Breakdown of Laten we naar huis gaan!
het huis
the house
naar
to
gaan
to go / to go off (of an alarm)
laten
to let (laten we ... = let's ...)
Questions & Answers about Laten we naar huis gaan!
Is laten we the standard way to say "let's" in Dutch?
Yes! To make a suggestion involving yourself and others, you use laten we (literally "let we") followed by the rest of the sentence. You always put the action you want to do at the very end.
Why is gaan at the very end instead of right after we?
Because laten acts as the first, main verb here. In Dutch, when you have a helper verb like laten, the second verb (the action verb, which is gaan here) gets pushed all the way to the end of the sentence in its full dictionary form.
Why do we say naar huis? Doesn't huis just mean "house"?
Yes, huis means "house", but the fixed phrase naar huis is exactly how the Dutch say they are going "home". You always need the preposition naar (to) when expressing movement toward your home.
Why can't I use thuis here instead of huis?
Thuis means being at home, not the destination. You use thuis when there is no movement, like saying "I am home" (ik ben thuis). Because you are traveling to the location in this sentence, you must use naar huis.
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