Breakdown of Het is koud, dus draag ik mijn jas.
ik
I
zijn
to be
de jas
the coat
koud
cold
mijn
my
dragen
to wear
het
it
dus
so, therefore
Questions & Answers about Het is koud, dus draag ik mijn jas.
Why is it draag ik and not ik draag after dus?
In Dutch, the word dus (so/therefore) can pull the verb to the second position of the new clause. When a clause starts with dus, the verb (draag) often comes right after it, and the subject (ik) moves behind the verb. This swapping is called inversion. While dus ik draag is also grammatically correct, dus draag ik is very common and sounds natural.
The English translation says "I am wearing", but where is the "am" in the Dutch sentence?
Dutch doesn't use a separate "am doing" or "is doing" form as much as English does. The simple present tense verb draag (wear) means both "wear" and "am wearing". Adding a Dutch word for "am" here would be incorrect!
Can jas mean both coat and jacket?
Yes! In Dutch, jas is a very general word used for almost any type of outer garment you wear outdoors. Whether it's a heavy winter coat or a light summer jacket, you can just call it a jas.
Why is the verb spelled draag with a double A?
The infinitive (dictionary form) of the verb is dragen (to wear). To make the ik (I) form, we drop the -en ending. If we just wrote drag, the A would sound short. To keep the long A sound from dragen, we have to double the vowel, resulting in draag.
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