Troubleshooting a printer problem | Learn Dutch in English

Sentence explanations

1. De printer blijft mijn bestand weigeren, hoewel het formaat wordt ondersteund.

   The printer keeps rejecting my file, although the format is supported.

   printer

   printer

   blijft

   keeps; continues

   bestand

   file

   weigeren

   reject; refuse

   hoewel

   although

   formaat

   format

   wordt ondersteund

   is supported

   More detail

   printer means “printer” here. It is a common Dutch loanword and takes the definite article de: de printer. The plural is printers. blijft is the present-tense singular form of blijven (“to remain; to keep/continue”). With a subject such as de printer, the pattern blijven + infinitive expresses that an action continues: De printer blijft werken. — “The printer keeps working.” Here blijft does not mean that the printer physically stays in one place; it marks the ongoing repetition or continuation of weigeren. bestand means “file.” Its plural is bestanden, not a regular form with only -s. In mijn bestand, mijn means “my” and identifies the file as belonging to or associated with the speaker; the noun itself remains singular. weigeren is the infinitive “to reject; to refuse.” The form in the sentence is an infinitive because it follows blijft: blijft weigeren means “keeps rejecting.” A useful contrast is De printer accepteert het bestand. — “The printer accepts the file.” Accepteren is a different verb, not an inflected form of weigeren. hoewel introduces a subordinate clause meaning “although.” It presents the following information as a contrast to the main clause. In Dutch, the verb group in this kind of subordinate clause is placed toward the end. In this sentence, the finite auxiliary wordt comes before the past participle ondersteund: hoewel het formaat wordt ondersteund. formaat means “format.” Its plural is formaten. In this sentence, het formaat refers to the format mentioned as being supported, without specifying a more particular type of format. wordt ondersteund is a passive construction meaning “is supported.” Wordt is the singular present form of worden (“to become; to be” in passive constructions), and ondersteund is the past participle of ondersteunen (“to support”). The passive focuses on the format as the thing receiving support; it does not state who provides that support. Compare the active sentence De software ondersteunt het formaat. — “The software supports the format.” Taken together, De printer blijft mijn bestand weigeren says that the printer continues to reject the speaker’s file. Hoewel het formaat wordt ondersteund adds the contrast that the format is supported. The complete meaning is: “The printer keeps rejecting my file, although the format is supported.”

2. Heb je gecontroleerd of het document te grote afbeeldingen bevat?

   Have you checked whether the document contains oversized images?

   Heb je

   have you …?

   gecontroleerd

   checked

   of

   whether

   document

   document

   te grote

   too large

   afbeeldingen

   images

   bevat

   contains

   More detail

   Heb je uses the present-tense auxiliary hebben in the second-person singular: je hebt in a statement becomes heb je when the question starts with the verb. Here it helps form the perfect construction with gecontroleerd; it does not mean that the checking is happening now. Example: Heb je het bestand geopend? — “Have you opened the file?” gecontroleerd is the past participle of controleren (“to check”). With hebben, heb gecontroleerd expresses a completed check. The useful pattern is hebben + past participle: Ik heb gecontroleerd — “I have checked.” of introduces the embedded yes-or-no question and means “whether” here. In Dutch, an embedded question introduced by of places its finite verb later in the clause, unlike the initial verb position in the main question. Example: Ik weet niet of hij komt. — “I do not know whether he is coming.” document is the noun document. The phrase het document identifies it with the neuter definite article het; the supplied translation supports “the document.” Example: Het document is klaar. — “The document is ready.” te grote means “too large.” The adjective is grote, whose base form is groot; te marks an excessive degree: te groot means “too large” when the adjective is used predicatively. Before the plural noun afbeeldingen, the adjective takes the attributive -e form: te grote afbeeldingen. This is not an ordinary comparative; the comparative of groot is groter (“larger”), while te groot means “larger than acceptable.” afbeeldingen is the plural of the noun afbeelding (“image” or “picture”). Its singular and plural forms are een afbeelding and afbeeldingen. Here it is the thing whose size is described by te grote and that the document may contain. bevat is the present-tense third-person singular form of bevatten (“to contain”). The subject is het document, so the singular form bevat is used; the plural form is bevatten. In the embedded clause, bevat appears at the end: of het document te grote afbeeldingen bevat — “whether the document contains oversized images.” Together, Heb je gecontroleerd asks whether the listener has completed a check. of opens the checked question, and het document te grote afbeeldingen bevat states what was checked: whether the document contains images that are excessively large. The whole utterance therefore means: “Have you checked whether the document contains oversized images?”

3. Dat is mogelijk, aangezien de presentatie verschillende gedetailleerde grafieken bevat.

   That is possible, since the presentation includes several detailed charts.

   Dat

   That

   is

   is

   mogelijk

   possible

   aangezien

   since

   presentatie

   presentation

   verschillende

   several

   gedetailleerde

   detailed

   grafieken

   charts

   bevat

   contains

   More detail

   Dat is a demonstrative pronoun meaning “that.” Here it points to the matter being assessed; the sentence does not identify a more specific noun referent. In Dutch, dat is used for a singular neuter noun or for a clause-like matter. Dit is a common contrasting form meaning “this” in comparable uses. is is the present-tense form of zijn (“to be”) used with a singular subject. Mogelijk means “possible” here. As a predicative adjective after zijn, it stays in its basic form: Dat is mogelijk. — “That is possible.” This is different from attributive adjective forms, whose ending depends on the noun phrase. aangezien introduces a reason and means “since” or “as.” It introduces a subordinate clause; in this clause, the finite verb bevat comes at the end. Omdat is another common reason-clause connector and is generally more conversational. presentatie means “presentation.” In the source it appears in the definite noun phrase de presentatie, “the presentation.” Its plural is presentaties: De presentaties bevatten grafieken. — “The presentations contain charts.” verschillende means “several” here. It modifies the plural noun grafieken and indicates more than one without giving an exact number. In other contexts it can mean “different” when the emphasis is on variety. gedetailleerde means “detailed.” Its base form is gedetailleerd. Before the plural noun grafieken, the attributive adjective has the -e form: gedetailleerde grafieken. Example: een gedetailleerde grafiek — “a detailed chart.” grafieken means “charts” or “graphs.” It is the plural of grafiek: een grafiek is “a chart,” while grafieken is “charts.” Here it is the object of bevat. bevat means “contains” here. It is the third-person singular present form of bevatten: de presentatie bevat, but de presentaties bevatten. Its final position is characteristic of the subordinate clause introduced by aangezien. Together, Dat is mogelijk means “That is possible.” Aangezien de presentatie verschillende gedetailleerde grafieken bevat gives the reason: “since the presentation includes several detailed charts.” The complete utterance means: “That is possible, since the presentation includes several detailed charts.”

4. Als we ze comprimeren, helpt dat misschien zonder de visuele kwaliteit te schaden.

   Compressing them may help without damaging the visual quality.

   Als we

   if we

   ze

   them

   comprimeren

   compress

   helpt

   helps

   dat

   that / it

   misschien

   perhaps

   zonder

   without

   visuele

   visual

   kwaliteit

   quality

   te schaden

   to damage

   More detail

   Als we introduces a conditional clause: als means “if” here, and we is the first-person plural subject “we.” Dutch normally places the finite verb later in this subordinate clause, so comprimeren follows the subject. Example: Als we wachten, beginnen we later. — “If we wait, we start later.” ze is the unstressed third-person plural object pronoun “them.” In this sentence it refers to the plural items being compressed, without changing for the grammatical gender of those items. Compare ze as a subject in Ze komen (“They are coming”) with its object use here. comprimeren is the infinitive “to compress,” and it is also the present-tense form used with we: we comprimeren means “we compress.” The same form therefore appears after we and as the infinitive in this context. Example: We comprimeren de afbeeldingen. — “We compress the images.” helpt means “helps.” It is the third-person singular present form of helpen (“to help”): ik help, jij helpt, hij/zij/het helpt. The -t form is used because the subject here is singular dat, not the plural we. dat is the demonstrative pronoun “that,” referring here to the preceding action or proposal of compressing them. It functions as the subject of helpt; the clause as a whole is therefore “that helps.” Its form is singular and does not identify a separate concrete object. misschien means “perhaps” or “maybe.” It expresses uncertainty about whether the proposed action will help, rather than changing the action itself. Example: Dat helpt misschien. — “That may help.” zonder means “without.” It introduces something that does not happen alongside the main action. Before a verb, Dutch commonly uses zonder + te + infinitive: zonder te wachten means “without waiting.” visuele means “visual.” It is the attributive form of the adjective visueel before the definite singular noun phrase de visuele kwaliteit; the ending -e is required in this position. Example: de visuele indruk — “the visual impression.” kwaliteit means “quality.” It is a singular noun and appears here with the definite article de, forming de kwaliteit (“the quality”). In the utterance, the adjective specifies which quality is meant: the visual quality. te schaden means “to damage” or “to harm.” schaden is the infinitive of the verb, and te marks the infinitive in the zonder ... te construction. The verb takes de visuele kwaliteit as its object: zonder de kwaliteit te schaden means “without damaging the quality.” Example: We veranderen het ontwerp zonder de duidelijkheid te schaden. — “We change the design without damaging the clarity.” Together, Als we ze comprimeren means “if we compress them.” helpt dat misschien says that this action may help, with dat referring to the proposed compression. Finally, zonder de visuele kwaliteit te schaden adds the condition that the action should not damage the visual quality. The complete meaning is: “Compressing them may help without damaging the visual quality.”

5. Dat heb ik liever dan de hele presentatie opnieuw op te bouwen.

   I would prefer that to rebuilding the entire deck.

   Dat

   that

   heb

   have

   liever

   rather; preferably

   dan

   than

   hele

   entire; whole

   presentatie

   presentation; deck

   op … te bouwen

   to build up

   More detail

   Dat is a demonstrative pronoun meaning “that.” Here it refers to the preferred alternative under discussion. The form dat is used for a singular neuter reference; die is used for a common-gender singular or plural reference. heb is the first-person singular present form of hebben (“to have”): ik heb = “I have.” In ik heb liever, hebben is part of a preference construction, not a statement about physical possession. Here Dat is a fronted object, so Dutch keeps the finite verb in second position and places the subject ik after it: Dat heb ik .... liever expresses preference: “rather” or “preferably.” It is the comparative form associated with graag: graag = gladly/with pleasure, liever = rather, and liefst = most preferably. The pattern iets liever hebben dan iets anders means “to prefer something to something else.” dan introduces the alternative in the comparison. The pattern Ik heb A liever dan B means “I prefer A to B.” Here, dan links Dat with the infinitive phrase that follows. hele means “entire” or “whole” here. It is the attributive form of heel (“whole; entire”). With a singular noun and a definite article, Dutch has de hele ... or het hele ..., according to the noun’s article. Hele modifies presentatie. presentatie is a de-word noun meaning “presentation”; in this context, “deck” is the natural translation. Its plural is presentaties. Thus, de hele presentatie means “the entire presentation.” op ... te bouwen is the infinitive pattern for the separable verb opbouwen, which can mean “to build up.” The particle op is separated from bouwen around te: op te bouwen. The nearby word opnieuw means “again,” and together opnieuw op te bouwen means “to rebuild.” Do not treat op by itself as meaning “re-”; the rebuilding sense comes from opnieuw plus the verb. Putting the parts together: Dat heb ik liever means “I prefer that,” while dan de hele presentatie opnieuw op te bouwen gives the alternative “to rebuilding the entire presentation.” The complete meaning is: “I would prefer that to rebuilding the entire deck.”

6. Stuur het via de gedeelde map.

   Send it through the shared folder.

   Stuur

   send

   het

   it

   via

   through; via

   gedeelde

   shared

   map

   folder

   More detail

   Stuur is the imperative of sturen, “to send.” The imperative gives a direction or request; the subject is normally left unstated. Present forms include ik stuur (“I send”) and jij/u stuurt (“you send”), while the imperative is stuur without the -t. Example: Stuur de link. — “Send the link.” het is the singular neuter pronoun meaning “it” here, referring to the item to be sent. Dutch also uses hem and haar for certain singular common-gender referents, but het is the form used for a neuter referent in this sentence. via is a preposition meaning “through” or “via.” It presents the route or channel used for an action: via e-mail means “via email.” gedeelde means “shared” here. It is the inflected form of gedeeld, the past participle of delen (“to share”), used adjectivally before map. The -e appears in this noun phrase because the adjective precedes the definite article de and noun: de gedeelde map. Example: de gedeelde agenda — “the shared calendar.” map means “folder.” It is a common-gender de-word: de map, plural mappen. In a digital context, it can mean a computer folder, as it does here. Together, Stuur het gives the request “Send it,” and via de gedeelde map specifies the route or channel: “through the shared folder.” The complete utterance is therefore “Send it through the shared folder.”

7. Ik kan het vanuit mijn account testen.

   I can test it from my account.

   Ik kan

   I can

   het

   it

   vanuit

   from

   mijn

   my

   account

   account

   testen

   test

   More detail

   Ik kan means “I can.” kan is the present-tense form of kunnen for ik; kunnen is the infinitive. After a modal such as kunnen, the other verb normally stays in the infinitive and comes later in the clause. Example: Ik kan komen. — “I can come.” het is the object pronoun “it” here. It refers to the thing being tested, as specified by the fixed translation. Dutch het can also be the definite article “the” with certain nouns, but its role in this sentence is a pronoun, not an article. vanuit means “from” in the sense of a source or starting point. It is a single preposition, not a form to be split into separate quoted words. Example: Ze werkt vanuit huis. — “She works from home.” mijn means “my” and directly accompanies the noun account. In this attributive use, mijn is the possessive determiner before the noun; it does not change here for the noun’s number or gender. Example: mijn telefoon — “my phone.” account is the noun “account.” With a possessive determiner, the phrase is mijn account — “my account.” The plural is commonly accounts. testen means “to test.” It is the infinitive of the same verb, and it appears after the modal kan: kan ... testen. Example: Ik wil dit testen. — “I want to test this.” Together, Ik kan gives the ability or possibility “I can,” het is the thing receiving the action, vanuit mijn account specifies the source “from my account,” and testen supplies the action. The whole utterance therefore means: “I can test it from my account.”

8. Zo hoef ik niet op goed geluk instellingen uit te proberen.

   That saves me from guessing at random settings.

   Zo

   that way

   hoef ik niet

   I don’t have to

   op goed geluk

   at random

   instellingen

   settings

   uit te proberen

   to try out

   More detail

   Zo means “that way” here: it links the sentence to a method or result already established in the surrounding context. It is also used in reusable patterns such as Zo werkt het beter (“That way it works better”). hoef ik niet expresses “I do not have to.” hoef is the first-person singular present form of hoeven. In this construction, niet negates the obligation, and hoeven is followed by te plus an infinitive: Ik hoef niet te wachten means “I do not have to wait.” The subject ik appears after hoef because Zo occupies the first position; this is normal Dutch verb-second word order. op goed geluk is a fixed expression meaning “without knowing in advance whether it will work,” or “at random.” It can be reused in Hij koos op goed geluk (“He chose at random”). instellingen means “settings” here. It is the plural of instelling; the singular is een instelling (“a setting”). The plural ending -en marks more than one setting in this noun. uit te proberen means “to try out.” The base verb is the separable verb uitproberen. With te, its parts are separated: uit te proberen. For example, Ik wil deze optie uitproberen means “I want to try out this option.” Together, hoef ik niet ... uit te proberen says that the speaker is not required to try something out. The full structure Zo hoef ik niet op goed geluk instellingen uit te proberen therefore means: “That saves me from guessing at random settings.”

9. Zodra het is afgedrukt, moeten we de oplossing voor anderen documenteren.

   Once it prints, we should document the fix for others.

   Zodra

   once / as soon as

   is afgedrukt

   is printed

   moeten we

   we should / must

   oplossing

   solution / fix

   anderen

   others

   documenteren

   to document

   More detail

   Zodra introduces a time condition: “once” or “as soon as.” It normally starts a subordinate clause, so the clause it introduces is followed by the main clause here. Example: Zodra hij klaar is, bellen we. — “As soon as he is ready, we call.” is afgedrukt means that something has been printed or is in the resulting printed state. Afgedrukt is the past participle of afdrukken (“to print”); is is a form of zijn (“to be”). Together, this form presents printing as completed or as a resulting state. The fixed translation expresses the intended meaning as “once it prints,” understood here as “once it has been printed.” Moeten we expresses an obligation or recommendation involving “we”: “we must” or, in this context, “we should.” Moeten is the modal verb moeten; we is the subject. In this main clause, the modal appears before the subject, and the other infinitive, documenteren, comes at the end: moeten we ... documenteren. Moeten is the plural present form used with we; the infinitive itself does not show a separate person ending. Oplossing means “solution,” and here the fixed translation makes “fix” the natural context-based meaning. Its base form is oplossing; the plural is oplossingen. The noun refers to the solution being documented, not to the act of documenting it. Anderen means “others” here. It is the standalone, inflected form related to ander (“other”), used with the noun omitted; compare andere mensen (“other people”) with anderen (“others”). The form does not identify which others they are; it simply distinguishes them from we in this utterance. Documenteren is the infinitive “to document.” After the modal moeten, Dutch uses this infinitive without te: We moeten het plan documenteren. — “We must document the plan.” The full structure is Zodra [het is afgedrukt], [moeten we de oplossing voor anderen documenteren]: “Once it has been printed, we should document the fix for others.” Het is the subject of the printing clause, while we is the subject of the main clause. Voor anderen adds the people or entities for whom the documentation is intended, without specifying exactly who they are.