Breakdown of Ik ga eerst naar huis.
het huis
the house
naar
to
gaan
to go / to go off (of an alarm)
eerst
first (adverb: first of all)
Questions & Answers about Ik ga eerst naar huis.
Why is it eerst here instead of the ordinal number eerste?
Eerste describes a noun, like de eerste keer (the first time). But when you mean 'firstly' or 'before doing anything else', you drop the -e ending and just use eerst.
Why is 'home' translated as naar huis instead of thuis?
Thuis means being at home (a fixed location). Naar huis literally means 'to house' and is used for direction. Because you are moving toward your house, you must use naar huis.
Why does eerst come right after ga?
In Dutch, words that tell you when something happens (like eerst) usually come right after the main verb, and they come before the destination (naar huis).
The English translation says 'I am going', but ik ga is just present tense. Is that correct?
Yes! Dutch does not have a separate continuous tense like 'I am doing'. Ik ga translates to both 'I go' and 'I am going'.