Breakdown of De grijze kat slaapt op de bank.
de kat
the cat
slapen
to sleep
op
on
de bank
the sofa / the couch
grijs
grey
Questions & Answers about De grijze kat slaapt op de bank.
Why is it grijze and not just grijs?
Because the adjective comes right before the noun (kat) it describes. In Dutch, adjectives usually get an extra -e at the end when they are placed directly in front of a noun. Since kat is a de-word, the adjective gets the -e ending.
The dictionary says grey is grijs. Where did the z come from in grijze?
This is a very common Dutch spelling rule. When you add an -e to a word that ends in an -s, the s changes to a z. The same thing happens with words ending in -f, which change to a v.
How do you form the verb slaapt here?
The dictionary form of the verb is slapen (to sleep). To make the 'he/she/it' form for de kat (the cat), you take the stem (slaap) and add a -t to get slaapt.
Doesn't bank mean a place that holds money?
Yes! The word bank means exactly the same two things in Dutch as it does in English: a financial institution and a sofa or bench. You can tell by the context here that the cat is sleeping on a sofa.
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