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Questions & Answers about Zijn wij oud?
Why do we use Zijn for "Are" here?
Zijn is the plural form of the verb "to be". In Dutch, all plural subjects like wij (we), jullie (you all), and zij (they) share this exact same verb form: zijn.
Why is the verb Zijn at the beginning of the sentence?
Just like in English, Dutch forms yes/no questions by putting the verb first, followed by the subject. The statement Wij zijn oud (We are old) becomes the question Zijn wij oud? (Are we old?).
Could I say Zijn we oud? instead?
Yes! Both wij and we mean "we". We is the normal, unstressed word you will hear most of the time. You use wij when you want to put special emphasis on the pronoun, like saying "Are we old? (Maybe they are, but surely not us!)".
Why doesn't the word oud get an extra -e at the end?
Adjectives only get an added -e when they are placed directly before the noun they describe (like oude mensen, meaning "old people"). Because oud comes after the verb here, it keeps its basic, short form.