Breakdown of Heeft u een flesje water?
een
a/an
u
you (formal)
hebben
to have
het water
the water
de fles
the bottle
Questions & Answers about Heeft u een flesje water?
What does the -je do at the end of flesje?
It makes the word a diminutive, which means it refers to a smaller version of something. The word fles means bottle, so adding -je turns it into flesje, meaning a small bottle.
Are diminutive words like flesje "de" words or "het" words?
All diminutive words in Dutch are het words. Even though the original word is de fles, the small version is always het flesje. Since we are using the word een (a) in this sentence, it doesn't change anything, because een is used for both de and het words.
Why is there no Dutch word for "of" in "a small bottle of water"?
In Dutch, when you talk about amounts, containers, or measurements, you drop the word for "of" and just put the two nouns together. So "a small bottle of water" is simply een flesje water, and a "cup of coffee" would be een kopje koffie.
Why is the verb heeft instead of heb for "you"?
The word u is the formal version of "you". In Dutch, the formal u takes the same verb form as "he/she/it" (the third-person singular). So just like we say hij heeft (he has), we say u heeft (you have). If you used the informal "you", it would be Heb jij een flesje water?
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