Questions & Answers about Wachten de vrouwen buiten?
Why does this sentence start with the verb Wachten?
Because it is a yes/no question. Just like in English, you swap the subject (de vrouwen) and the verb (wachten) to turn a statement into a question.
Why is the English translation 'are waiting', but there is no word for 'are' in the Dutch sentence?
Dutch generally does not use an '-ing' continuous form for verbs. The simple present tense verb wachten translates to both 'wait' and 'are waiting' in English depending on the context.
Since this lesson is about niet, how would I ask 'Are the women NOT waiting outside?'
You would say Wachten de vrouwen niet buiten?. When a sentence has a specific location word or adverb of place like buiten (outside), the negation word niet is placed right before it.
Why do we use wachten instead of wacht?
Because the subject, de vrouwen (the women), is plural. Vrouwen is the plural of vrouw (woman). With plural subjects, Dutch uses the full infinitive form of the verb, which is wachten.
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