Questions & Answers about De kat slaapt nu op het bed.
Why does nu come before op het bed? In English, the translation is "on the bed now".
In Dutch, the rule is "Time before Place". Words that tell you when something happens (like nu) generally come before words that tell you where it happens (like op het bed).
The English translation says "is sleeping", but there is no "is" in the Dutch sentence. Why?
Dutch generally doesn't use an "is doing" form like English does. The single verb slaapt translates to both "sleeps" and "is sleeping".
Could I put nu at the very beginning of the sentence to emphasize it?
Yes, but you have to be careful with your verb! In Dutch, the verb must be the second piece of information. If you start with Nu, the verb slaapt must come next, swapping places with the cat: Nu slaapt de kat op het bed.
Why is it het bed and not de bed?
Nouns in Dutch use either de or het for "the". Bed is a neuter word, which means it always takes het. This is something you just have to memorize as you learn new vocabulary.