Word
Hij praat niet met de student.
Meaning
He does not talk with the student.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Hij praat niet met de student.
hij
he / it (referring to a 'de'-word)
de student
the student
niet
not
met
with
Questions & Answers about Hij praat niet met de student.
Why does praat have double 'a' while the full verb praten only has one 'a'?
This is the open syllable spelling rule in action! In the full verb praten, the first syllable is open (pra-ten), so a single 'a' automatically makes a long "ah" sound. But to make the verb stem, we drop the -en, leaving a closed syllable ending in 't'. To keep that same long "ah" sound in a closed syllable, we must double the vowel, giving us praat.
For the hij (he) form, don't we usually add a -t to the verb stem? Why isn't it praatt?
You are right that the hij form usually takes the verb stem plus -t. However, the stem of praten already ends in a 't' (praat). In Dutch, we never write a double 't' at the end of a conjugated verb, so it simply stays praat.
Why is niet placed after the verb here, unlike English where we say "does not talk"?
In English, we need the helper verb "does" to make sentences negative. Dutch doesn't use helper verbs like this! You just use the normal verb (praat) and place the negative word (niet) after it.
Does student mean any type of learner in school, just like in English?