Breakdown of Je moet de sokken samen met het T-shirt wassen.
samen
together
met
with
wassen
to wash
moeten
to have to, must
je
you (unstressed form of jij)
de sok
the sock
het T-shirt
the T-shirt
Questions & Answers about Je moet de sokken samen met het T-shirt wassen.
How would I add "the same" to this sentence for both the socks and the T-shirt?
Since sokken is plural, it acts as a de-word and takes dezelfde: dezelfde sokken. T-shirt is a singular het-word, so it takes hetzelfde: hetzelfde T-shirt. If you wanted to wash the same items, you would say: Je moet dezelfde sokken samen met hetzelfde T-shirt wassen.
Why does wassen go at the very end of the sentence?
This sentence uses the modal verb moeten (moet). In a Dutch main clause, the conjugated modal verb takes the second position, which pushes the main action verb (the infinitive wassen) to the very end of the sentence.
Why is it het T-shirt? Do all English clothing loanwords use het?
Not all of them! Loanwords can take either de or het. They often adopt the gender of a native Dutch equivalent. Since the Dutch word for shirt (het hemd) is a het-word, T-shirt is as well. Conversely, a sweater is de trui, so the loanword becomes de sweater.
Is the word samen strictly necessary here, or could I just say met het T-shirt?
You could just use met (with), and the sentence would still be grammatically correct. However, adding samen (together) emphasizes that the socks and the T-shirt are going into the washing machine in the exact same load.
Learn Je moet de sokken samen met het T-shirt wassen and more in Dutch
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free