whether or not the alternative is stated. Example: Ik blijf liever thuis. — “I would rather stay at home.” uitstellen means “to postpone” or “to put off.” It is a separable verb: in a finite main clause, the prefix can separate, as in Ik stel de reis uit — “I postpone the trip.” After zou, the complete infinitive stays together: Ik zou de reis uitstellen — “I would postpone the trip.” omdat introduces a reason clause and corresponds to “because.” In a Dutch clause introduced by omdat, the finite verb normally comes at the end. Here, was is therefore placed after gepland, rather than in the main-clause position. groepsreis is a compound noun meaning “group trip.” It combines groep (“group”) and reis (“trip”); the compound is written as one word, and its article is de: de groepsreis. In this sentence, als groepsreis describes the planned character of de reis: it was planned as a group trip. gepland is the past participle of plannen (“to plan”). With was, it forms the passive expression was gepland, “was planned.” The auxiliary was is singular because it agrees with the singular subject de reis; gepland itself does not show that singular agreement. Example: De bijeenkomst was goed gepland. — “The meeting was well planned.” Putting the parts together, Ik zou de reis liever uitstellen means “I would rather postpone the trip.” The clause omdat de reis als groepsreis gepland was gives the reason: “because the trip was planned as a group trip.” The complete utterance is therefore: “I would rather postpone, because it was planned as a group trip.”

8. Dat is logisch, vooral als ze maar een paar dagen nodig heeft om te herstellen.

   That makes sense, especially if she only needs a few days to recover.

   Dat

   That

   logisch

   logical; makes sense

   vooral als

   especially if

   ze

   she

   maar

   only

   een paar

   a few

   dagen

   days

   nodig heeft

   needs

   herstellen

   recover

   More detail

   Dat is the demonstrative pronoun “that.” Here, the fixed translation supports it as referring to the situation or idea already under discussion. Dutch dat is the neuter singular demonstrative form; the form itself does not identify a particular noun here. logisch means “logical.” In Dat is logisch, Dutch uses the adjective after is to describe or evaluate dat; the natural meaning is “That makes sense.” A useful contrast is onlogisch, “illogical.” vooral als introduces the condition being emphasized: “especially if.” als can have other uses in Dutch, but here it introduces a conditional situation. The clause after it is ze maar een paar dagen nodig heeft om te herstellen. ze is the unstressed subject pronoun. The fixed translation identifies its meaning here as “she.” The form ze itself can also serve as an unstressed plural “they,” so the specific singular feminine reading comes from the supplied meaning and context, not from the spelling alone. maar means “only” here: it limits the amount of time. Dutch maar can also mean “but” in other contexts, but that is not its function in this sentence. een paar means “a few” in this phrase. It indicates a small number without necessarily asserting an exact count; the indefinite article een does not by itself mean that the count is exactly one. With a time noun, een paar dagen is “a few days.” dagen is the plural of dag, “day.” The plural ending is visible in dagen; for one day, use een dag, and for more than one, dagen. nodig heeft is the form of the reusable construction nodig hebben, “to need.” nodig carries the meaning “needed,” while heeft is the third-person singular present form of hebben (“to have”): ik heb, zij heeft. Because this is an als subordinate clause, the conjugated verb appears at the end: ze ... nodig heeft. herstellen is the infinitive “to recover.” Together with the neighboring om te, om te herstellen expresses purpose: “in order to recover.” The infinitive does not change to show that the person recovering is “she”; the subject is understood from ze. Putting the parts together, Dat is logisch gives “That makes sense,” and vooral als adds the emphasized condition. Ze maar een paar dagen nodig heeft om te herstellen says that she needs only a few days in order to recover. The complete meaning is: “That makes sense, especially if she only needs a few days to recover.”

9. Ik stuur iedereen een bericht met de mogelijkheden en een duidelijke update.

   I will message everyone with the options and a clear update.

   Ik

   I

   stuur

   send

   iedereen

   everyone

   bericht

   message

   mogelijkheden

   options

   duidelijke

   clear

   update

   update

   More detail

   Ik is the first-person singular subject: “I.” It identifies the speaker, while the verb carries the matching first-person form. stuur is the first-person singular present form of sturen, “to send.” In this sentence, the object is a written message, so the fixed translation naturally uses “message.” Dutch present tense can also refer to a planned or imminent future action; here it is understood as “I will message.” Example: Ik stuur je morgen een bericht. — “I will message you tomorrow.” iedereen means “everyone” and is an indefinite pronoun, not a plural noun. When it is the subject, the verb is singular: Iedereen komt. — “Everyone is coming.” Here it is the recipient of the sending action. bericht is a message or notice. Its common plural is berichten. In een bericht, een is the indefinite article; it introduces a message but does not by itself need to be understood as a numerical count. Example: Ik lees een bericht. — “I am reading a message.” mogelijkheden means “options” or “possibilities.” It is the plural of mogelijkheid; the singular is een mogelijkheid, and the plural commonly takes de: de mogelijkheden. Example: We bespreken de mogelijkheden. — “We are discussing the options.” duidelijke means “clear” here. Its base form is duidelijk. The -e form is used here because update is a common-gender noun and the adjective is inside the noun phrase een duidelijke update. This is not a general rule that every adjective after een takes -e: for example, een duidelijk plan has no -e because plan is a neuter noun. The adjective describes update, not mogelijkheden. update is a loanword used as a noun for an update or new status message. In this sentence it is the thing described as clear. Example: Ik geef je een korte update. — “I will give you a short update.” The structure is Ik stuur iedereen een bericht: “I send/message everyone a message,” with iedereen as the recipient and een bericht as what is sent. met de mogelijkheden en een duidelijke update specifies the information sent with the message: the options and a clear update. Together, the utterance means: “I will message everyone with the options and a clear update.”

10. Mensen zullen de verandering beter accepteren als ze de reden en het tijdstip kennen.

    People will handle the change better if they know the reason and timing.

    Mensen

    people

    zullen

    will

    de verandering

    the change

    beter

    better

    accepteren

    accept

    als

    if

    ze

    they

    de reden

    the reason

    het tijdstip

    the timing

    kennen

    know

    More detail

    Mensen means “people” here. It is the plural form of mens (“person”). Dutch plural subjects generally take plural verb forms, which is why the next verb is zullen. zullen is the plural present form of zullen. With an infinitive, as in zullen ... accepteren, it commonly expresses a future event: “will accept.” The same auxiliary can have other uses, such as expressing willingness or a prediction, but the future reading is intended here. de verandering means “the change.” Verandering is a noun related to veranderen (“to change”), and it is a de-word. The article de is therefore the form used with this noun in the singular; its plural is also introduced by de. beter means “better” and is the comparative form of goed (“good”): goed → beter → best (“best”). Here it compares how well people accept the change with a less-good possible outcome. accepteren is the infinitive “to accept.” After the auxiliary zullen, the infinitive remains unchanged and appears at the end of the main clause: zullen ... accepteren. In this sentence, accepting the change corresponds to handling it better in the fixed translation. als introduces the condition “if.” A reusable pattern is als + a clause, followed by the result clause or placed after it. Here the conditional clause comes after the main clause. ze is the plural subject pronoun “they” in this sentence. It refers to the people mentioned by Mensen, as confirmed by the fixed translation. Dutch ze can also be an unstressed form for singular “she” in other contexts, so the intended number comes from the surrounding sentence here. de reden means “the reason.” Reden is a singular de-word. A useful contrast is reden for a reason or explanation, while oorzaak more specifically means a cause or source of an event; they are not interchangeable in every context. het tijdstip means “the timing” here, more literally “the time or point in time.” Tijdstip is a singular het-word, so it takes het, unlike de reden. It commonly identifies when something occurs, rather than how long it lasts. kennen means “to know” in the sense of being familiar with or knowing a person, place, or identifiable thing. In this sentence it is the finite present plural form used with ze; it happens to have the same form as the infinitive kennen: ze kennen. For knowing a fact or answer, Dutch commonly uses weten, as in Ze weten waarom (“They know why”). Together, Mensen zullen de verandering beter accepteren says “People will accept the change better.” als ze de reden en het tijdstip kennen adds the condition “if they know the reason and the timing.” Thus the whole utterance means: “People will handle the change better if they know the reason and timing.”