Breakdown of Hij wast de auto in de ochtend.
hij
he / it (referring to a 'de'-word)
de auto
the car
in
in
wassen
to wash
Questions & Answers about Hij wast de auto in de ochtend.
How do we get the verb form wast from the verb wassen?
The infinitive (full verb) is wassen (to wash). To find the stem (the base form), we remove -en, which leaves wass. However, Dutch spelling rules do not allow a double consonant at the end of a word, so one 's' is dropped to make the stem was (I wash). Since the subject is hij (he), we add a -t to the stem, giving us wast.
I usually see 's ochtends used for "in the morning". Is in de ochtend the exact same thing?
Yes, they mean the exact same thing! 's ochtends is a very common, fixed expression (short for des ochtends), but in de ochtend is also perfectly natural and translates literally to English as "in the morning".
If I wanted to start the sentence with "In the morning", how would the word order change?
In Dutch, the verb must always be the second idea in a normal sentence. If you put the time phrase first (In de ochtend), the verb (wast) must come immediately after it, pushing the subject (hij) to the other side of the verb. It becomes: In de ochtend wast hij de auto.
Are both auto and ochtend always de words?