Breakdown of Duizend studenten leren Nederlands.
de student
the student
leren
to learn
Nederlands
Dutch
duizend
one thousand
Questions & Answers about Duizend studenten leren Nederlands.
Why doesn't the Dutch sentence use a word for "A" before "thousand"?
In English we say "a thousand" or "one thousand", but in Dutch, you don't use een (a/one) before it. You simply say duizend. The exact same rule applies to honderd (a hundred).
Why does the verb leren end in -en?
Because the subject, Duizend studenten (A thousand students), is plural. In Dutch, when the subject is plural (we, you all, or they), the verb takes its full infinitive form, which almost always ends in -en.
The translation says "are learning", but there is no word for "are" in the Dutch sentence. Why?
Dutch doesn't have an exact match for the English "-ing" form (like "are learning"). The simple present tense verb leren handles both meanings, so it translates to both "learn" and "are learning" depending on what makes sense in English.
Why is Nederlands capitalized?
Just like in English, the names of languages are always capitalized in Dutch. You might also notice that many language names end in -s in Dutch, such as Nederlands, Engels, and Frans.