Questions & Answers about Het kind eet een ijsje.
Why does this sentence use ijsje instead of just ijs?
The base word ijs means ice or ice cream in general. By adding the -je ending, it becomes ijsje, which refers to a single, individual portion of ice cream, like a cone or a popsicle. In Dutch, you almost always use this diminutive form when talking about having an ice cream.
The translation says 'is eating', but isn't eet just 'eats'?
It can be both! Dutch does not have a separate continuous form like the English 'is doing'. The single present tense verb eet translates to both 'eats' and 'is eating', depending on what makes the most sense in the English translation.
Why is it Het kind and not De kind?
Every Dutch noun goes with either de or het for the word 'the'. Kind is a neuter word, meaning it always takes het in the singular form. It is best to memorize the article along with the noun as het kind.
How do you pronounce the sj part of ijsje?
When the letter s from the base word meets the j from the -je suffix, they blend together to make a 'sh' sound. So, ijsje is pronounced roughly like 'eye-shuh'.