Breakdown of Hij gaat de schutting van de buurvrouw opknappen, toch?
hij
he / it (referring to a 'de'-word)
gaan
to go / to go off (of an alarm)
de buurvrouw
the neighbor (female)
van
from (possession, starting point) / made of
toch
still, anyway (particle) / right? (question tag)
de schutting
the fence (solid, for privacy)
opknappen
to renovate / to spruce up (fix up, refurbish)
Questions & Answers about Hij gaat de schutting van de buurvrouw opknappen, toch?
Why use toch at the end of this sentence, and could I use hè instead?
In this sentence, toch translates to "right?" or "isn't he?". You use it when you are fairly sure of the information (that he is fixing the fence) but want the other person to confirm it. You could absolutely use hè here as well! Hè is slightly more informal and conversational, while toch is a standard, clear way to ask for confirmation.
Why is opknappen (to fix up) placed at the very end of the sentence?
This is because of the verb gaat (is going to). When you use gaan to talk about a future plan or intention, it pushes the second verb (the infinitive opknappen) to the very end of the sentence. So the literal word order is "He goes the fence of the neighbor fix up."
I learned that opknappen is a separable verb. Why aren't the two parts separated here?
You are right, opknappen is a separable verb (op + knappen). However, separable verbs only split when they are the conjugated (main) verb in a standard sentence. Because gaat is the conjugated verb here, opknappen stays in its full infinitive form and does not split.
Why do we say de schutting van de buurvrouw instead of de buurvrouws schutting?
While Dutch does have an 's structure for possession, it is mostly used with proper names (like Jans schutting). For regular nouns like de buurvrouw (the female neighbor), it is much more natural and grammatically typical to use the van (of) construction.
Learn Hij gaat de schutting van de buurvrouw opknappen, toch 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