Breakdown of We bestellen een taartje in het café.
een
a/an
in
in
bestellen
to order
het café
the cafe
de taart
the cake
we
we (unstressed form of wij)
Questions & Answers about We bestellen een taartje in het café.
How does the word taartje show that it is a little cake?
The base word is taart (cake or pie). To make it a diminutive (a small version), we just add the basic suffix -je to the end, making it taartje.
If I wanted to say the little cake instead of a little cake, would I use de or het?
You would use het. A very important rule in Dutch is that all diminutive words ending in -je are always het words, even if the original base word used de (like de taart). So it becomes het taartje.
Does adding -je change how the base word taart is pronounced?
Not here! You just say taart and add the -je sound (which sounds like 'yuh'). The spelling and vowel length of the base word stay exactly the same.
Why does the verb bestellen end in -en here?
Because the subject is we. In Dutch, plural pronouns like we (we), jullie (you all), and zij (they) always use the full dictionary form of the verb, which almost always ends in -en.
Why does the word café have an accent mark?
The accent mark tells you to pronounce the final e as a long 'ay' sound, just like the English word cafe. Without it, a single e at the end of a Dutch word would be pronounced as a short 'uh' sound.
Learn We bestellen een taartje in het café and more in Dutch
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free