Breakdown of Je voegt een lepel suiker toe.
een
a/an
de suiker
the sugar
je
you (unstressed form of jij)
toevoegen
to add
Questions & Answers about Je voegt een lepel suiker toe.
Why is toe at the very end of the sentence?
It comes from the separable verb toevoegen (to add). In a main clause, the verb splits: the main part (voegt) goes in the second position, and the prefix (toe) is pushed all the way to the end of the sentence.
Why isn't there a word for 'of' in een lepel suiker?
In Dutch, when you express a quantity or container of something, you don't use a word for 'of' (van). You just put the container (een lepel) directly in front of the substance (suiker).
This lesson is about quantitative er. Why isn't er used in this sentence?
Quantitative er is used to replace a noun when you state a quantity but leave out the noun itself. Because this sentence explicitly mentions the noun (suiker), we don't need er here.
If I already mentioned the spoons, how would I use quantitative er to just say 'You add one'?
You would say Je voegt er één toe. Here, er replaces the noun and acts as 'of them'. Notice that you still need the number (één) to tell us how many you are adding!