Learn Dutch: Wij drinken 's middags graag thee. - We like to drink tea in the afternoon.

It is an old-fashioned abbreviation for des, which means "of the". So 's middags literally means "of the afternoon", but today it is used to say "in the afternoon" or "in the afternoons" to describe a routine.

How do you pronounce 's middags?

You pronounce it as one fluid word, sounding like "smiddags". The apostrophe just shows that letters were left out of the old grammar, but in speech, the s attaches directly to the start of the next word.

Why is there no verb for "to like" in this sentence?

In Dutch, instead of using a verb like "to like" to say you enjoy doing an action, you usually use the action verb itself (drinken) and add the word graag (gladly). So Wij drinken graag translates perfectly to "We like to drink".

Why does 's middags come before graag thee?

In Dutch word order, expressions of time usually come as early as possible after the first verb. The time ('s middags) steps in right after drinken, pushing how you do it (graag) and what you drink (thee) toward the end of the sentence.