Breakdown of Meen je dat?
menen
to mean sincerely, to be serious
Questions & Answers about Meen je dat?
Why is the verb meen used here instead of betekent?
In Dutch, there are two different verbs for 'to mean'. Use menen (where meen comes from) when a person means what they say or is being serious. Use betekenen when asking what a word, symbol, or situation means. Since you are asking a person if they are serious about what they just said, you use menen.
Can I translate this phrase as 'Are you serious?'
Yes! While the literal translation is 'Do you mean that?', Meen je dat? is the standard Dutch way to express surprise and ask 'Are you serious?', 'Really?', or 'Are you joking?'.
Why does the sentence start with the verb?
Because this is a yes/no question. Dutch forms yes/no questions by putting the verb first, followed by the subject. Here, the verb meen comes before the subject je.
Why is it meen je instead of meent je when je normally takes a -t at the end?
When the subject je or jij comes directly after the verb, the -t at the end of the verb is dropped. If it were a statement, it would be Je meent dat, but because it is a question, the word order is flipped and it becomes Meen je dat?.
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