Breakdown of Onze papa en mama zijn thuis.
thuis
at home
onze
our (de-words, plurals)
de papa
the dad
de mama
the mom
Questions & Answers about Onze papa en mama zijn thuis.
Why do we use Onze instead of Ons?
The word for "our" has two forms in Dutch: ons and onze. We use ons with singular het-words, and onze with de-words and all plurals. Because papa is a de-word (de papa), we use onze.
Does Onze cover both papa and mama in this sentence?
Yes. Just like in English, you can put the possessive adjective once at the beginning. Because both papa and mama are de-words, onze grammatically fits both. If one of them was a het-word, you would have to add ons before it (for example: Onze papa en ons kind).
Why do we use the plural verb zijn when papa and mama are singular people?
zijn means "are". Even though a dad is one person and a mom is one person, together they form a plural group ("they"). Whenever you connect subjects with en (and), they become plural, so you must use the plural verb zijn instead of the singular is.
Why is there no word for "at" before thuis?
The word thuis already means "at home" all by itself, so you don't need an extra word for "at". Be careful not to confuse it with huis, which just means "house" (the physical building).
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