Prepositions with days (op)

Days of the Week with 'op'

To talk about things happening on a specific day of the week, Dutch uses the preposition op. This is the direct equivalent of the English "on" (as in "on Monday").

Notice that unlike in English, days of the week in Dutch (maandag, dinsdag, woensdag, donderdag, vrijdag, zaterdag, zondag) are written with lowercase letters unless they start the sentence.

I am always free on Friday.
Ik ben op vrijdag altijd vrij.
We normally exercise on Thursday.
Wij sporten normaal op donderdag.

You can easily combine op with exact times (using om).

The training begins on Wednesday at eight o'clock.
De training begint op woensdag om acht uur.

Starting with the Day (Word Order)

If you want to emphasize when something happens, you can move the day to the very beginning of the sentence.

When you do this, you must apply the primary rule of Dutch sentence structure: the verb is always the second element. If your sentence starts with an "Op [day]" phrase, the verb must come immediately next, swapping places with the subject.

On Saturday we are also free.
Op zaterdag zijn wij ook vrij.
On Monday they exercise in the park.
Op maandag sporten ze in het park.
On Tuesday we organize a match.
Op dinsdag organiseren wij een wedstrijd.

Asking Questions

When asking a yes/no question, the verb moves to the front of the sentence, followed by the subject, and then your time phrase with op.

Do you train on Sunday?
Trainen jullie op zondag?
Do you play tennis on Wednesday?
Speel jij op woensdag tennis?