Archive for 'Dutch Grammar'
Telephone Calls in Dutch Posted by heather on Mar 24, 2011
Making and receiving a phone call in Dutch is a natural next step when learning Dutch or living in the Netherlands as a non-native speaker. It can be intimidating at first but the information below should help you out. Making and Receiving a Phone Call If you call someone in the Netherlands, you may notice…
Dutch Prepositions of Time Posted by heather on Mar 22, 2011
Today we are going to look at prepositions related to time. Prepositions link nouns, pronouns and phrases to other words in a sentence. For example: The book is on the table. The preposition on tells you where the book is located. It links the book with the table. Prepositions of time give you information about…
Spelling in Dutch – Part Two Posted by heather on Mar 15, 2011
Last week I wrote about spelling in Dutch with short vowels. We also looked at the difference between open and closed syllables and how to divide syllables in Dutch. Today we will look at spelling with long vowels and the relationship between f and v, and s and z. Spelling with Long Vowels 1. Long…
Spelling in Dutch – Part One Posted by heather on Mar 8, 2011
Whether you were a spelling bee champion or a spelling bee drop-out, Dutch has some spelling rules of its own for you to contend with. I will cover the main spelling rules in two posts. Getting Friendly with Closed and Open Syllables If you have been wondering why some Dutch words gain or lose letters…
Word Order in Indirect Speech Posted by heather on Feb 22, 2011
Phew, we made it! Four weeks of looking at word order in Dutch. We have stumbled through main clauses, sub-clauses and now lastly we are coming up to indirect speech. By no means have we covered it all but hopefully you have learned some tips and understood some of the rules that have helped in…
Word Order in Subordinated Clauses Posted by heather on Feb 15, 2011
Having covered word order in main clauses (here and here), it is time to move onto the word order in subordinated clauses. In a subordinated clause, known in Dutch as a bijzin, the conjugated verb moves to the end of the clause. Heather blijft thuis omdat ze ziek is. (Heather stays home because she is…
Word Order in Main Clauses Continued Posted by heather on Feb 8, 2011
Last week I wrote about word order in main clauses. As a quick review, the key points I mentioned were: that the main verb goes in the second position except when the subject is not the first part of the sentence, when making a yes/no question or when the sentence is in the command form…