Organizing Account Activity | Learn Dutch in English

Sentence explanations

1. Ik probeer routinematige activiteiten op mijn rekening te scheiden van incidentele betalingen.

   I'm trying to separate routine account activity from occasional payments.

   Ik

   I

   probeer

   try; am trying

   routinematige

   routine

   activiteiten

   activities

   rekening

   account

   te scheiden

   to separate

   incidentele

   occasional

   betalingen

   payments

   More detail

   Ik means “I” here: the speaker is the person making the attempt. Dutch uses ik for a first-person singular subject; compare jij or u for “you” in other sentences. probeer is the first-person singular present form of proberen, “to try.” Dutch commonly uses the pattern proberen te + infinitive: Ik probeer te leren. — “I am trying to learn.” The present form can correspond to English “try” or “am trying”; the ongoing sense comes from the situation, not from a separate progressive ending. routinematige describes something done as part of a routine. Its base form is routinematig. The -e form appears here before the plural noun activiteiten; this is attributive adjective inflection. For example, routinematige controles means “routine checks.” activiteiten is the plural of activiteit, “activity.” The plural ending is -en, as in een activiteit — “one activity” and meerdere activiteiten — “several activities.” Here it refers to account activity in general, as specified by the surrounding phrase. rekening means “account” in this sentence. In op mijn rekening, op means “on” and mijn means “my,” together identifying the account involved. Rekening can have other context-dependent meanings in Dutch, but the fixed translation supports the financial-account meaning here. te scheiden is the infinitive of scheiden, “to separate.” The te construction supplies the action that the speaker is trying to perform: proberen te scheiden means “to try to separate.” incidentele means “occasional” or “sporadic” here. Its base form is incidenteel; the -e form is used before the plural noun betalingen. It describes payments that occur from time to time, contrasting with routinematige activities in this sentence. betalingen is the plural of betaling, “payment.” The noun is related in meaning to the verb betalen, “to pay,” but betalingen itself is the plural noun. For example, De betaling is ontvangen. means “The payment has been received.” The sentence is assembled as Ik probeer ... te scheiden: “I am trying to separate ...” The first group is routinematige activiteiten op mijn rekening, meaning “routine activity on my account.” The van phrase introduces what is being distinguished from that group: incidentele betalingen, “occasional payments.” Thus the complete meaning is: “I’m trying to separate routine account activity from occasional payments.”

2. Dat kan je helpen zien welke diensten automatisch worden verlengd.

   That can help you see which services renew automatically.

   Dat

   that

   kan

   can

   je

   you

   helpen

   help

   zien

   see

   welke

   which

   diensten

   services

   automatisch

   automatically

   worden verlengd

   are renewed

   More detail

   Dat means “that” here and functions as the subject. In this use it is a demonstrative pronoun referring to an already identified idea or situation; the supplied translation confirms that reading. Dutch also uses dat for a singular neuter noun, but that is not the function here. kan is the present-tense form of kunnen (“can, be able to”). In this sentence it expresses possibility or ability: “can help.” The form is kan with a singular subject such as hij, zij, or het; kunnen is used with plural subjects. With je, both kan and kunt can occur in present-day Dutch, with kan especially common in informal usage. je is the unstressed personal pronoun “you.” It can refer to one person or more than one person; the fixed sentence does not specify the number. In this sentence it is the person who receives the help, while dat is the subject of kan. helpen means “to help.” After a modal verb such as kan, the following verb remains an infinitive: kan helpen, “can help.” Dutch can also use helpen before another infinitive, as in Ik help je leren (“I help you learn”); the second infinitive expresses what the help enables or supports. zien means “to see,” and here it has the practical sense “to notice or understand by looking at information.” It is an infinitive after helpen: helpen zien, “help [someone] see.” welke means “which” and introduces the choice or identification of something. It is used here before plural diensten; with a singular neuter noun, Dutch uses welk, while welke is used with plural nouns and singular common-gender nouns. Example: Welke opties kies je? — “Which options do you choose?” diensten means “services.” Its singular base form is dienst; diensten is the regular plural. In this sentence the services are the things being renewed. automatisch means “automatically.” Here it is an adverb modifying the renewal process: the services renew without a person having to renew them manually. The related adjective is automatisch as well, as in een automatische verlenging (“an automatic renewal”); the surrounding use determines whether it describes an action or a noun. worden verlengd is a present passive construction meaning “are renewed.” Worden is the present-tense plural form of worden (“to become” or, in passive constructions, “be”), and verlengd is the past participle of verlengen (“to renew” or “extend”). The passive keeps the services as the grammatical subject and does not state who performs the renewal. Compare active De aanbieder verlengt de diensten (“The provider renews the services”) with passive De diensten worden verlengd (“The services are renewed”). Together, Dat kan je helpen zien means “That can help you see,” and welke diensten automatisch worden verlengd identifies which services have automatic renewal. The complete meaning is: that information or situation can help the listener identify the services that renew automatically. The embedded clause uses Dutch word order with worden verlengd at the end.

3. Het lastige is om veranderingen op te merken voordat ze ondersneeuwen.

   The hard part is noticing changes before they get buried.

   Het lastige

   the difficult part

   veranderingen

   changes

   op te merken

   to notice

   voordat

   before

   ondersneeuwen

   get buried

   More detail

   Het lastige uses lastig (“difficult”) as a noun-like adjective. With het, the form lastige refers to the difficult part or aspect: het lastige van de taak means “the difficult part of the task.” The ending -e here belongs to the adjective lastig; it is not an inflection of an adjacent noun. veranderingen means “changes” here. Its singular is verandering, and the plural adds -en: een verandering / veranderingen. The word can describe changes in situations, systems, or other things; this sentence does not specify what is changing. op te merken is the infinitive construction of the separable verb opmerken, “to notice.” In a te-infinitive, the prefix and verb appear as op te merken. For example, Ik probeer de fout op te merken means “I try to notice the mistake.” voordat means “before” and introduces the event that must happen later in the time sequence. It is a conjunction, so the following clause has subordinate-clause word order: voordat ze ondersneeuwen, with the verb at the end. ondersneeuwen means “to get buried” here, especially to become hidden or overlooked under accumulating things. Its literal image involves being covered by snow, but the sentence uses the broader figurative sense. In the clause, ze refers to veranderingen, as confirmed by the fixed translation “they”; ze ondersneeuwen therefore means “they get buried.” Together, Het lastige is presents a difficult aspect, and om veranderingen op te merken identifies that aspect as noticing changes. Voordat ze ondersneeuwen adds the time limit: the changes need to be noticed before they become buried or overlooked. The complete meaning is: “The hard part is noticing changes before they get buried.”

4. Door vergelijkbare betalingen te groeperen, kom je misschien verder dan wanneer je alleen op herinneringen vertrouwt.

   Grouping similar payments may help more than relying on reminders.

   vergelijkbare

   similar, comparable

   betalingen

   payments

   groeperen

   to group

   kom je

   you get / you come

   misschien

   perhaps, may

   verder

   further

   dan wanneer

   than when

   alleen

   only

   herinneringen

   reminders

   vertrouwt

   relies on

   More detail

   vergelijkbare describes betalingen as similar or comparable. It is the form of vergelijkbaar used before a plural noun; Dutch attributive adjectives normally take -e here. Example: vergelijkbare kosten means “similar costs.” betalingen means payments. It is the plural of betaling, a noun related to betalen (“to pay”). The plural ending is -en: één betaling, meerdere betalingen. groeperen means to group. After te, it is an infinitive: te groeperen means “to group.” The opening pattern door ... te groeperen expresses the method or means: “by grouping ...” Example: Door taken te plannen, werk ik rustiger. — “By planning tasks, I work more calmly.” kom je consists of kom, the present-tense form of komen (“to come”), and the subject je (“you”). Because the sentence begins with Door ..., the verb comes before the subject in the main clause: kom je, not je kom. Here komen ... verder is not about physical arrival; together with verder it means making more progress or getting further. misschien means “perhaps” and marks the result as possible rather than certain. In this sentence it supports the translation “may help.” Example: Misschien regent het morgen. — “Perhaps it will rain tomorrow.” verder means “further” here, in the sense of progressing. It is also the comparative form associated with ver (“far”): ver, verder, verst can mean “far,” “farther/further,” and “farthest/furthest,” although the exact forms and preferred usage depend on meaning and context. In kom je verder, the phrase means “you get further” or “you make more progress.” dan wanneer introduces the comparison: “than when.” The structure compares the possible progress from grouping payments with the situation described in the following wanneer-clause. It does not mean that dan alone expresses the entire comparison; wanneer begins the condition or time frame “when ...”. alleen means “only” here. It limits the way of relying: the comparison concerns relying only on reminders. Example: Ik gebruik alleen deze lijst. — “I use only this list.” herinneringen means reminders. It is the plural of herinnering: een herinnering, meerdere herinneringen. The noun can refer to reminders as prompts, which is the intended sense here. vertrouwt means “relies” in this sentence, as in the construction op iets vertrouwen (“to rely on something”). It is the present-tense form of vertrouwen with the subject je: je vertrouwt. The preposition op is part of the useful construction, so op herinneringen vertrouwen means “rely on reminders,” not simply “trust reminders” in every possible context. Example: Je vertrouwt op een planning. — “You rely on a schedule.” Putting the parts together, Door vergelijkbare betalingen te groeperen gives the method “by grouping similar payments.” kom je misschien verder says that you may make more progress, and dan wanneer je alleen op herinneringen vertrouwt compares that with the alternative situation of relying only on reminders. The whole utterance therefore means: “Grouping similar payments may help more than relying on reminders.”

5. Ik zou één aparte kaart voor vaste diensten kunnen gebruiken.

   I could use one dedicated card for regular services.

   Ik zou

   I would

   één

   one

   aparte

   dedicated

   kaart

   card

   vaste

   regular

   diensten

   services

   kunnen

   be able to

   gebruiken

   use

   More detail

   Ik zou means “I would” here. zou is the first-person singular form of zullen used for a conditional or hypothetical possibility, and it combines naturally with an infinitive: Ik zou ... gebruiken = “I would use ...”. This is not the simple present ik zal (“I will”); zou presents the action less directly as a possible choice. één explicitly means “one”. The accent distinguishes the numeral from the unstressed indefinite article een; here the sentence does assert a count of one card. aparte means “dedicated” or “separate” here. Its base form is apart. In aparte kaart, the adjective has the attributive -e form before the common-gender noun kaart. The adjective describes the card as set aside for this purpose; it does not itself express the number. kaart means “card”. Its plural is kaarten. The phrase één aparte kaart therefore means “one dedicated card”. vaste means “regular” here, in the sense of recurring or fixed. Its base form is vast; before the plural noun diensten, the attributive form is vaste. For example, vaste kosten means “regular costs”. diensten means “services”. It is the plural of dienst. In this sentence it identifies the recurring services for which the card would be used; the plural does not specify how many services there are. kunnen is the infinitive of kunnen, “to be able to” or, as here with a proposed action, “could”. Dutch modal verbs such as kunnen combine with another infinitive. In this sentence, zou ... kunnen gebruiken forms the modal chain “could use”. gebruiken is the infinitive “to use”. After the modal kunnen, it remains in the infinitive and comes at the end of this sentence. For example, Je kunt deze kaart gebruiken means “You can use this card.” Together, Ik zou + één aparte kaart + voor vaste diensten + kunnen gebruiken gives: “I could use one dedicated card for regular services.” voor marks the intended purpose, while zou ... kunnen gebruiken presents that use as a possible option rather than a definite action.

6. Dan zou ongebruikelijke activiteit sneller opvallen.

   Then unusual activity would stand out more quickly.

   Dan

   then

   zou

   would

   ongebruikelijke

   unusual

   activiteit

   activity

   sneller

   more quickly

   opvallen

   stand out

   More detail

   Dan means “then” here. It can place the statement after a condition or earlier situation: Dan ga ik naar huis. — “Then I’ll go home.” In this sentence, it links the result to the surrounding hypothetical situation. zou is the conditional form of zullen and combines with an infinitive. Here it makes opvallen hypothetical: “would stand out.” Do not treat it as the simple past of an ordinary lexical verb. Dutch also uses zou in patterns such as Ik zou dat doen. — “I would do that.” ongebruikelijke means “unusual” in this sentence. Its base form is ongebruikelijk. The -e form appears because the adjective comes before the noun activiteit; the exact adjective inflection depends on the noun phrase, including definiteness and the noun’s grammatical properties. Example: een ongebruikelijke keuze — “an unusual choice.” activiteit is the noun “activity.” Its plural is activiteiten. Example: De activiteit stopt. — “The activity stops.” sneller is the comparative form of the adverb snel, meaning “more quickly” here. The comparison is attached to snel, not to activiteit: snel = “quickly,” sneller = “more quickly,” and het snelst = “the most quickly” in an adverbial use. Example: Zij reageert sneller. — “She responds more quickly.” opvallen means “to stand out” or “to be noticeable.” It is an infinitive and a separable verb: in a finite clause, Dutch commonly separates it, as in Dat valt op. — “That stands out.” Its past participle is opgevallen, used with zijn, as in Dat is opgevallen. — “That was noticed / stood out.” Together, zou ... opvallen gives the hypothetical result “would stand out,” while sneller says that this would happen more quickly. Ongebruikelijke activiteit is the subject, and Dan frames the result as following from the relevant situation: “Then unusual activity would stand out more quickly.”

7. Het zou mijn hoofdrekening ook minder rommelig kunnen houden.

   It might also keep my main account less cluttered.

   Het zou

   it might

   mijn

   my

   hoofdrekening

   main account

   ook

   also

   minder

   less

   rommelig

   cluttered

   kunnen

   can; be able to

   houden

   keep

   More detail

   Het zou begins the clause with het, a singular neuter pronoun functioning as the subject. The supplied translation supports “it,” but it does not identify a more specific referent. Zou is the form of zullen used here to express a possible or conditional outcome: “might” or “would.” Mijn is the possessive determiner “my.” In this attributive use, standard Dutch mijn does not change for the gender or number of the noun it accompanies. For example, mijn rekening means “my account,” while mijn gegevens means “my data.” Hoofdrekening is a compound noun meaning “main account”: hoofd contributes “main” and rekening means “account” in this context. Dutch compounds are written as one word, so do not copy the English spacing in a phrase such as mijn hoofdrekening. Ook means “also” and adds this possible effect to another relevant effect. Its position can vary in Dutch, but here it appears after the object phrase mijn hoofdrekening and before the degree description. Minder means “less.” It modifies rommelig, making the phrase mean “less cluttered,” rather than asserting that the account is completely uncluttered. The useful pattern is minder + adjective, for example: minder druk — “less busy.” Rommelig is an adjective meaning “cluttered” or “messy” here. It describes the condition of mijn hoofdrekening; it is not the form carrying the comparison. The comparison is created by placing minder before it. A related contrast is overzichtelijk — “well-organized” or “clear,” as in een overzichtelijke administratie — “organized records.” Kunnen is the infinitive of kunnen, “can” or “be able to.” After a modal verb such as zou, Dutch uses the infinitive: zou kunnen expresses a possible ability or possibility. In this sentence, zou and kunnen work together to support the translation “might ... keep”; kunnen alone is not the complete meaning of that possibility. Houden is the infinitive meaning “keep” here. With houden in the pattern iets ... houden, the object is maintained in a particular state: de kamer netjes houden means “keep the room tidy.” The adjective rommelig describes the state being maintained, with minder reducing its degree. Together, mijn hoofdrekening is the object, minder rommelig describes the intended resulting state, and kunnen houden expresses the ability or possibility of maintaining that state. Thus Het zou mijn hoofdrekening ook minder rommelig kunnen houden means “It might also keep my main account less cluttered.”

8. Een overzichtelijkere administratie kan toekomstige beslissingen gemakkelijker maken.

   Cleaner records can make future decisions easier.

   overzichtelijkere

   more organized

   administratie

   records

   kan

   can

   toekomstige

   future

   beslissingen

   decisions

   gemakkelijker

   easier

   maken

   make

   More detail

   overzichtelijkere means “more organized” here. It is the comparative of overzichtelijk (“organized, clear, easy to survey”). The ending -ere is the attributive form used before the singular noun administratie: een overzichtelijkere administratie = “more organized records.” administratie means “records” in this sentence; it can also refer more broadly to administration or record-keeping. The article een presents it as an unspecified singular set or system of records; it does not by itself state a numerical count. kan is the present-tense form of the modal verb kunnen for a singular subject. It expresses ability or possibility: “can.” Dutch modals are followed by an infinitive, which is placed later in the clause. A useful pattern is X kan Y maken = “X can make Y …”. toekomstige means “future” and modifies beslissingen. Its base form is the adjective toekomstig. The ending here is the attributive form used before the plural noun beslissingen; it agrees with that noun in this position. beslissingen means “decisions.” It is the plural of beslissing; the singular is een beslissing, and the plural is beslissingen. gemakkelijker means “easier.” It is the comparative of gemakkelijk (“easy”). In beslissingen gemakkelijker maken, it describes the result that the decisions are made easier, rather than modifying the noun as an attributive adjective. maken is the infinitive “make.” Its base form is maken; after the modal kan, it remains in the infinitive and appears at the end of the clause. The construction iets gemakkelijker maken means “make something easier.” Together, Een overzichtelijkere administratie is the subject, kan introduces possibility, and toekomstige beslissingen gemakkelijker maken says what effect that subject can have. The complete meaning is: “Cleaner records can make future decisions easier.”