Breakdown of Gefeliciteerd! Wij gaan het feest vieren.
wij
we
het feest
the party
gaan
to go / to go off (of an alarm)
vieren
to celebrate
gefeliciteerd
congratulations
Questions & Answers about Gefeliciteerd! Wij gaan het feest vieren.
How does this sentence use the future tense?
It uses the auxiliary verb gaan (to go) combined with the infinitive verb vieren (to celebrate). Just like in English, Dutch uses gaan to talk about plans or actions that are going to happen.
Why is vieren at the very end of the sentence?
In Dutch, when you use a helper verb like gaan, the second verb (the infinitive) gets pushed to the very end of the sentence. The main verb gaan stays in the second position right after the subject Wij, while the object het feest is sandwiched in between.
The translation just says "We are going to celebrate", but what does het feest vieren literally mean?
Literally, it means "to celebrate the party." In English, you can just say "we are going to celebrate," but in Dutch, it is much more natural to include the object and say het feest vieren (to celebrate the party) or een feestje vieren (to celebrate a little party).
Why does Gefeliciteerd end in a 'd' and look like a past tense word?
It is actually a past participle! It comes from the verb feliciteren (to congratulate). In Dutch, we often use a past participle all by itself as an exclamation, which is why it translates simply to "Congratulations!".
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