Planning a Safe Hike | Learn Dutch in English

Sentence explanations

1. Het bergpad ziet er mooi uit, maar het is misschien te moeilijk voor beginners.

   The mountain trail looks beautiful, but it may be too difficult for beginners.

   bergpad

   mountain trail

   ziet er … uit

   looks ...

   mooi

   beautiful

   maar

   but

   misschien

   perhaps

   moeilijk

   difficult

   beginners

   beginners

   More detail

   bergpad means “mountain trail” here. It is a Dutch compound noun: berg means “mountain” and pad means “path/trail”. The plural is bergpaden; the supplied form is singular. ziet er ... uit is the Dutch pattern meaning “looks/seems ...”. The verb is eruitzien, commonly written as the separated parts ziet er ... uit in a finite clause. ziet is the present-tense form for zien with a singular subject. Do not use bare zien for this meaning: er ... uitzien is the pattern that describes appearance. Example: De kamer ziet er gezellig uit. — “The room looks cozy.” mooi means “beautiful” or “nice” in this sentence. After er ... uit, it describes how the trail appears. The form mooi is also used before a noun in contexts such as een mooi pad — “a beautiful path.” maar connects two contrasting statements and means “but”. It introduces the qualification that follows the positive appearance. misschien means “perhaps” or “maybe”. It marks the following possibility rather than stating it as certain. Example: Misschien regent het morgen. — “Maybe it will rain tomorrow.” moeilijk means “difficult”. In te moeilijk, the word te makes the degree excessive for the relevant purpose: “too difficult”. The comparative is moeilijker — “more difficult”; the superlative is het moeilijkst — “the most difficult”. Example: Deze route is moeilijker. — “This route is more difficult.” beginners means “beginners” and is the plural of beginner. The phrase voor beginners identifies the group in relation to whom the trail may be too difficult; voor here means “for”. Putting the parts together: Het bergpad ziet er mooi uit says “The mountain trail looks beautiful.” maar introduces a contrast, and het is misschien te moeilijk voor beginners says that it may be too difficult for beginners. The complete meaning is: “The mountain trail looks beautiful, but it may be too difficult for beginners.”

2. Laten we de afstand, het hoogteverschil en de weersverwachting controleren voordat we beslissen.

   Let's check the distance, elevation, and weather forecast before we decide.

   Laten we

   let’s

   de afstand

   the distance

   het hoogteverschil

   the elevation difference

   de weersverwachting

   the weather forecast

   controleren

   check

   voordat

   before

   beslissen

   decide

   More detail

   Laten we is a reusable Dutch hortative construction for making a suggestion involving the speaker and others: “let’s …”. Here, laten we is a fixed first-person-plural suggestion pattern, not simply an ordinary present-tense statement about letting. The following verb remains in the infinitive. Example: Laten we gaan. — “Let’s go.” de afstand means “the distance.” Afstand is a common-gender noun, so it takes the definite article de. The plural is afstanden. Example: De afstand is groot. — “The distance is large.” het hoogteverschil means “the elevation difference.” It is a compound noun: hoogte refers to height or elevation, and verschil means difference, but the complete compound is the useful unit here. It takes het; its plural is hoogteverschillen. Example: Het hoogteverschil is aanzienlijk. — “The elevation difference is considerable.” de weersverwachting means “the weather forecast.” It is a common-gender noun with de; the plural is weersverwachtingen. Example: Ik bekijk de weersverwachting. — “I am checking the weather forecast.” controleren is the infinitive “to check” or “to verify.” In this sentence it follows Laten we, forming the suggestion “let’s check.” Its present-tense forms include ik controleer — “I check” and we controleren — “we check.” Example: Controleer de kaart. — “Check the map.” voordat introduces a clause meaning “before.” It joins the checking action to the later decision. In the clause after voordat, the finite verb comes at the end: voordat we beslissen — “before we decide.” Example: Was je handen voordat je eet. — “Wash your hands before you eat.” beslissen is the infinitive “to decide.” In voordat we beslissen, we is the subject and beslissen is the finite verb in the subordinate clause, even though it has the same visible form as the infinitive. With other subjects, the present forms include ik beslis — “I decide” and zij beslissen — “they decide.” Example: We beslissen morgen. — “We will decide tomorrow.” Together, Laten we de afstand, het hoogteverschil en de weersverwachting controleren means “Let’s check the distance, elevation difference, and weather forecast.” The three noun phrases are explicitly coordinated by en (“and”), and controleren applies to all three. voordat we beslissen adds the time condition “before we decide,” yielding the complete meaning: “Let’s check the distance, elevation, and weather forecast before we decide.”

3. Het is een behoorlijk lange route.

   It is a fairly long route.

   Het is

   It is

   behoorlijk

   fairly

   lange

   long

   route

   route

   More detail

   Het is is the Dutch pattern for “it is” when describing or identifying something. Het is a third-person singular pronoun; its specific referent is supplied by the situation rather than by the form itself. Is is the present-tense form of zijn (“to be”) for singular subjects: ik ben, jij bent, hij/zij/het is. Example: Het is koud. — “It is cold.” behoorlijk modifies the adjective that follows it here and raises its degree: “fairly” or “rather.” In this sentence it is a degree adverb, not the adjective meaning “proper” or “well-behaved.” Example: De wandeling is behoorlijk zwaar. — “The walk is fairly strenuous.” lange means “long” here. The basic adjective is lang; the form lange is used before this noun in the noun phrase een behoorlijk lange route. Dutch attributive adjectives commonly take -e before a singular common-gender noun such as de route; the article een does not itself assert a numerical count here. Compare: een lange route — “a long route.” route is a noun meaning “route” or “course.” Its usual article is de: de route. Example: We volgen de route. — “We follow the route.” Together, een behoorlijk lange route means “a fairly long route”: een introduces the route as a route being described, behoorlijk grades lange, and lange describes route. The full pattern Het is + een + degree adverb + adjective + noun produces the meaning “It is a fairly long route.”

4. De weersverwachting voorspelt lichte regen in de middag.

   The forecast says light rain in the afternoon.

   weersverwachting

   forecast

   voorspelt

   predicts; says

   lichte

   light

   regen

   rain

   in de middag

   in the afternoon

   More detail

   weersverwachting means “weather forecast.” It is a compound noun: weer means “weather” and verwachting means “expectation” or “forecast.” The form in the sentence is singular; a plural example is weersverwachtingen — “weather forecasts.” voorspelt means “predicts” or, in this context, “forecasts/says.” It is the present-tense third-person singular form of voorspellen (“to predict”): ik voorspel, de weersverwachting voorspelt. The ending -t here agrees with the singular subject de weersverwachting. lichte means “light” in the sense of low intensity. Its base form is licht; before this noun it has the attributive form lichte. For example, lichte wind means “light wind.” This is different from zware regen, “heavy rain.” regen means “rain.” It is commonly used as an uncountable substance noun, as in Er valt regen — “Rain is falling.” A related but different word is regenbui, “rain shower,” which refers to an individual shower. in de middag means “in the afternoon.” in introduces the time period, and de middag is the noun phrase “the afternoon.” Dutch also commonly uses in de ochtend for “in the morning” and in de avond for “in the evening.” Together, De weersverwachting is the subject, voorspelt says what that subject predicts, lichte regen is the predicted weather, and in de middag specifies when it is expected. The complete meaning is: “The forecast says light rain in the afternoon.”

5. Dan moeten we vroeg vertrekken en een plan B hebben.

   Then we need an early start and a backup plan.

   Dan

   then

   moeten we

   we need to

   vroeg

   early

   vertrekken

   leave

   plan

   plan

   B

   backup option

   More detail

   Dan means “then” here: it links the needed actions to the situation just mentioned. It commonly marks a consequence or next step. Example: Dan gaan we naar huis. — “Then we go home.” moeten we expresses necessity: “we need to” or “we must.” moeten is the infinitive/base form; we is the subject, and Dutch places the finite verb before the subject in this main-clause pattern: moeten we. The form moeten is plural here because the subject is we; with a singular subject, the form is moet: Hij moet vertrekken. — “He has to leave.” vroeg means “early” and describes when the departure should happen. It can also be used as the opposite of laat (“late”): We vertrekken vroeg, niet laat. — “We leave early, not late.” In this sentence it is an adverb modifying vertrekken, rather than a noun. vertrekken is the infinitive “to leave” or “to depart.” After moeten, Dutch uses the infinitive: We moeten vertrekken. — “We need to leave.” The same verb can be used without moeten, for example De trein vertrekt om acht uur. — “The train leaves at eight.” een plan B means “a plan B,” namely a backup plan or alternative plan. plan is the noun; its plural is plannen. The letter B labels the alternative, so plan B is a reusable pattern for a fallback option: We hebben een plan B nodig. — “We need a backup plan.” The article een marks an indefinite noun phrase; it does not by itself state a numerical count. Together, Dan moeten we vroeg vertrekken en een plan B hebben. means: “Then we need an early start and a backup plan.” The structure is moeten we + two coordinated infinitive phrases: vroeg vertrekken (“leave early”) and een plan B hebben (“have a backup plan”). The verb hebben is understood as the infinitive after moeten, just as vertrekken is.

6. Er is een kortere route die teruggaat naar hetzelfde station.

   There is a shorter route that returns to the same station.

   Er is

   there is

   kortere

   shorter

   route

   route

   teruggaat

   returns

   hetzelfde

   same

   station

   station

   More detail

   Er is introduces existence or presence: “there is.” Here er is an existential subject-like element, not a reference to a particular person or thing, and is is the singular present form of zijn (“to be”). A useful contrast is Er zijn twee routes (“There are two routes”), where zijn agrees with the plural noun phrase. kortere means “shorter” here. It is the comparative form of kort (“short”): kort → korter (“shorter”) → het kortst (“the shortest”). The comparative presents the route as shorter than a comparison route or standard; it does not itself identify that comparison. route is a noun meaning “route” or “way.” In this sentence it is the singular thing whose existence is introduced by Er is. For example, We kiezen een route means “We choose a route.” The relative word die links route to the following description. In die teruggaat, it refers back to the route, and the relative clause says what that route does. teruggaat means “returns” or “goes back” in this sentence. Its base verb is the separable verb teruggaan (“to return/go back”). The observed form is the present-tense third-person singular form: in a main clause, the parts are commonly separated as De route gaat terug (“The route goes back”), while at the end of this relative clause they appear together as teruggaat. hetzelfde means “the same.” It is the form used with a singular het-word; station is such a noun, so the phrase is hetzelfde station. With a singular common-gender noun, the corresponding form is dezelfde, as in the example dezelfde route (“the same route”). station means “station” and is singular here. The preposition naar introduces the destination or direction, so naar hetzelfde station means “to the same station.” Together, Er is een kortere route says “There is a shorter route.” The relative clause die teruggaat naar hetzelfde station adds that this route returns to the same station. The complete meaning is: “There is a shorter route that returns to the same station.”

7. Dat klinkt veiliger als het pad glad wordt.

   That sounds safer if the trail conditions become slippery.

   Dat

   That

   klinkt

   sounds

   veiliger

   safer

   als

   if; when

   pad

   trail; path

   glad

   slippery; smooth

   wordt

   becomes; gets

   More detail

   Dat means “that” here and functions as the subject of the main clause. In Dutch, dat can refer back to something already mentioned or understood; the supplied translation supports the reading “that” without identifying a more specific noun. klinkt is the third-person singular present form of klinken, “to sound.” The present form is ik klink, jij/u klinkt, hij/zij/het klinkt; the -t marks this form, not the preceding Dat. Dutch klinken can describe how something sounds or seems based on what is heard. Example: Dat klinkt goed. — “That sounds good.” veiliger is the comparative form of veilig, “safe.” The basic comparison is veilig — veiliger — het veiligst: “safe” — “safer” — “safest.” Here it compares the implied situation with another option, rather than stating that it is absolutely the safest possibility. als introduces the condition “if” in this sentence. It can also mean “when” when the speaker presents something as expected or recurring, but the fixed translation supports the conditional reading here. A reusable pattern is X is ... als Y ... — “X is ... if Y ...”. het pad means “the trail” or “the path.” Pad is a neuter Dutch noun, which is why it appears with the definite article het. The article identifies a particular trail in this context; it does not itself express a numerical quantity. Example: Het pad is smal. — “The trail is narrow.” glad describes a surface as slippery or smooth. With a path, the relevant meaning is “slippery,” not merely visually smooth. Example: De vloer is glad. — “The floor is slippery.” wordt is the third-person singular present form of worden, “to become” or “to get.” The form is worden with ik word and jij/hij/zij/het wordt; the -t in wordt belongs to the verb itself. In het pad wordt glad, wordt marks a change into a new state: the trail becomes slippery. This differs from is glad, which simply describes the state as it is. Together, Dat klinkt veiliger means “That sounds safer.” The conditional clause als het pad glad wordt adds the condition “if the trail becomes slippery.” In the fixed utterance, the speaker is judging the proposed option as safer under that trail condition: “That sounds safer if the trail conditions become slippery.”

8. Zullen we iedereen vertellen dat ze geschikte schoenen en water moeten meenemen?

   Should we tell everyone to bring proper shoes and water?

   Zullen we

   Shall we?

   iedereen

   everyone

   vertellen

   tell

   dat ze

   that they

   geschikte

   suitable; proper

   schoenen

   shoes

   water

   water

   moeten

   must; should

   meenemen

   bring; take along

   More detail

   Zullen we combines the present form zullen with we in an inverted question. Here it proposes a joint action: “Shall we…?” The same pattern is reusable for suggestions, for example: Zullen we vertrekken? — “Shall we leave?” iedereen means “everyone” and refers here to the people who should receive the information. It is grammatically singular in Dutch, even though it refers to all people together. That matters for forms that agree with it, but the sentence does not use a separate agreement marker on this word. vertellen is the infinitive “to tell”. After the modal zullen, the lexical verb remains in the infinitive and appears later in the main clause. A useful pattern is iemand vertellen dat ... — “tell someone that ...”. dat ze introduces the content of the telling: dat means “that”, and ze is the unstressed pronoun “they” here. In the fixed translation, ze refers to the people represented by “everyone”, so the instruction is for those people to bring the items. Ze can also mean “she” in other contexts, but that is not the reading supported here. geschikte means “suitable” or “proper” in this sentence. Its base form is geschikt. Before a plural noun, the attributive adjective has the form geschikte, as in geschikte schoenen — “suitable shoes”. The ending here is the adjective’s form before the plural noun; it is not part of the noun’s plural formation. schoenen means “shoes”. It is the plural of schoen — “shoe”. The plural form indicates more than one shoe; it does not by itself mean that the shoes are merely general rather than specified. water means “water”. It is a mass noun here, so the sentence does not state a particular number of units. For example, Neem water mee. means “Bring water.” moeten is the modal verb “must” or, as translated here, “should”. It expresses the requirement that the people bring the items. Its base form is moeten; common present forms include ik moet — “I must” and wij moeten — “we must”. The plural subject ze in the subordinate clause goes with moeten. meenemen is the infinitive “to bring” or “to take along”. It is a separable verb built from mee and nemen, but the infinitive is written as one word. With a modal, it stays in the infinitive at the end of the clause: Ze moeten water meenemen. — “They must bring water.” Together, Zullen we iedereen vertellen asks whether the speakers should tell everyone, and dat ze geschikte schoenen en water moeten meenemen gives the content of that message: that they should bring proper shoes and water. The complete meaning is: “Should we tell everyone to bring proper shoes and water?”

9. Ze moeten beide meenemen.

   They should bring both.

   Ze moeten

   they should

   beide

   both

   meenemen

   bring along

   More detail

   Ze moeten means “they should/must” here. moeten is the present-tense modal verb moeten; with ze, it expresses what those people are required or expected to do. The following verb stays in the infinitive and is placed at the end of this short clause. Compare: Ze moeten wachten. — “They must wait.” beide means “both” and refers to two understood items. In the bounded context, those are compatible with the two things mentioned earlier: suitable shoes and water. Beide identifies the pair without repeating their nouns. It can also be used with a noun, as in beide deuren — “both doors.” meenemen means “to bring along” or “to take with you.” It is an infinitive and is the base form used after the modal moeten. The verb is separable in some finite constructions: Ze nemen beide mee. — “They bring both along.” In the fixed sentence, the infinitive remains together at the end as meenemen. Together, Ze moeten beide meenemen means “They should bring both.” The modal moeten expresses the obligation or expectation, beide marks the two understood items, and meenemen states the action. The utterance does not repeat the items because they are already understood from the context.

10. We moeten duidelijk maken dat we omkeren als dat nodig is.

    We should make it clear that we will turn back if needed.

    We moeten

    we should / need to

    duidelijk maken

    make clear

    omkeren

    turn back

    als dat nodig is

    if needed

    More detail

    We moeten contains moeten, the present-tense modal verb for “must,” “have to,” or, in a suitable context, “should.” We is its first-person plural subject, so the form is moeten; with a singular subject, the present form is moet. A modal verb is followed by an infinitive: We moeten wachten means “We must/should wait.” Here, moeten applies to the whole action duidelijk maken. duidelijk maken is the reusable verb construction “make clear.” Maken is the infinitive “make,” and duidelijk describes the resulting clarity. In Dutch, an adjective can combine with maken to express causing something to have that quality: iets duidelijk maken means “make something clear.” Example: Ik wil het plan duidelijk maken. — “I want to make the plan clear.” omkeren is the infinitive “turn back” or “reverse direction.” Its meaning here is movement back in the direction from which someone came, as confirmed by the fixed translation. Dutch also uses the present form keer om for “I turn back,” with the separable verb split in a main clause; after a modal, the unsplit infinitive remains: We moeten omkeren. — “We have to turn back.” als dat nodig is means “if that is necessary,” or more naturally here, “if needed.” Als introduces a condition. Nodig means “necessary/needed,” and is is the present form of zijn (“be”) with the singular subject dat. The pronoun dat has the neuter singular form; in this fixed conditional, the translation supports the concise meaning “if needed” without identifying a more specific noun as its referent. Example: We stoppen als dat nodig is. — “We will stop if necessary.” Together, We moeten duidelijk maken says “We should/must make clear,” and dat we omkeren als dat nodig is specifies what should be made clear: “that we will turn back if needed.” Dutch uses the present form omkeren here inside the clause after dat; in this context it can express the planned or expected future action conveyed by the English translation. The complete utterance therefore means: “We should make it clear that we will turn back if needed.”

11. Ik stuur vanavond de routekaart en de tijd waarop we afspreken.

    I will share the route map and meeting time tonight.

    stuur

    send

    vanavond

    tonight

    routekaart

    route map

    tijd

    time

    waarop

    at which; when

    afspreken

    meet; arrange to meet

    More detail

    stuur is the first-person singular present form of sturen, “to send.” In this sentence, with vanavond and the fixed translation, it refers to an action planned for tonight: “I will send/share.” The present form can express a scheduled or intended future action when a future-time expression makes the timing clear. Example: Ik stuur het morgen. — “I will send it tomorrow.” vanavond is the time adverb “tonight,” referring to this evening. It specifies when the sending will happen; it is not part of the meaning of stuur itself. routekaart is a compound noun meaning “route map.” Dutch commonly combines nouns into one word, and the first part specifies the type or purpose of the second part. Here routekaart is preceded by de, so the phrase is de routekaart. tijd means “time.” In this sentence it is the time connected with the meeting, not a duration or a general reference to a clock reading. The noun appears as de tijd; Dutch nouns have a fixed article pattern that must be learned with the noun. waarop is a relative adverb meaning “at which” or, with a time expression, “when.” It links de tijd to the clause that specifies it: de tijd waarop ... — “the time when ...”. For time, waarop is a compact alternative to a longer relative expression such as “at which.” afspreken is the verb “to meet” or “to arrange to meet.” In waarop we afspreken, it is used with we in the present tense; for this verb, the plural form with we is afspreken, which is also the dictionary form. Here the intended sense is meeting, as shown by the fixed translation. Example: We spreken morgen af. — “We are meeting tomorrow.” In that independent main clause, the separable verb appears as spreken ... af; in the subordinate clause after waarop, it appears together as afspreken: waarop we afspreken. Together, de routekaart en de tijd waarop we afspreken means “the route map and the time when we are meeting.” The conjunction en joins these two things as the objects of stuur. With vanavond, the complete utterance means: “I will share the route map and the meeting time tonight.”

12. Dat zou iedereen moeten helpen zich voor te bereiden en te beslissen of ze mee kunnen.

    That should help everyone prepare and decide if they can join.

    Dat

    That

    zou … moeten

    should

    iedereen

    everyone

    helpen

    help

    zich voor te bereiden

    to prepare oneself

    te beslissen

    to decide

    of

    if / whether

    ze

    they

    mee kunnen

    can join

    More detail

    Dat means “that” here and points back to something already mentioned. Its form does not by itself identify exactly which earlier item is meant. zou moeten gives the intended meaning “should.” zou is a form of zullen; together with moeten it expresses an expected or appropriate result here, rather than simply placing the event in the past. Moeten is the infinitive “to have to / must.” A useful pattern is zou moeten + infinitive: “should …”. Iedereen means “everyone.” It is a singular word grammatically, even though it refers to all members of a group. For example, Iedereen moet wachten means “Everyone has to wait.” Helpen is the infinitive “to help.” After it, Dutch can use a person or group as the object and then an infinitive phrase describing what that person or group is helped to do: Ik help haar koken means “I help her cook.” Zich voor te bereiden means “to prepare oneself.” Zich is the reflexive pronoun used when the person preparing is the same person being referred to. Voorbereiden is a separable verb: in this te-infinitive, te comes between voor and bereiden, producing voor te bereiden. The phrase can be reused with another subject, such as Hij probeert zich voor te bereiden — “He tries to prepare himself.” Te beslissen means “to decide.” It is another te-infinitive coordinated with zich voor te bereiden, so the sentence describes two things that everyone is helped to do: prepare and decide. Beslissen of ... is the pattern “decide whether/if …”. Of introduces the embedded question “whether” or “if.” In this sentence it introduces the condition being considered, not a choice between two nouns. Ze is the subject pronoun translated here as “they.” Dutch ze can represent a plural “they” and, in appropriate contexts, an unstressed singular feminine “she”; the fixed translation presents the people under discussion as “they,” without this form alone specifying more about them. Mee kunnen means “can join” or “can come along.” Mee adds the idea of participating or going along, while kunnen is the infinitive “to be able to / can.” In the embedded clause, the modal infinitive appears at the end: of ze mee kunnen — “if they can join.” Compare Ze kunnen mee — “They can join,” in a main clause. Together, Dat zou iedereen moeten helpen means “That should help everyone.” The following coordinated infinitives specify the help: zich voor te bereiden en te beslissen means “to prepare themselves and decide.” Finally, of ze mee kunnen supplies the question they are to decide: “if they can join.” The complete meaning is: “That should help everyone prepare and decide if they can join.”