Breakdown of We eten gewoonlijk brood bij de lunch.
eten
to eat
het brood
the bread
bij
at / near / by
de lunch
the lunch
Questions & Answers about We eten gewoonlijk brood bij de lunch.
Why does gewoonlijk come right after the verb eten?
In a basic Dutch sentence, adverbs of frequency like gewoonlijk usually come after the main verb but before the direct object (the thing being acted upon, which is brood here). Because of this rule, you say We eten gewoonlijk brood instead of the English order 'We eat bread usually'.
Could I put gewoonlijk at the beginning of the sentence to emphasize it?
Yes, you can! But remember that Dutch uses a 'verb second' rule. If you start the sentence with the adverb, the subject and verb must swap places. It becomes: Gewoonlijk eten we brood bij de lunch.
Is the word gewoonlijk related to the word gewoon?
Yes! Gewoon means 'normal' or 'common' (and is often used to mean 'just'). Adding the suffix -lijk turns it into an adverb, meaning 'usually' or 'customarily'.
Why do we use bij instead of voor to say 'for lunch'?
In Dutch, you use bij (which often means 'at' or 'with') when talking about what you eat or drink with a specific meal. So 'for lunch' becomes bij de lunch and 'for breakfast' is bij het ontbijt.