Breakdown of Het is 's morgens wat kil, dus ik voel me stijf.
ik
I
zijn
to be
het
it
zich voelen
to feel
dus
so, therefore
's morgens
in the morning
wat
something / some (a little)
stijf
stiff
kil
chilly
Questions & Answers about Het is 's morgens wat kil, dus ik voel me stijf.
How does wat work in this sentence? Can I use een beetje instead?
In this sentence, wat is used as an adverb to modify the adjective kil (chilly). It means 'somewhat' or 'a little'. You can definitely use een beetje instead, as in een beetje kil, but using wat is a very natural and common way for Dutch speakers to soften an adjective.
Why is the word order normal after dus? Shouldn't the verb come first?
The word dus (so) is a coordinating conjunction, which means it joins two independent sentences without changing the word order. That is why you see the normal subject-verb order in ik voel me stijf. If you used an adverb like daarom (therefore) instead, you would need to invert the verb and subject: daarom voel ik me stijf.
Why do I need to include me in ik voel me stijf?
To express how you feel internally or physically, Dutch uses the reflexive verb zich voelen (to feel oneself). Because the subject is ik, you must use the reflexive pronoun me. If you drop it and just say ik voel stijf, it sounds like you are physically touching something stiff with your hands.
What exactly does the 's in 's morgens mean?
The 's is an abbreviation of des, which is an old Dutch article meaning 'of the'. So 's morgens literally translates to 'of the morning', which is the standard Dutch way to say 'in the morning'. You will see this same old grammar pattern in words like 's middags and 's avonds.
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