Breakdown of Je ziet de groep op het podium springen.
zien
to see
op
on
je
you (unstressed form of jij)
de groep
the group
het podium
the stage
springen
to jump
Questions & Answers about Je ziet de groep op het podium springen.
Why isn't there a te before springen?
Because zien (to see) is a verb of perception. Just like in English ('You see them jump', not 'You see them to jump'), Dutch verbs of perception like zien, horen (to hear), and voelen (to feel) use the bare infinitive without te.
Why is springen at the very end of the sentence instead of right after ziet?
In Dutch main clauses, the conjugated verb (ziet) takes the second position, but any additional verbs are sent to the very end of the sentence. Because of this rule, the infinitive springen must come after the object (de groep) and the location (op het podium).
Could this sentence also translate to 'You see the group jumping on the stage'?
Yes! English distinguishes between 'see them jump' and 'see them jumping', but Dutch uses the same structure for both. The bare infinitive springen combined with a verb of perception covers both the simple and continuous action.
Why do we use het for podium instead of de?
Podium is a neuter noun in Dutch, so it takes the article het. As a handy tip, almost all nouns borrowed from Latin that end in '-ium' (like het museum or het centrum) are het words.
Learn Je ziet de groep op het podium springen and more in Dutch
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free