Questions & Answers about Zij voetballen en wij kijken.
Why do both verbs end in "-en"?
In Dutch, plural subjects like wij (we), jullie (you all), and plural zij (they) use the plural form of the verb in the present tense. For regular verbs, this is just the entire dictionary form (the infinitive). This almost always ends in -en, like voetballen and kijken.
Zij can mean "she" or "they". How do we know it means "they" here?
Look at the verb that comes after it! Because it is zij voetballen (plural verb) and not zij voetbalt (singular verb), we know zij has to mean "they". If it meant "she", the sentence would be Zij voetbalt en wij kijken.
The English translation says "play football", but there is no word for "play" in the Dutch sentence. Why?
In Dutch, voetballen is an actual verb! Instead of saying "play football" (voetbal spelen), Dutch speakers usually just use the verb voetballen (literally "to football").
Could I use ze and we instead of zij and wij?
Yes, you could say Ze voetballen en we kijken. However, using the emphatic forms zij and wij puts more stress on the contrast between the two groups, highlighting that they are doing one thing while we are doing another.
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