Breakdown of Hij wil het goud verkopen.
hij
he / it (referring to a 'de'-word)
verkopen
to sell
willen
to want
het goud
the gold
Questions & Answers about Hij wil het goud verkopen.
The lesson is about material adjectives like gouden. Why does this sentence use goud instead of gouden?
Because here, goud is acting as a noun (the material itself: 'the gold'), not an adjective. You only use the -en suffix when the material is describing another noun. If he wanted to sell a gold ring, you would use the adjective form: een gouden ring.
I see goud gets the article het. Are all metals het-words?
Yes, almost always! A very helpful rule in Dutch is that names of metals and basic materials are neuter, meaning they take het. Other examples include het zilver (the silver), het hout (the wood), and het ijzer (the iron).
Doesn't the verb form for hij usually end in -t? Why is it hij wil instead of hij wilt?
Willen (to want) is an irregular verb. While most regular verbs add a -t for hij, zij, and het (like hij werkt), the standard and most common form for 'he wants' is simply hij wil.
Why is verkopen placed at the very end of the sentence?
Because of the modal verb wil (wants to). In Dutch, when you use a helper verb like willen, kunnen (can), or moeten (must), the main action verb (verkopen) stays in its full infinitive form and is pushed to the very end of the sentence.
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