Breakdown of Vroeger hadden we veel speelgoed op zolder.
hebben
to have
veel
much / many / a lot of
op
on
we
we (unstressed form of wij)
vroeger
in the past
het speelgoed
the toys
de zolder
the attic
Questions & Answers about Vroeger hadden we veel speelgoed op zolder.
Why do we use hadden here instead of had?
Hadden is the plural simple past tense of the verb hebben (to have). Because the subject of this sentence is the plural word we, you must use hadden. If the subject were singular, like ik (I) or hij (he), you would use had.
Why does the verb hadden come before the subject we?
This happens because the sentence starts with the time word vroeger (in the past). In Dutch main clauses, the verb must be the second idea in the sentence. Because vroeger takes the first spot, the verb hadden stays in the second spot, forcing the subject we to move right after it. This swapping is called inversion.
Why is "toys" translated as speelgoed? Isn't that a singular word?
In Dutch, speelgoed is an uncountable noun, just like "furniture" or "water" in English. It literally translates to "play-stuff". Because it is uncountable, it doesn't get a plural ending, even when you mean multiple toys.
Why do we say op zolder instead of "in de zolder"?
In Dutch, you use the preposition op (on) for attics, so you are literally saying "on attic". Furthermore, op zolder is a fixed phrase that drops the article de (the), much like how English speakers say "in bed" or "at school" without the word "the".
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