Breakdown of De hond slaapt 's nachts in de keuken.
de hond
the dog
in
in
slapen
to sleep
de keuken
the kitchen
Questions & Answers about De hond slaapt 's nachts in de keuken.
Why is there an apostrophe-s ('s) before nacht and an s at the end of the word?
's nachts is a leftover from an old-fashioned way of saying "of the night" (from the old Dutch des nachts). Nowadays, it is used as a fixed expression to mean "at night" or "during the night." The apostrophe replaces the missing letters de, and the extra s at the end of nacht is part of that same old grammar rule.
Does 's nachts mean the dog is sleeping in the kitchen tonight?
Not exactly. Expressions like 's nachts, 's morgens (in the morning), and 's avonds (in the evening) specifically describe a routine or a habit. So this sentence means the dog usually or always sleeps in the kitchen at night, not just this one specific time.
Why is the time ('s nachts) placed before the location (in de keuken)?
Dutch sentences generally follow a word order rule often called "Time, Manner, Place". Because of this, the time of the action ('s nachts) needs to come before the place where it happens (in de keuken).
If I wanted to emphasize the time and start the sentence with 's nachts, how would I capitalize it?
You would capitalize the first full letter of the word, not the s after the apostrophe. It would become: 's Nachts slaapt de hond in de keuken. Notice that the verb (slaapt) also swaps places with the subject (de hond) because of the inversion rule when starting a sentence with a time word!