Questions & Answers about De kat zit onder de stoel.
Why do we say zit (sits) here instead of just saying "The cat is under the chair"?
In Dutch, when describing where something is located, it is much more common to use a "position verb" rather than just saying is (is). Because a cat typically rests on its bottom or paws, we use zit (sits). If the cat were lying flat, you would use ligt (lies), and if we were talking about a person standing upright, we'd use staat (stands).
Does onder work exactly like the prepositions in and op from this lesson?
Yes! Onder means "under" or "beneath" and functions just like the other prepositions of place you are learning. It tells you the fixed location of the cat. If the cat jumped onto the seat, it would be op de stoel (on the chair), but right now it is resting onder de stoel.
If I want to say "The cat is sitting under the chair", do I need to change the sentence?
You don't need to change anything! Dutch does not have a separate "-ing" tense like English does. The simple present tense De kat zit translates to both "The cat sits" (as a general fact) and "The cat is sitting" (happening right now).
Both kat and stoel use the word de for "the". Is there a specific rule for this?
Dutch has two words for "the": de and het. While there are a few handy rules (for example, all plural words use de), for singular nouns like kat and stoel, you mostly just have to memorize which article goes with the word. It's always best to learn the article and the noun together as one package!
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