In de winter willen we schaatsen.

Questions & Answers about In de winter willen we schaatsen.

Why is it in de winter instead of just in winter?
In Dutch, when you talk about seasons, you almost always use the definite article de. So, while in English you say 'in winter', in Dutch you must say In de winter (literally 'in the winter').
Why does the verb willen come before the subject we?
This is the V2 (verb second) rule in action. Because the sentence starts with the time phrase In de winter, the main verb willen must take the second position, pushing the subject we to the third position.
Does willen mean 'will' in English?
No, willen is a false friend. It looks like 'will' but it actually means 'to want'. If you want to talk about the future and say 'we will ice skate', you would use the Dutch verb zullen.
Why is schaatsen at the very end of the sentence?
When you use a helper verb like willen (to want), the second verb in the sentence (schaatsen) gets pushed to the very end in its full dictionary form (the infinitive).

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