Word
In de kantoortuin gebruiken we elkaars spullen.
Meaning
In the open-plan office, we use each other's stuff.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of In de kantoortuin gebruiken we elkaars spullen.
in
in
gebruiken
to use
we
we (unstressed form of wij)
de spullen
the stuff / the belongings
Questions & Answers about In de kantoortuin gebruiken we elkaars spullen.
How does the word elkaars work in this sentence?
Elkaars translates to "each other's". It is formed by adding an -s to the reciprocal pronoun elkaar (each other) to show possession. Even though it sits in front of a noun like an adjective, its ending never changes based on the gender or plurality of the noun that follows.
Does the word kantoortuin literally mean "office garden"?
Yes! It is a compound word made of kantoor (office) and tuin (garden). In Dutch, this is the standard, everyday term for an open-plan office where desks are grouped together in one large room without dividing walls.
Why does the verb come before the subject in gebruiken we?
This happens because of a rule called inversion. Because this sentence starts with a prepositional phrase of location (In de kantoortuin) instead of the subject, the main verb (gebruiken) and the subject (we) must swap places so the verb stays in the second grammatical position.
Can I use spullen to talk about a single item?
No, spullen (meaning stuff or belongings) is always plural in Dutch and does not have a singular form. If you want to talk about just one piece of stuff, you would need a different word entirely, such as het ding (the thing).