Learn Dutch: Er zijn vier kassa's open in de supermarkt. - There are four cash registers open in the supermarket.

Er zijn vier kassa's open in de supermarkt.

There are four cash registers open in the supermarket.

Breakdown of Er zijn vier kassa's open in de supermarkt.

Questions & Answers about Er zijn vier kassa's open in de supermarkt.

Why does kassa's get an apostrophe before the 's'?

Nouns ending in a single open vowel (like a, o, u, i, or y) get an 's for their plural. If you just added an s to make kassas, Dutch pronunciation rules would make that final a sound short. The apostrophe keeps the a sound long.

Could I just say Vier kassa's zijn open in de supermarkt?

You would be understood, but Dutch speakers strongly prefer starting with Er zijn (There are) when introducing an unspecified amount of something (like vier kassa's) in a specific location. Using Er zijn here sounds much more natural.

Since kassa's is plural, why doesn't the word open get an -e ending?

Adjectives generally only get an extra -e when they are placed directly in front of the noun they describe. Because open comes after the noun here to describe its state, it gets no ending. As a bonus tip: open is actually a special exception in Dutch and never gets an -e, even when placed before a noun (like de open deuren).

Why do we use in for the supermarket, but op for a regular market?