Checking a restaurant order | Learn Dutch in English

Sentence explanations

1. Kunnen we onze bestelling doornemen voordat het eten komt?

   Could we review our order before the food comes out?

   Kunnen we

   Could we

   onze

   our

   bestelling

   order

   doornemen

   review; go through

   voordat

   before

   eten

   food

   komt

   comes

   More detail

   Kunnen we combines the present-tense modal kunnen with the subject pronoun we. In this question, the inversion gives a polite possibility/request meaning, reflected by “Could we,” rather than simply asserting ability. Dutch commonly places a following infinitive after a modal: Kunnen we beginnen? means “Could we start?” onze means “our.” It is the possessive form used here with bestelling, a singular de-word; ons is used with a singular het-word, while onze is also used with plural nouns. The possessive identifies the order as belonging to the speaker’s group, without specifying how many people that group contains. bestelling is a noun meaning “order,” as for food or goods. Its useful related verb is bestellen, “to order,” while the noun’s plural is bestellingen. Example: De bestelling is klaar. — “The order is ready.” doornemen is an infinitive meaning “to review” or “to go through” something carefully. It is a separable verb: in a finite sentence, We nemen de bestelling door. means “We go through the order.” Here it follows the modal kunnen, so it remains in the infinitive form at the end of the main clause. voordat is a conjunction meaning “before.” It introduces the time clause voordat het eten komt; in this subordinate clause, the finite verb appears at the end. Example: Bel me voordat je vertrekt. — “Call me before you leave.” eten means “food” here. The preceding het marks this use as a noun phrase, het eten; eten can also be the infinitive “to eat” in other contexts, but that is not its role here. Example: Het eten is klaar. — “The food is ready.” komt is the present-tense third-person singular form of komen, “to come.” It appears at the end of the subordinate clause because of Dutch word order: het eten komt means “the food comes.” In the fixed translation, “comes out” is a contextual rendering of this phrase, not a different form of komen. Together, onze bestelling doornemen means “review our order,” and voordat het eten komt adds the time condition “before the food comes out.” The full inverted question asks whether the speakers can review their order before that happens: “Could we review our order before the food comes out?”

2. Wat wilt u precies bevestigen?

   What would you like to confirm?

   Wat

   what

   wilt u

   would you like

   precies

   exactly

   bevestigen

   confirm

   More detail

   Wat means “what” here: it asks for the thing or information being confirmed. It is a question word and does not identify the thing in advance. Compare wie (“who”) for a person and waar (“where”) for a place. wilt u expresses “would you like” in this sentence. The verb is willen, “to want”; wilt is its present-tense form with u, the formal or polite “you.” The form wilt is not the infinitive, and u is the subject here. For example: Wilt u koffie? — “Would you like coffee?” precies means “exactly” or “specifically.” It narrows the question, asking for the exact item or point rather than a general confirmation. bevestigen means “to confirm.” It is the infinitive, used after wilt u: Wilt u dat bevestigen? — “Would you like to confirm that?” The form bevestigen itself does not show the subject or tense here; wilt carries the finite verb information. Together, Wat wilt u precies bevestigen? means “What would you like to confirm?” The structure is wat + the finite verb and subject wilt u + the focusing adverb precies + the infinitive bevestigen. It is a polite question asking which specific matter the listener wants to confirm.

3. Ik heb om de milde versie gevraagd, niet om de pittige.

   I asked for the mild version, not the spicy one.

   Ik heb

   I have

   om … gevraagd

   ask for

   milde

   mild

   versie

   version

   niet om

   not for

   pittige

   spicy

   More detail

   Ik heb begins the Dutch perfect tense here. heb is the first-person singular present form of hebben (“to have”); together with the past participle gevraagd, it expresses the completed request. Example: Ik heb betaald. — “I paid” / “I have paid.” om and gevraagd belong to the reusable pattern om iets vragen (“to ask for something”). vragen is the base verb “to ask,” and gevraagd is its past participle. Dutch places the auxiliary heb near the subject and the participle later in this clause. Example: Ik heb om water gevraagd. — “I asked for water.” milde is the inflected form of the adjective mild, meaning “mild” here in the sense of a non-spicy version. After the definite article de and before the noun versie, the adjective takes the ending -e: de milde versie. versie means “version”; it is a de-word, as shown by de versie. niet om applies the negation to the second om-phrase: the speaker contrasts what was requested with what was not requested. The repeated om belongs to the “ask for” pattern; it is not part of niet itself. pittige is the adjective form of pittig, “spicy.” In de pittige, the noun is omitted because the contrasted version is understood from the sentence. Thus de pittige means “the spicy one” here; the word versie is understood, not repeated. Like milde, pittige has the -e ending in this definite phrase. Example: Ik kies de pittige. — “I choose the spicy one.” Together, Ik heb ... gevraagd says that the speaker made a completed request, om de milde versie identifies what was requested, and niet om de pittige contrasts it with the spicy version that was not requested. The whole utterance therefore means: “I asked for the mild version, not the spicy one.”

4. Laat me dat even met de keuken controleren.

   Let me check that with the kitchen.

   Laat me

   let me

   dat

   that

   even

   just

   met

   with

   de keuken

   the kitchen

   controleren

   check

   More detail

   Laat me combines the imperative laat (“let/allow”) with the object pronoun me (“me”). Together, it introduces a request for permission to do something: Laat me kijken. — “Let me look.” The following action is expressed with an infinitive, not with a finite verb. dat means “that” here and points to something already understood in the situation. It is a demonstrative pronoun in this use, so it stands on its own rather than modifying a noun. Dutch also has dit for “this”; the choice depends on the intended demonstrative distance or discourse context, not simply on the word’s position. even literally relates to “briefly,” but in this utterance it makes the request sound like a small, quick action: “just” or “for a moment.” For example, Wacht even. means “Just wait a moment.” It does not change the main action into a different tense. met is the preposition “with.” In met de keuken, it indicates who or what the checking is done with: “with the kitchen.” The preposition met can also introduce an accompanying person or thing, as in Ik ga met haar. — “I’m going with her.” de keuken means “the kitchen.” keuken is the noun “kitchen,” and de is the definite article used with this noun. The translation supports “the kitchen” as the intended party or department being consulted here; the sentence does not require us to identify a particular individual there. Dutch definite articles are not chosen from English article rules alone, so learn the noun together with its article: de keuken. controleren is the infinitive “to check.” In the construction Laat me ... controleren, it names the action that the speaker asks to be allowed to perform. The infinitive remains controleren after laat me; it is not changed to a present-tense form. For example, Laat me het antwoord controleren. means “Let me check the answer.” Putting the parts together, Laat me dat even met de keuken controleren. means “Let me check that with the kitchen.” The pattern is Laat me + object + adverb + met + person or group + infinitive: “Let me briefly check that with [someone or some group].” Here dat is the thing being checked, met de keuken identifies the party involved in checking it, and controleren supplies the requested action.

5. Het bijgerecht is waar ik me het meest zorgen over maak.

   The side dish is the part I am most worried about.

   bijgerecht

   side dish

   is … waar

   is what / is the part that

   ik

   I

   het meest

   most

   me … zorgen over … maak

   worry about

   More detail

   bijgerecht means “side dish” here. It is a Dutch noun formed from bij (“additional/accompanying”) and gerecht (“dish” or “course”). The definite article het in the sentence shows that this is a specific side dish; the noun itself is a het-word. is waar links the side dish to a relative clause. Literally, the clause identifies “what” or “the part that” the speaker is most concerned about: X is waar ... over ... can be reused as “X is what ... about.” Here, waar does not ask a question; it introduces the clause describing the relevant part. ik is the first-person singular pronoun, “I.” Dutch subject pronouns distinguish person and number: for example, ik is “I,” while wij is “we.” het meest expresses the highest degree, “the most.” meest is the superlative form used with a degree expression such as zorgen: veel (“much/many”), meer (“more”), het meest (“the most”). In this sentence it intensifies the speaker’s worry rather than modifying the side dish. me ... zorgen over ... maak comes from the construction zich zorgen maken over (“to worry about”). The observed form me is the first-person reflexive form corresponding to ik; maak is the first-person singular present form of maken (“to make”). The construction is discontinuous here because het meest appears between me and zorgen, and waar appears before the preposition over in the relative clause. A reusable example is: Ik maak me zorgen over de tijd. — “I am worried about the time.” In the full utterance, Het bijgerecht is the specific thing being identified, and is waar ik me het meest zorgen over maak says that it is what the speaker worries about most. Thus the sentence means: “The side dish is the part I am most worried about.”

6. Ik kan een duidelijke opmerking toevoegen, zodat de bestelling goed wordt klaargemaakt.

   I can add a clear note so the order is prepared correctly.

   Ik kan

   I can

   duidelijke

   clear

   opmerking

   note

   toevoegen

   add

   zodat

   so that

   bestelling

   order

   goed

   correctly

   wordt klaargemaakt

   is prepared

   More detail

   Ik kan expresses ability or possibility: “I can.” kan is the present-tense first-person singular form of kunnen; a modal verb is followed here by an infinitive. The infinitive is placed at the end of this main clause: Ik kan ... toevoegen. duidelijke means “clear” here. Its base form is duidelijk. In een duidelijke opmerking, the adjective has the -e form before this noun phrase. The adjective describes the note, not the ability expressed by kan. opmerking means “note” or “remark.” It is a singular de-word: de opmerking; a useful plural is opmerkingen. In this sentence it is the thing being added. toevoegen means “to add.” This is an infinitive, and it is the lexical verb governed by kan. Dutch also uses the separable form toevoegen in other constructions: Ik voeg een opmerking toe means “I add a note.” After a modal verb, the complete infinitive toevoegen remains at the end of the clause. zodat introduces the intended result: “so that.” It starts a subordinate clause, where the finite verb is placed toward the end. It connects adding the note with the preparation being correct. bestelling means “order.” It is singular here: de bestelling; the plural is bestellingen. In the subordinate clause, it is the subject of the passive construction, the thing that is prepared. goed means “correctly” in this sentence. It is an adverb modifying klaargemaakt, so it does not take the adjective ending used in duidelijke. The same form can also be an adjective, as in een goed plan (“a good plan”), but here it describes how the preparation is carried out. wordt klaargemaakt means “is prepared.” This is a present passive construction: wordt is the third-person singular present form of worden, and klaargemaakt is the past participle of klaarmaken (“to prepare”). The singular subject bestelling corresponds to wordt. Compare the active form Iemand maakt de bestelling klaar (“Someone prepares the order”) with the passive De bestelling wordt klaargemaakt (“The order is prepared”). Together, Ik kan een duidelijke opmerking toevoegen means “I can add a clear note.” zodat de bestelling goed wordt klaargemaakt adds the intended result, “so that the order is prepared correctly.” The complete utterance therefore means: “I can add a clear note so the order is prepared correctly.”

7. Dat helpt. We willen alleen dat de maaltijd overeenkomt met onze bestelling.

   That helps. We just want the meal to match our order.

   Dat

   That

   helpt

   helps

   We

   we

   willen

   want

   alleen

   only; just

   maaltijd

   meal

   overeenkomt

   matches

   onze

   our

   bestelling

   order

   More detail

   Dat means “that” here and functions as the subject of the first sentence. It is a demonstrative pronoun, so it can refer to something already understood from the situation; the fixed translation supports the meaning “that” without identifying a more specific noun. A useful contrast is dit “this” and dat “that,” but the choice depends on the demonstrative system and context, not simply on the nearest noun. helpt is the present-tense form of helpen, “to help,” with a third-person singular subject: dat helpt = “that helps.” The verb changes with the subject: ik help “I help,” while dat helpt has the -t form. This sentence uses the verb intransitively; the thing that helps is the subject. We is the unstressed form of the first-person plural pronoun, “we.” It refers to the speaker together with at least one other person, as supported by the fixed translation. Dutch also has stressed wij, but we is the ordinary unstressed form in this position. willen is the present-tense form of willen, “to want,” with the first-person plural subject we: we willen = “we want.” A reusable pattern is we willen + noun or we willen dat + clause. Here the dat after alleen introduces the clause describing what is wanted; it is different from the demonstrative pronoun Dat at the beginning. alleen means “only” here, with the natural conversational meaning “just.” It limits the speakers’ request: they want this particular result, without adding a stronger requirement in the utterance. For example, We willen alleen water. means “We only want water.” maaltijd means “meal.” Its usual singular form is de maaltijd, and its plural is maaltijden. In this sentence it is the subject of the clause after dat: the meal is the thing that is to correspond to the order. overeenkomt comes from overeenkomen, “to correspond, match, or agree.” In de maaltijd overeenkomt, it is present tense with the third-person singular subject de maaltijd; the form is also placed at the end of this subordinate clause. The verb commonly appears with met: iets komt overeen met iets means “something matches or corresponds to something.” Example: De kleur komt overeen met de foto. — “The color matches the photo.” onze means “our” and is a possessive determiner before bestelling. It agrees with the noun phrase in the Dutch determiner pattern: onze is used with a singular de-word and with plural nouns, while ons is used with a singular het-word. Thus onze bestelling is “our order”; the possessive identifies the order as belonging to the speaker’s group. bestelling means “order,” here an order for the meal. Its singular form is de bestelling; its plural is bestellingen. The phrase overeenkomen met onze bestelling means “match our order,” with met marking what the meal is compared or made to correspond with. Together, We willen alleen dat ... means “We just want ... to ...”: we willen expresses the speakers’ desire, alleen narrows it to this request, and dat introduces the desired clause. In dat de maaltijd overeenkomt met onze bestelling, de maaltijd is the subject, overeenkomt is the verb, and met onze bestelling specifies what it must match. The whole utterance is therefore: “That helps. We just want the meal to match our order.”

8. Ik begrijp het. Het is beter om dit te controleren voordat het eten aankomt.

   I understand. It is better to check before the food arrives.

   begrijp

   understand

   beter

   better

   dit

   this

   controleren

   check; inspect

   voordat

   before

   eten

   food; eating

   aankomt

   arrives

   More detail

   begrijp is the present-tense first-person singular form of begrijpen (“to understand”). With ik, it means “I understand”: ik begrijp .... The following het is the object pronoun “it”; this sentence does not specify its exact referent. beter is the comparative form of goed: goed (“good”) → beter (“better”) → best (“best”). Here it evaluates the option introduced by om ... te controleren, so Het is beter om ... means “It is better to ...”. dit is the demonstrative pronoun “this”. Its neuter singular form is used here; the sentence identifies something as “this” without naming precisely what it is. In a noun phrase, Dutch contrasts dit with deze: dit boek (“this book”), but deze tafel (“this table”). controleren is the infinitive of controleren, “to check” or “to inspect”. The pattern om ... te + infinitive presents an action being evaluated: Het is goed om te oefenen means “It is good to practise.” In the fixed sentence, dit te controleren means “to check this”; te belongs to the infinitive construction, while dit is the object of controleren. voordat is a subordinating conjunction meaning “before”. It introduces an event that must happen later than the action described in the main clause. In a Dutch subordinate clause introduced by voordat, the finite verb is placed at the end: voordat het eten aankomt (“before the food arrives”). eten here is the noun “food”, as confirmed by the translation and by its role as the subject of aankomt. With the article, het eten means “the food”. The same form can also be used for the activity “eating” in other contexts, so the surrounding grammar and meaning determine the interpretation. aankomt is the third-person singular present form of aankomen, “to arrive”. Its subject here is het eten, which is grammatically singular. Aankomen is a separable verb: in a main clause one can write Het eten komt aan (“The food arrives”), but after voordat the parts occur together at the end: voordat het eten aankomt. Together, Ik begrijp het means “I understand.” Het is beter om dit te controleren means “It is better to check this.” The final clause, voordat het eten aankomt, adds the time relation “before the food arrives”. Thus the complete utterance is: “I understand. It is better to check this before the food arrives.”

9. Kunt u de bestelling bevestigen voordat het eten wordt geserveerd?

   Could you confirm the order before the food is served?

   Kunt u

   Could you

   bestelling

   order

   bevestigen

   confirm

   voordat

   before

   eten

   food

   wordt geserveerd

   is served

   More detail

   Kunt u is a polite, formal way to ask whether someone can do something. kunt is the present-tense form of kunnen used with u; the infinitive that follows it names the action: Kunt u bevestigen...? means “Could you confirm...?” This wording is a request, not a claim that the person has already confirmed anything. bestelling means “order,” especially an order for goods or food. It is a noun; its plural is bestellingen. For example: Ik controleer de bestelling. — “I am checking the order.” bevestigen means “to confirm.” It is the infinitive, used here after kunt. The same infinitive can be reused after other modal forms, for example: U moet de bestelling bevestigen. — “You must confirm the order.” voordat means “before” and introduces an event that must happen later than the reference point in the sentence. A clause after voordat has its own subject and verb: voordat het eten aankomt means “before the food arrives.” eten means “food” here. Dutch also uses eten as a verb meaning “to eat,” but in this sentence it is a noun because it is preceded by het: het eten — “the food.” wordt geserveerd means “is served.” This is a present-tense passive construction: wordt, from worden, marks the passive, and geserveerd is the past participle of serveren. The food is presented as the thing receiving the action; the person serving it is not stated. Compare the active form Iemand serveert het eten. — “Someone serves the food.” Together, Kunt u de bestelling bevestigen? asks politely for confirmation of the order. voordat het eten wordt geserveerd adds the time condition “before the food is served.” The complete utterance therefore means: “Could you confirm the order before the food is served?”

10. Ik controleer het nu en laat u weten of er iets moet worden aangepast.

    Let me check now and tell you if anything needs changing.

    Ik

    I

    controleer

    check

    nu

    now

    laat u weten

    let you know

    iets

    anything

    moet worden aangepast

    needs changing

    More detail

    Ik means “I” here and is the first-person singular subject pronoun. Dutch uses ik for the speaker; the verb form after it normally shows first-person singular as well. controleer is the present-tense form of controleren, “to check.” With ik, the present form is ik controleer. Example: Ik controleer de gegevens. — “I check the details.” nu means “now.” It places the checking in the present situation. Example: Ik doe het nu. — “I am doing it now.” laat u weten is a reusable construction meaning “let you know” or “inform you.” Its parts are laat from laten (“let” or “have”), u (“you,” the formal object form here), and weten (“know”). In this construction, u is the person who receives the information, while weten remains an infinitive. Example: Ik laat u morgen weten. — “I will let you know tomorrow.” iets means “something” or, in this negative-style/conditional context, “anything.” It is an indefinite pronoun, so it does not name a particular thing. Example: Als ik iets zie, zeg ik het. — “If I see something, I will say so.” moet worden aangepast expresses “needs changing” through a modal passive construction. moet is the singular present form of moeten (“must/need to”), agreeing here with singular iets; worden is the infinitive of worden (“become/be”), used to form the passive; and aangepast is the past participle of aanpassen (“to adjust/change”). The passive focuses on the thing that requires a change rather than naming who will make it. Example: Het formulier moet worden aangepast. — “The form needs to be changed.” Together, Ik controleer het nu means “I am checking it now.” The following en joins a second action: laat u weten means “let you know,” and of er iets moet worden aangepast means “whether anything needs changing.” The whole utterance is therefore: “Let me check now and tell you if anything needs changing.”