Breakdown of Hoor je de muzikant gitaar spelen?
spelen
to play
horen
to hear
de gitaar
the guitar
je
you (unstressed form of jij)
Questions & Answers about Hoor je de muzikant gitaar spelen?
Why do we use the infinitive spelen instead of speelt here?
Because of the verb hoor (to hear). When you use a verb of perception like hearing, seeing, or feeling someone do something, the second verb is a bare infinitive (the whole verb, without 'te'). It is very similar to English: you say 'I hear him play', not 'I hear him plays'.
Why is spelen at the very end of the sentence?
In Dutch, when a sentence has two verbs (here, hoor and spelen), the conjugated verb comes first in a yes/no question, and the infinitive is pushed all the way to the end of the clause.
The English translation says 'play the guitar', so why is there no de before gitaar?
In Dutch, when talking about playing an instrument, we usually leave out the article. So 'playing the guitar' translates directly to the activity gitaar spelen.
Why doesn't the verb hoor have a -t at the end? Isn't it usually je hoort?
Yes, normally it is je hoort. But in a question, when je or jij comes immediately after the verb, the -t ending is dropped. That is why it is Hoor je instead of Hoort je.