Breakdown of Regent het vandaag, of schijnt de zon?
vandaag
today
het
it
of
or
regenen
to rain
de zon
the sun
schijnen
to shine
Questions & Answers about Regent het vandaag, of schijnt de zon?
Does of change the word order in the second part of the sentence?
No, of (or) is a coordinating conjunction. Words like en (and), maar (but), and of (or) act like a simple bridge between two sentences without changing their word order. The second part of this sentence is a question, so it keeps the standard question word order: verb (schijnt) followed by the subject (de zon).
Why do both halves of this sentence start with a verb (Regent and schijnt)?
Both halves are yes/no questions connected by of. In Dutch, you make a yes/no question by putting the verb at the very beginning. The first question is Regent het vandaag? (Is it raining today?) and the second is schijnt de zon? (is the sun shining?).
Where is the translation for 'is' and '-ing' in Regent het?
Dutch does not have an exact equivalent for the English 'is doing something' form. Instead, you just use the simple present tense. So, Regent het? translates to both 'Does it rain?' and 'Is it raining?'.
Does het in Regent het mean the same thing as 'it' in English?
Yes! Just like in English, Dutch uses het (it) as a filler subject when talking about the weather. You will also see this in sentences like Het is koud (It is cold).
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