Questions & Answers about Het regent, dus blijven wij binnen.
Why is the word order blijven wij instead of wij blijven?
In Dutch, the conjugated verb usually has to be in the second position of a clause. The word dus (therefore/so) takes up the first spot in the second part of this sentence. Because the verb blijven must come second, the subject wij gets pushed to the third spot. This swapping of the subject and verb is called inversion.
The English translation says "are staying", but where is the word for "are" in the Dutch sentence?
You don't need it! Dutch doesn't usually use an "am/is/are + -ing" form (the continuous tense) the way English does. The simple present tense verb blijven translates to both "stay" and "are staying". The same goes for regent, which covers both "rains" and "is raining".
How do you use the word binnen?
In this sentence, binnen is used to mean "indoors" or "inside". A great way to remember it is to learn its opposite at the same time: buiten, which means "outside" or "outdoors".
Why does the sentence start with het?
Just like in English where we say "it is raining" instead of naming a specific thing that is doing the raining, Dutch uses the neutral pronoun het as a placeholder or "dummy subject" when talking about the weather, time, or temperature.