Breakdown of Het weer is slecht en het regent.
zijn
to be
en
and
het weer
the weather
het
it
slecht
bad
regenen
to rain
Questions & Answers about Het weer is slecht en het regent.
Does en change the word order in the second part of the sentence?
No, it does not! The word en (and) is a coordinating conjunction, which means it just glues two normal sentences together. The second part keeps the standard subject-verb order (het regent), just as if it were a standalone sentence.
Why does het regent translate to "it is raining" instead of "it rains"?
Dutch generally does not use an "is -ing" form like English does. The simple present tense het regent translates to both "it rains" and "it is raining". You can tell from the context that it is describing something happening right now.
Why is the adjective just slecht and not slechte?
When an adjective comes after the verb to describe the subject, it never gets an extra -e at the end. You only add the -e when the adjective comes directly before a noun, such as in the phrase het slechte weer (the bad weather).
Do both instances of het mean the same thing in this sentence?
No, they do two different jobs. The first het means "the" and goes with the noun weer (weather). The second het means "it", acting as the subject for the verb regent (rains), exactly like how we say "it is raining" in English.
Learn Het weer is slecht en het regent and more in Dutch
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free