Questions & Answers about Goedenavond, wij eten nu.
Why does the translation say "we are eating" instead of "we eat"?
Dutch doesn't usually use a separate "am/is/are doing" form like English does. The simple present tense eten can mean either "eat" or "are eating" depending on the context. Here, adding nu (now) makes it clear that it is happening right at this moment.
Why does Goedenavond have an "en" in the middle?
In older Dutch, adjectives changed their endings depending on their role in the sentence. The "en" in goedenavond (good evening) and goedemorgen (good morning) is a leftover from that older grammar. For a beginner, it is easiest to just memorize these greetings as fixed, single words.
Could I say we instead of wij in this sentence?
Yes! The word we is the normal, unstressed word for "we", while wij adds a little extra emphasis. If you use wij here, you might be stressing that we (as opposed to someone else) are eating now. If you just want to state a casual fact, we eten nu is very common and sounds natural.
Why is the verb eten spelled exactly like the dictionary form?
In Dutch, all plural pronouns like wij (we), jullie (you all), and zij (they) use the full, unconjugated dictionary form of the verb (called the infinitive). Because of this rule, "we eat" is simply wij eten.
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