Breakdown of Het concert duurt van de middag tot de nacht.
tot
until
duren
to last / to take time
van
from (possession, starting point) / made of
de middag
the afternoon
het concert
the concert
de nacht
the night
Questions & Answers about Het concert duurt van de middag tot de nacht.
I see van and tot used together here. Do they always mean 'from' and 'until' when talking about time?
Yes! In Dutch, to express a duration from a start time to an end time, you use the combination van ... tot ... (from ... until/to ...). You can use it with broad times of day like in this sentence, or specific hours like van acht tot tien (from eight to ten).
In English we say 'from afternoon to night'. Could I use naar instead of tot here?
No, you must use tot for time. While English uses 'to' for both time ('from 1 to 2') and direction ('going to the store'), Dutch strictly uses tot for time and limits, and naar for physical directions or destinations.
Does de middag mean 'noon' or 'afternoon'?
It can mean both depending on the context! Exactly at 12:00, it means 'noon'. But it is also widely used to mean the entire 'afternoon' (from 12:00 until about 18:00). Because a concert usually lasts much longer than a single minute at noon, 'afternoon' is the natural translation here.
The verb duurt means 'lasts'. Is it related to the English word 'duration'?
Yes, it is! The verb duren means 'to last' or 'to take an amount of time'. Recognizing its connection to the English words 'duration' and 'endure' is a great trick to remember it.
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