Breakdown of Geef onze hond geen brood.
de hond
the dog
geen
no / not any
het brood
the bread
onze
our (de-words, plurals)
geven
to give
Questions & Answers about Geef onze hond geen brood.
Why is there no subject like "jij" in this sentence, and why does "geef" come first?
This sentence is a command (the imperative). Just like in English, you drop the subject and put the verb at the very beginning of the sentence. To make this form in Dutch, you just use the stem of the verb geven (to give), which is geef.
What if I am giving this command to a group of people instead of just one person?
In modern Dutch, the basic command form does not change. Whether you are talking to one person or ten people, you still just use the stem of the verb, so it remains geef onze hond geen brood.
Why is it onze hond and not ons hond for "our dog"?
The Dutch word for "our" changes depending on whether the noun is a de word or a het word. Because dog is a de word (de hond), we must use onze. If it were a het word, like het dier (the animal), you would use ons (ons dier).
Why does the sentence use geen instead of niet to mean "do not"?
In Dutch, geen (meaning "no" or "not any") is used to negate nouns that are indefinite, meaning they do not have words like "the" or "my" in front of them. Because we are talking about bread in general, we say geen brood (literally "no bread") instead of using niet.
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