Breakdown of Drinken de meisjes cappuccino's?
het meisje
the girl
drinken
to drink
de cappuccino
the cappuccino
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Questions & Answers about Drinken de meisjes cappuccino's?
Why does cappuccino's have an apostrophe before the 's' for its plural?
When a Dutch noun ends in a single vowel like 'a', 'i', 'o', 'u', or 'y', you add an apostrophe plus 's' ('s) to make it plural. This keeps the vowel sounding long. If you just added an 's' to make cappuccinos, the 'o' would incorrectly sound like a short vowel.
Why does meisjes (girls) get an 's' at the end instead of the usual 'en' plural ending?
Meisje is a diminutive word, which means it is a 'little' version of a word ending in -je. In Dutch, all diminutive words get an -s at the end to become plural. So, meisje simply becomes meisjes.
Why does the sentence start with the verb drinken?
To ask a yes or no question in Dutch, you swap the subject (de meisjes) and the verb (drinken). There is no direct translation for the English word 'Are' or 'Do' here; simply putting the verb first shows that it is a question.
The English translation says 'Are the girls drinking', but where is the Dutch word for 'are'?
Dutch usually doesn't use a separate word for 'are' or 'is' when talking about actions happening right now. The single verb drinken can mean 'drink', 'do drink', and 'are drinking'.