Word
De kleermaker koopt drie meter stof.
Meaning
The tailor buys three meters of fabric.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of De kleermaker koopt drie meter stof.
kopen
to buy
drie
three
de kleermaker
the tailor
de stof
the fabric / cloth
Questions & Answers about De kleermaker koopt drie meter stof.
Why is it drie meter and not drie meters?
In Dutch, units of measurement, currency, and time usually remain singular when they come after a number. This is why it is drie meter, just like you would say vijf euro or twee jaar.
Where is the word for 'of' in drie meter stof?
Unlike English, Dutch does not use a preposition like van (of) when stating a quantity of a substance or material. You just put the unit of measurement directly next to the noun, making it literally 'three meter fabric'.
I thought stof meant 'dust'. Why does it mean 'fabric' here?
The noun stof has two very common meanings: dust and fabric. You have to rely on context to know which one is meant. Since a tailor is buying it by the meter, it definitely means fabric here.
How does the word kleermaker break down?
It is a straightforward compound word. It combines kleer (a root related to kleren, meaning clothes) and maker (maker). A tailor is literally a clothes-maker in Dutch.