Breakdown of Dat is een oud gebruik in Nederland.
oud
old
dat
that (het-words)
Nederland
the Netherlands
het gebruik
the use; the custom
Questions & Answers about Dat is een oud gebruik in Nederland.
Why is it oud and not oude?
In Dutch, adjectives usually get an extra -e at the end. However, you leave the -e off when three things are true: the noun is a het-word, it is singular, and it comes after een (or no article at all). Because gebruik is a het-word (het gebruik), we say een oud gebruik.
Doesn't gebruik mean "use"? How does it mean "custom" here?
The verb gebruiken means "to use". But here it is a noun (het gebruik). While it can mean "the use" or "the usage", in a cultural context it translates to "the custom" or "the tradition".
In English we say "the Netherlands". Why is there no article before Nederland?
English treats "the Netherlands" as a plural name that requires "the". In Dutch, Nederland is a singular country name and does not take an article, just like "Germany" or "Spain".
Why does the sentence start with Dat and not Die?
When introducing or pointing something out with the verb is (to be), Dutch always uses dat (that) or dit (this). This happens regardless of whether the noun later in the sentence is a de-word or a het-word. It works exactly like the English phrase "That is...".