Word
Onze pauze duurt altijd een kwartier.
Meaning
Our break always lasts a quarter of an hour.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Onze pauze duurt altijd een kwartier.
een
a/an
altijd
always
onze
our (de-words, plurals)
duren
to last / to take time
Questions & Answers about Onze pauze duurt altijd een kwartier.
The lesson is about kwart voor and kwart over. Why does this sentence use kwartier instead of kwart?
Kwart means 'quarter' and is used when pointing to a specific time on the clock, like kwart over twee (a quarter past two). But when you want to talk about a duration of time lasting 15 minutes (a quarter of an hour), you must use the word kwartier.
Why do we say onze pauze instead of ons pauze?
In Dutch, the word for 'our' changes depending on the noun. Because pauze is a de-word (de pauze), we use onze. If we were talking about a het-word, like het huis (the house), we would use ons huis.
Why is the verb duurt the third word in the sentence?
It is actually in the second position! Dutch uses a strict rule where the verb must be the second building block in a normal sentence. Onze pauze (our break) counts as one single block because it is the subject. The verb duurt then correctly takes the second spot.
Where does the verb duurt come from, and why does it have two 'u's?