Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have an entire course teaching Dutch grammar and vocabulary.
Questions & Answers about Ik houd de deur open.
Why is open at the very end of the sentence?
This is because the verb here is openhouden (to hold open), which is a separable verb. In a standard main sentence, the verb splits: the core verb (houd) takes the second position, and the prefix (open) goes all the way to the end of the sentence.
I sometimes see hou for "I hold". Why is it houd here?
Both ik hou and ik houd are perfectly correct! For the verb houden (to hold/keep), dropping the -d is very common and sounds more natural in everyday spoken Dutch. Keeping the -d is just slightly more formal and more common in writing.
How is the -d at the end of houd pronounced?
In Dutch, when a word ends in a -d, it is always pronounced like a "t". So houd sounds exactly like the Dutch word hout (wood).
If I wanted to add "for you", where would it go in this sentence?
Extra information usually goes between the object (de deur) and the separated prefix (open). To say "I hold the door open for you", you would say: Ik houd de deur voor je open. The prefix open insists on staying at the very end!