Breakdown of Nemen jullie de boodschappen mee?
jullie
you (plural)
de boodschappen
the groceries
meenemen
to take along / to bring
Questions & Answers about Nemen jullie de boodschappen mee?
Why is the verb split into nemen at the start and mee at the end?
This sentence uses the separable verb meenemen (to bring along / to take with). In a main clause or a question like this, the verb splits. The core verb (nemen) moves to the front to form the question, and the prefix (mee) gets pushed all the way to the end of the sentence.
Doesn't nemen usually mean 'to take'? Why is it translated as 'bringing' here?
Yes, nemen alone means 'to take'. However, the complete separable verb in this sentence is meenemen, which literally translates to 'to take along'. In English, it is often most natural to translate this action as 'to bring'.
Why does the sentence start with Nemen instead of Jullie nemen?
This is a yes/no question. In Dutch, just like in English, you swap the subject and the verb to turn a statement into a question. So the statement Jullie nemen de boodschappen mee (You are bringing the groceries) becomes the question Nemen jullie de boodschappen mee? (Are you bringing the groceries?).
Why does this sentence use jullie instead of jij for 'you'?
Jullie is the plural form of 'you' (like 'y'all' or 'you guys' in English). The speaker is asking more than one person if they are bringing the groceries. If they were asking just one person, it would be Neem jij de boodschappen mee?
Is boodschappen always plural?
When you are talking about 'groceries' or doing 'errands', it is almost always used in the plural form (de boodschappen). The singular word de boodschap exists, but it usually means a 'message'.
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