Word
De dame roept haar hond.
Meaning
The lady is calling her dog.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
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Questions & Answers about De dame roept haar hond.
This lesson is about object pronouns like haar, but here it translates to "her dog" (a possession). Are they the same word?
Yes! Just like in English, the Dutch word haar does double duty. It can be an object pronoun ("I see her" = Ik zie haar) or a possessive pronoun indicating ownership ("her dog" = haar hond). In this sentence, it is acting as a possessive pronoun.
The English translation says "is calling", but I don't see a word for "is" in the Dutch sentence. Why?
Dutch does not have a direct equivalent to the English "-ing" form (present continuous) that uses the word "is". The simple present tense verb roept can translate to both "calls" and "is calling" depending on the context.
What is the infinitive (dictionary form) of the verb roept?
The infinitive is roepen (to call or to shout). To make the verb match De dame (which is a "she"), we take the stem of the verb (roep) and add a -t, making it roept.
Could I say De vrouw roept haar hond instead?
Yes, absolutely! Vrouw means "woman", while dame means "lady". Both work perfectly fine here, but dame sounds a little more polite or formal, just like it does in English.