Breakdown of Hij leefde in de stad met één meubel.
hij
he / it (referring to a 'de'-word)
één
one
in
in
de stad
the city
met
with
leven
to live (to be alive)
het meubel
the piece of furniture
Questions & Answers about Hij leefde in de stad met één meubel.
Why does leefde use -de instead of -te, even though its stem ends with an 'f'?
To choose between -de and -te for the simple past, you look at the full verb, which is leven (to live). Remove the -en to find the root consonant, which is 'v'. Because 'v' is a voiced consonant (it is not in the 't kofschip rule), the verb gets the -de ending. However, Dutch spelling rules change the 'v' to an 'f' at the end of a syllable, resulting in leefde.
Could I say 'Hij woonde in de stad' instead of 'Hij leefde'?
Yes, and woonde is actually more common when talking about your address or where you reside. Leefde (from leven) focuses more on a person's existence or life experience in that place, rather than just the location of their home.
Why does één have accent marks?
The accent marks show that it means the number 'one'. Without the accents, een is simply the article 'a' or 'an'. Writing één emphasizes that he had exactly one piece of furniture, not just 'a' piece.
In English, 'furniture' is an uncountable concept. Can you count 'meubel' in Dutch?
Yes! Unlike the English word 'furniture', the Dutch word meubel is a regular countable noun meaning 'a piece of furniture'. You can have één meubel (one piece of furniture), or the plural meubels (multiple pieces of furniture).
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