Checking an Apartment Before a Long Trip | Learn Dutch in English

Sentence explanations

1. We zijn enkele dagen weg, dus laten we het appartement nog eens goed controleren.

   We'll be away for several days, so let's double-check the apartment.

   We zijn

   we are

   enkele

   several

   dagen

   days

   weg

   away

   dus

   so

   laten we

   let’s

   appartement

   apartment

   nog eens

   again

   goed

   thoroughly

   controleren

   check

   More detail

   We zijn means “we are.” zijn is the present-tense form of zijn (“to be”) used with we; the same verb has other present forms, such as ik ben (“I am”) and wij zijn (“we are”). Here it forms the state expression weg zijn, “to be away.” enkele means “several” in this sentence. It is placed before a plural noun: enkele dagen = “several days.” It indicates an unspecified number greater than one here; it is not the Dutch indefinite article. dagen means “days.” Its singular base form is dag (“day”), and its plural is dagen. The plural ending is part of dagen, not of enkele. weg means “away” here. With zijn, it describes the group’s state or location relative to the relevant place: We zijn weg = “We are away.” In another context, weg can also refer to a road or path, so the surrounding construction determines the meaning. dus means “so” or “therefore.” It links the first statement to the proposed action: because the speakers will be away for several days, they propose checking the apartment carefully beforehand. laten we is the reusable Dutch “let’s” construction. laten is the infinitive “to let,” and we is the subject; in laten we + infinitive, the construction proposes a shared action. For example: Laten we beginnen. — “Let’s begin.” appartement means “apartment.” It is a noun and normally takes the neuter definite article het: het appartement. In this sentence it is the object being checked. nog eens means “again” or “once more.” nog contributes the idea of “still/another,” while eens here helps express an additional occasion; together they form a common compact expression meaning “again.” goed means “well” here, functioning as an adverb modifying controleren. In this context, “well” has the practical sense “thoroughly” or “carefully,” not the adjective “good” describing the apartment. The adjective goed can also appear with a noun, as in een goed plan (“a good plan”). controleren means “to check” or “to inspect.” It is an infinitive, and it follows laten we: laten we ... controleren = “let’s check ...”. A useful example is Controleer de deur. — “Check the door.” Together, We zijn enkele dagen weg says “We’ll be away for several days,” with the present form zijn describing the planned or relevant upcoming state in the fixed translation. dus then introduces the consequence or proposal. laten we het appartement nog eens goed controleren means “let’s check the apartment thoroughly once more”: het appartement is the object, nog eens adds repetition, and goed specifies that the checking should be thorough. The complete utterance is therefore: “We’ll be away for several days, so let’s double-check the apartment.”

2. Ik heb de kleine apparaten uit het stopcontact gehaald en het fornuis uitgezet.

   I unplugged the small appliances and turned off the stove.

   Ik heb

   I have / I’ve

   kleine

   small

   apparaten

   appliances

   uit het stopcontact

   from the socket

   gehaald

   taken out

   fornuis

   stove

   uitgezet

   turned off

   More detail

   Ik heb introduces a completed action in the Dutch perfect: hebben is the present-tense auxiliary for “I,” and the lexical action appears later as a past participle. This construction commonly corresponds to “I have …” or, for a completed past event, “I …-ed.” Example: Ik heb de deur gesloten. — “I closed the door.” kleine means “small” here. Its base form is klein; before the plural noun apparaten, it has the form kleine. The adjective describes the appliances, not the action. Example: kleine kamers — “small rooms.” apparaten is the plural of apparaat, “appliance” or “device.” The plural ending is -en. In this sentence it is the direct object of the first action: the speaker removed the small appliances from the socket. Example: De apparaten werken. — “The appliances work.” uit het stopcontact expresses movement or removal from an electrical socket: uit means “out of/from,” and het stopcontact means “the socket.” The article het belongs to the noun phrase het stopcontact; it does not by itself assert a quantity. Example: Haal de stekker uit het stopcontact. — “Take the plug out of the socket.” gehaald is the past participle of halen, “to take” or “to fetch.” With uit in uit het stopcontact gehaald, it describes taking the appliances out of the socket. In the perfect, the auxiliary heb appears near the beginning and the participle comes later. Example: Ik heb het boek gehaald. — “I got the book.” fornuis means “stove.” In the fixed sentence, it is the direct object of the second action, the thing that was turned off. Example: Het fornuis is schoon. — “The stove is clean.” uitgezet is the past participle of the separable verb uitzetten, “to turn off” in this context. The prefix uit- contributes the idea of switching something off; the form gezet is related to zetten, “to put” or “to set.” In the perfect, the combined participle uitgezet appears at the end of its clause. Example: Ik heb het licht uitgezet. — “I turned off the light.” Together, Ik heb ... gehaald gives the first completed action: “I took the small appliances out of the socket.” The conjunction en links it to the second completed action, het fornuis uitgezet: “I turned off the stove.” The full utterance therefore means: “I unplugged the small appliances and turned off the stove.”

3. Zijn de balkondeur en de ramen van de slaapkamer goed afgesloten?

   Are the balcony door and bedroom windows secure?

   Zijn

   are

   de balkondeur

   the balcony door

   ramen

   windows

   slaapkamer

   bedroom

   goed

   well

   afgesloten

   secured

   More detail

   Zijn is the present-tense form of zijn used with a plural subject. In a Dutch yes/no question, the finite verb comes first: Zijn ...? means “Are ...?” With a singular subject, the corresponding form is is, as in Is de deur afgesloten? de balkondeur means “the balcony door.” Balkondeur is a compound noun: balkon specifies the type of deur. The definite article de belongs to the complete noun phrase. A reusable parallel is de slaapkamerdeur, “the bedroom door.” ramen is the plural of raam, “window.” The singular/plural contrast is raam / ramen; the vowel change and final -en belong to this noun’s plural form. Here it refers to the windows in the coordinated subject, not to a separate question. slaapkamer means “bedroom.” It is a singular compound noun made from slaap and kamer; in de ramen van de slaapkamer, the phrase van de slaapkamer identifies which windows are meant: the bedroom’s windows. van commonly introduces an “of” or possessive relation. goed means “properly” in this sentence. It functions adverbially with afgesloten, describing the quality of the closing or securing, rather than naming a good object. For example, De deur is goed afgesloten. means “The door is properly secured.” afgesloten is the past participle of afsluiten, “to close off” or “secure.” With zijn, it describes a resulting state: something is closed or secured. The same participle can be used with different subjects; for example, Het raam is afgesloten. means “The window is secured.” Together, de balkondeur en de ramen van de slaapkamer form a compound plural subject: one balcony door plus multiple windows. That is why the question begins with plural Zijn. The predicate goed afgesloten asks whether all of those items are properly secured. The complete utterance means: “Are the balcony door and the bedroom windows secure?”

4. De balkondeur is op slot en ik ga de ramen van de slaapkamer nu controleren.

   The balcony door is locked, and I will check the bedroom windows now.

   balkondeur

   balcony door

   is op slot

   is locked

   ik ga

   I am going to

   ramen

   windows

   slaapkamer

   bedroom

   nu

   now

   controleren

   check

   More detail

   balkondeur means “balcony door” here. It is a compound noun: balkon (“balcony”) + deur (“door”). Dutch compounds are written as one word, and the article in the full phrase, de, is part of the noun phrase rather than part of the compound itself. is op slot describes the door’s locked state. is is the present form of zijn (“to be”), while op slot is the fixed expression “locked,” literally referring to being secured with a lock. Do not treat op slot as a general translation of every use of “closed”: gesloten means “closed,” whereas op slot specifically indicates that the lock is engaged. ik ga is “I am going to” when it is followed by an infinitive. ga is the first-person singular present form of gaan (“to go”): ik ga, jij gaat, wij gaan. In the pattern ik ga + infinitive, it commonly expresses a planned or imminent action. The infinitive appears later in this sentence as controleren. ramen means “windows” here. Its singular base form is raam; the plural is ramen. The phrase de ramen therefore refers to the windows as a plural set. The following phrase identifies them as the windows of the bedroom. slaapkamer means “bedroom.” It is a compound noun formed from slaap (“sleep”) and kamer (“room”), but it functions as one noun in Dutch. In de ramen van de slaapkamer, van links the windows to the bedroom: “the bedroom’s windows” or “the windows of the bedroom.” nu means “now” and places the checking action at the current time. Its position can vary in Dutch, but here it comes before the infinitive controleren. controleren is the infinitive “to check” or “to inspect.” After ik ga, it completes the future-oriented pattern ik ga ... controleren (“I am going to check ...”). Example: Ik ga de deur controleren. — “I am going to check the door.” Together, De balkondeur is op slot says that the balcony door is locked. ik ga de ramen van de slaapkamer nu controleren says that the speaker is going to check the bedroom windows now. The complete meaning is: “The balcony door is locked, and I will check the bedroom windows now.”

5. Zullen we de thermostaat lager zetten zolang we weg zijn?

   Should we lower the thermostat while we are gone?

   Zullen we

   Should we

   de thermostaat

   the thermostat

   lager

   lower

   zetten

   set; put

   zolang

   while; as long as

   we

   we

   weg

   away; gone

   zijn

   are; be

   More detail

   Zullen we is a reusable Dutch way to make a suggestion involving the speaker and the listener: “Shall we …?” zullen is the present-tense form of zullen used with we; the following verb stays in the infinitive. Example: Zullen we vertrekken? — “Shall we leave?” de thermostaat means “the thermostat.” de is the definite article used with this noun. Example: De thermostaat staat in de hal. — “The thermostat is in the hall.” lager means “lower” here. It is the comparative form of laag (“low”): laag → lager (“lower”) → het laagst (“the lowest”). It describes the thermostat’s setting in lager zetten, not the noun thermostaat itself. Example: Zet de verwarming lager. — “Set the heating lower.” zetten means “set” or “put.” Its base form is zetten; zet is its present-tense form with ik, jij, or hij/zij/het in appropriate contexts. In this sentence, zetten is the infinitive after zullen. Together with lager, lager zetten means “set lower.” zolang introduces a time condition or duration: “while” or “as long as.” It links the main action to the period described in the following clause. Example: Blijf hier zolang ik weg ben. — “Stay here while I am away.” we is the subject pronoun “we,” referring to the speaker together with at least one other person. It is the subject of both zullen and zijn in this sentence. Dutch uses we as the unstressed form and wij as the stressed form; both mean “we.” weg means “away” or “gone.” In weg zijn, it forms the expression “to be away,” with weg describing the state and zijn supplying the verb. Example: We zijn een uur weg. — “We will be away for an hour.” zijn means “are” here, the first-person plural form of zijn (“to be”). In the subordinate clause zolang we weg zijn, Dutch places this finite verb at the end of the clause. The form zijn is also used with wij/we, jullie, and zij/ze in the present tense, so the form alone does not identify which plural subject is intended. The sentence combines the suggestion pattern Zullen we ...? with the action de thermostaat lager zetten: “Shall we set the thermostat lower?” The subordinate clause zolang we weg zijn adds the time condition “while we are away.” Together, the utterance means: “Should we lower the thermostat while we are gone?”

6. Zet hem lager, maar niet zo laag dat het appartement te koud wordt.

   Set it lower, but not so low that the apartment gets too cold.

   Zet

   set; put

   hem

   it

   lager

   lower

   maar niet

   but not

   zo laag dat

   so low that

   appartement

   apartment

   te koud

   too cold

   wordt

   gets; becomes

   More detail

   Zet is the imperative of zetten, “to set” or “to put.” The imperative addresses one or more people without stating the subject: Zet de thermostaat lager. means “Set the thermostat lower.” In this sentence, Zet gives the instruction. hem is the singular object pronoun “it” for a masculine or common-gender referent. In the bounded context, it refers to the thermostat: Zet hem lager. means “Set it lower.” The pronoun itself carries the object role; the context identifies what is being adjusted. lager is the comparative form of laag, “low”: laag → lager → laagst (“low” → “lower” → “lowest”). Here it is used adverbially to describe a lower setting. Example: Zet het volume lager. — “Set the volume lower.” maar niet means “but not.” It limits the preceding instruction: the setting should be lowered, but not without a limit. The following phrase states that limit. zo laag dat introduces a result boundary: “so low that …” or “so low as to …”. The pattern zo + adjective/adverb + dat + clause connects an excessive degree with its consequence. Example: Rijd niet zo snel dat je de afslag mist. — “Do not drive so fast that you miss the exit.” appartement is the noun “apartment.” With the neuter singular article, it appears here as het appartement. Example: Het appartement is klein. — “The apartment is small.” te koud means “too cold.” koud is the adjective “cold,” and te marks an excessive degree: the temperature would be colder than acceptable for the intended situation. Example: Het water is te koud. — “The water is too cold.” wordt is the third-person singular present form of worden, “to become” or “to get”: worden → wordt. Its subject here is het appartement, so the singular form is required. In het appartement wordt te koud, the apartment “gets too cold.” Example: Het wordt donker. — “It gets dark.” Together, Zet hem lager gives the instruction to lower the thermostat’s setting. maar niet zo laag dat het appartement te koud wordt adds the restriction that the setting must not be lowered to the point where the apartment gets too cold. The whole utterance therefore means: “Set it lower, but not so low that the apartment gets too cold.”

7. Ik heb onze buur ook gevraagd om eventuele pakketten aan te nemen.

   I also asked our neighbor to collect any packages.

   Ik heb

   I have

   onze

   our

   buur

   neighbor

   ook

   also

   gevraagd

   asked

   om … aan te nemen

   to collect

   eventuele

   any

   pakketten

   packages

   More detail

   Ik heb means “I have” here and forms the perfect tense with the following past participle. The subject is ik; heb is the present-tense form of hebben used with this first-person singular subject. In Dutch, a completed action is often expressed as hebben + past participle: Ik heb gebeld. — “I called / I have called.” onze means “our.” It is a possessive determiner placed before the noun. Dutch uses ons with singular het-nouns and onze with plural nouns and singular de-nouns, so the choice depends on the noun’s grammatical class and number, not simply on the meaning “our.” buur means “neighbor.” Its plural is buren: Onze buren zijn thuis. — “Our neighbors are at home.” In the fixed sentence, onze buur identifies the person whom the speaker asked. ook means “also” or “too.” Its position can vary with emphasis, but here it adds this request to something else the speaker did or asked. For example, Ik kom ook. means “I’m coming too.” gevraagd is the past participle of vragen, “to ask.” The form chain is vragen → vroeg (simple past) → gevraagd (past participle). Together with heb it gives “have asked.” The object of the asking is onze buur. om ... aan te nemen is an infinitive construction meaning “to accept/receive” something. The verb is the separable verb aannemen; with te, its parts appear as aan te nemen. Dutch commonly uses vragen om ... te ... when asking someone to do something: Ik vraag haar om te helpen. — “I ask her to help.” Here, om introduces the requested action, and aan te nemen says what the neighbor was asked to do. With packages, aannemen can naturally mean accepting or receiving them; the fixed translation expresses this as “collect.” eventuele means “any” in the sense of “any that may occur” or “if there are any.” It does not assert that packages definitely exist. It is the inflected form used before the plural noun pakketten here. For example, eventuele vragen means “any questions.” pakketten means “packages” or “parcels.” It is the plural of pakket: een pakket — “a package”; twee pakketten — “two packages.” The phrase eventuele pakketten therefore refers to any packages that might need to be received. Together, Ik heb onze buur ook gevraagd says “I also asked our neighbor,” and om eventuele pakketten aan te nemen specifies the requested action: “to collect any packages.” The complete utterance means: “I also asked our neighbor to collect any packages.”

8. Zo lijkt het alsof er iemand thuis is terwijl we weg zijn.

   That helps the place look occupied while we are away.

   Zo

   that way; thus

   lijkt

   seems

   alsof

   as if

   er

   there

   iemand

   someone

   thuis

   at home

   terwijl

   while

   we

   we

   weg

   away

   zijn

   are; be

   More detail

   Zo means “that way” here: it points to the way the situation is arranged, rather than naming the arrangement itself. It can also mean “thus” in a more formal style. Example: Zo werkt het. — “That’s how it works.” lijkt is the present-tense third-person singular form of lijken, “to seem” or “to appear.” In lijkt het alsof ..., Dutch uses het as a grammatical subject while the following alsof-clause gives the apparent situation. Compare Het lijkt moeilijk. — “It seems difficult.” alsof introduces an “as if” clause. It presents an appearance or comparison, not necessarily a confirmed fact. In this sentence, alsof er iemand thuis is describes how the place appears. Example: Ze doet alsof ze slaapt. — “She pretends as if she is sleeping.” er in er iemand ... is is existential er: it helps present that someone is present or exists in the situation. It is not the same as the locational adverb “there” in every use. The indefinite pronoun iemand means “someone,” without identifying who. Example: Er is iemand aan de deur. — “There is someone at the door.” thuis means “at home.” It functions as the location in iemand thuis is; the sentence therefore presents someone as being at home, without identifying that person. Example: Ben je thuis? — “Are you at home?” In the subordinate clause er iemand thuis is, the finite verb is comes at the end. is is the third-person singular present form of zijn, “to be,” used here with iemand. This placement is a useful feature of a Dutch subordinate clause introduced by alsof. terwijl introduces a simultaneous “while” clause. It links the apparent presence at home with the time or situation in which the other event holds. Example: Ik lees terwijl zij kookt. — “I read while she cooks.” we is the subject pronoun “we.” It is the first-person plural form; it refers to the speaker together with at least one other person, consistently with the fixed translation’s “we.” Dutch also has the fuller, stressed form wij, while we is the common unstressed form. weg means “away.” In weg zijn, it describes being away or absent from the relevant place. It is not the verb itself: zijn carries the verbal meaning “to be.” Example: We zijn een uur weg. — “We are away for an hour.” zijn is the first-person plural present form of zijn in we weg zijn; the infinitive is also zijn. Together, weg zijn means “to be away.” Because this is inside the terwijl clause, the verb appears at the end: terwijl we weg zijn — “while we are away.” Putting the parts together, Zo lijkt het alsof means “That way it seems as if,” er iemand thuis is means “someone is at home,” and terwijl we weg zijn means “while we are away.” The whole utterance is therefore: “That way it seems as if someone is at home while we are away.” In the supplied translation, this is expressed naturally as “That helps the place look occupied while we are away.”

9. Nu voel ik me meer op mijn gemak om weg te gaan.

   Now I feel more relaxed about leaving.

   Nu

   now

   voel ik me

   I feel

   meer op mijn gemak

   more at ease

   weg te gaan

   to leave

   More detail

   Nu means “now” and places the feeling in the present. When an element such as Nu comes first in a Dutch main clause, the finite verb comes before the subject: Nu voel ik ..., literally “Now feel I ...”. Compare the neutral order Ik voel me nu beter (“I feel better now”). voel ik me uses voelen (“to feel”). Here voel is the first-person singular present form, with subject ik; me is the reflexive object referring back to the speaker. The combination zich voelen describes someone’s state or experience. Example: Ik voel me moe. — “I feel tired.” meer op mijn gemak means “more at ease” in this sentence. Op mijn gemak is a fixed expression for feeling comfortable or relaxed; meer compares this state with an earlier or alternative state. Mijn is the possessive form for “my”; the possessive changes with the possessor, as in op je gemak (“at your ease”), rather than agreeing with gemak. Example: Voel je je op je gemak? — “Do you feel at ease?” weg te gaan is the infinitive form of the separable verb weggaan, “to leave” or “to go away.” In an infinitive clause with te, the particle and verb appear as weg te gaan; te is placed between weg and gaan. The clause om weg te gaan expresses the activity about which the speaker feels more at ease. Example: Ze probeert vroeg weg te gaan. — “She tries to leave early.” Together, Nu voel ik me states the speaker’s present feeling, meer op mijn gemak marks that the feeling is more relaxed than before, and om weg te gaan identifies leaving as the action concerned. The complete meaning is: “Now I feel more relaxed about leaving.”

10. Deze checklist kostte wat tijd, maar het was de moeite waard.

    This checklist took a little time, but it was worth it.

    Deze

    this

    checklist

    checklist

    kostte

    cost

    wat

    a little

    tijd

    time

    maar

    but

    het

    it

    was

    was

    de moeite waard

    worth it

    More detail

    Deze means “this” and is the demonstrative determiner used with the noun checklist. Dutch distinguishes deze for a de-word in the singular from dit for a het-word in the singular; plural demonstratives are deze and die according to proximity. checklist is a noun meaning “checklist”. It is a compound loanword used as a de-word: de checklist. The noun is the subject of kostte, so it is presented as the thing that required the time. Kostte is the simple past of kosten, “to cost”. Here kosten describes the time required by an activity or task, so the sentence says that the checklist required some time. The present form is kost; the past singular form is kostte. Example: Het kostte veel tijd. — “It took a lot of time.” Wat means “a little” or “some” here. With the uncountable noun tijd, it indicates a small or unspecified amount rather than a specific numerical count. The same word can have other functions in Dutch, including “what” in a question, but that is not its function here. Tijd means “time”. It is normally an uncountable noun in this meaning: de tijd. The combination wat tijd means “a little time” or “some time”. Maar means “but” and connects two contrasting clauses. It introduces the second clause, which presents a favorable evaluation after the time required by the checklist. Het is the singular neuter pronoun used as “it” here. The fixed translation supports an English “it”, but the supplied sentence does not uniquely identify a more specific antecedent for this pronoun. Dutch also uses het in other grammatical roles, including as a neuter article or an impersonal subject; here it is the subject of was in the second clause. Was is the singular past form of zijn, “to be”. The present singular form is is; the past forms are was for singular subjects and waren for plural subjects. Here was links het with the evaluation de moeite waard. De moeite waard is a fixed expression meaning “worth it” or “worth the effort”. Moeite means “effort” or “trouble”, and waard contributes the idea of value in this expression. The whole expression is normally used with zijn: Het is de moeite waard. — “It is worth it.” Together, Deze checklist kostte wat tijd means “This checklist took a little time”: the checklist is the subject, kostte places the event in the past, and wat tijd gives the amount of time. Maar het was de moeite waard contrasts that time cost with the judgment that it was worth it. The complete utterance is therefore: “This checklist took a little time, but it was worth it.”