Questions & Answers about We kopen negenenzeventig appels.
Why is 'seventy-nine' translated as negenenzeventig? It looks like 'nine-and-seventy'.
You spotted the pattern! In Dutch, numbers from 21 to 99 are formed backwards compared to English. You say the single digit first (negen), then add en (and), and finally the tens (zeventig).
Do you always write these numbers as one long word without spaces?
Yes. In Dutch, numbers up to a thousand are written together as a single word. There are no spaces or hyphens between the ones, the en, and the tens.
The translation says 'We are buying', but kopen just means 'buy'. Should there be a word for 'are'?
No, you don't need a word for 'are' here. Dutch doesn't use a separate continuous tense like our '-ing' form for most everyday actions. The simple present tense verb kopen covers both 'we buy' and 'we are buying'.
Why is the plural of appel written with an -s (appels) instead of the usual -en?
While most Dutch words get -en in the plural, words that end in an unstressed syllable (like the -el in appel) usually just get an -s. This keeps the word easy to pronounce.