Breakdown of Hoe noem je dit in het Nederlands?
Nederlands
Dutch
dit
this (neuter)
hoe
how
je
you (unstressed form of jij)
noemen
to call, to name
Questions & Answers about Hoe noem je dit in het Nederlands?
Why does the Dutch sentence start with Hoe (how) when the English translation says "What"?
In English, you ask "What do you call this?", but Dutch uses Hoe (how). The literal translation is "How do you call this?". This is a fixed expression in Dutch that you will use a lot, so it's best to just memorize it!
Could I use jij instead of je in this sentence?
You could, but je is much more natural here. Je often functions like the general "you" or "one" (meaning "What do people call this?"). If you used jij, it would strongly emphasize the specific person you are talking to, as if you were asking for their personal, made-up name for the object.
Why is the word het used before Nederlands?
In Dutch, when you mention a language after the preposition in, you usually include the definite article het. While English just says "in Dutch", Dutch says in het Nederlands (literally: "in the Dutch"). You do this for all languages, like in het Engels (in English) or in het Spaans (in Spanish).
Why is it noem je and not noemt je?
The infinitive (dictionary form) of the verb is noemen (to call / to name). Normally, the "you" form gets a -t at the end (for example, je drinkt). However, in a question where je or jij comes directly after the verb, that -t is dropped. That is why it becomes noem je.
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