Breakdown of Ze zien acht jongens en negen meisjes.
de jongen
the boy
het meisje
the girl
en
and
zien
to see
Questions & Answers about Ze zien acht jongens en negen meisjes.
Could I use zij instead of ze at the beginning of the sentence?
Yes! Both ze and zij mean "they". Ze is the standard, unstressed word you will hear in casual speech, while zij is used when you want to put special emphasis on "they".
How do I pronounce the ch in the number acht?
The ch in acht makes a raspy, scraping sound in the back of your throat. It is the exact same sound as the "ch" in the Scottish word "loch".
Do numbers like acht and negen ever change their endings depending on the noun?
No, cardinal numbers (the basic numbers used for counting, like 1 to 10) never change their form. They stay exactly the same regardless of the gender or type of noun that follows them.
Why do the plural words jongens and meisjes end in -s instead of -en?
While most Dutch plurals end in -en, there are exceptions. Words that already end in an unstressed syllable (like the -en in jongen) and diminutive words (words ending in -je like meisje) just get an -s added to the end.