Breakdown of Ik ben drie eieren aan het bakken.
ik
I
zijn
to be
drie
three
aan
on / at (attached to, edge)
het ei
the egg
bakken
to fry / to bake
Questions & Answers about Ik ben drie eieren aan het bakken.
Wait, the singular is ei, so why does the plural have an extra 'r' to make eieren?
Ei is an irregular noun. Instead of just adding -en or -s like most Dutch words, it gets the special suffix -eren. You will also see this ending on a few other common words, like kind (child), which becomes kinderen (children).
Why is the sentence split into ben and aan het bakken?
This is the Dutch continuous tense, used to say that you are doing something right now. It is formed with a conjugated form of the verb zijn (here as ben) + aan het + the infinitive verb (bakken). Notice the word order: the object (drie eieren) gets sandwiched in the middle!
The translation says "frying", but doesn't bakken mean "baking"?
It means both! Dutch uses bakken for baking in an oven (like bread or a cake) and for frying in a pan (like an egg or a steak). If you want to talk about deep-frying (like french fries), you use a different verb: frituren.
Could I just say Ik bak drie eieren instead?
Yes, you can! Ik bak drie eieren translates to "I fry three eggs" or "I am frying three eggs." The normal Dutch present tense often covers both. However, using ben ... aan het bakken specifically emphasizes that you are busy doing it right at this exact moment.
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