Serving Up Food
Before dividing up the meal, you will see key separable verbs for preparing and serving portions. In a main clause, the prefixes of verbs like opscheppen (to dish up) and aansnijden (to cut into) separate and move to the end of the sentence.
| We dish up generously, because the family is large. | Wij scheppen royaal op, want de familie is groot. |
Complex Fractions as Amounts
To create a complex fraction in Dutch, use a cardinal number (twee, drie) for the numerator and an ordinal number (derde, vierde) for the denominator, separated by a space.
Unlike in English, when a fraction describes a proportion or amount, the denominator does not become plural—even if the numerator is greater than one.
- twee derde (two-thirds)
- drie vierde (three-quarters)
- vier vijfde (four-fifths)
| He dishes up two-thirds of the casserole. | Hij schept twee derde van de ovenschotel op. |
| Three-quarters of the children feast on the soup in the bowl. | Drie vierde van de kinderen smult van de soep in de kom. |
| The boys eagerly eat up four-fifths of the pizza. | De jongens eten gretig vier vijfde van de pizza op. |
Pluralizing Fractions into Pieces
When referring to literal, physical pieces rather than an abstract amount (like slicing up a cake or a pizza), the fraction acts as a plural noun. Pluralize the denominator by adding -n or -en to the ordinal number.
- zesden (sixths)
- achtsten (eighths)
| We cut the pizzas into sixths and save the leftovers. | Wij snijden de pizza's in zesden en bewaren de kliekjes. |
| You cut into the cake and divide it into eighths, don't you? | Je snijdt de taart aan en verdeelt hem in achtsten, of niet? |
