Learn Dutch: Dat nieuwe toetsenbord typt heel prettig. - That new keyboard types very pleasantly.

Dat nieuwe toetsenbord typt heel prettig.

That new keyboard types very pleasantly.

Breakdown of Dat nieuwe toetsenbord typt heel prettig.

Questions & Answers about Dat nieuwe toetsenbord typt heel prettig.

Wait, a keyboard can't type. Why is the active verb typt used here instead of a passive construction?

This is the facilitive middle voice! In Dutch, we frequently use an active verb with an adverb of manner (like prettig or lekker) to describe how an object is to use or experience. English does this sometimes too (like "this car drives well"), but Dutch uses it for almost anything you can interact with. So typt heel prettig translates smoothly as "is very pleasant to type on."

Could I say typt heel lekker instead of prettig?

Absolutely. Lekker is extremely common in these middle voice constructions (e.g., dat zit lekker, dat leest lekker weg). Prettig is just a slightly more formal or sophisticated way to say pleasant or nice, whereas lekker is more casual and visceral. Both are perfectly natural here.

Toetsenbord is a het word. Why does the adjective nieuwe get an -e ending?

You only drop the -e for het words when they are indefinite (meaning they are preceded by een or no article at all, like een nieuw toetsenbord). Because we are using the specific demonstrative pronoun dat (that), the noun phrase is definite. Therefore, the adjective gets the standard -e ending: dat nieuwe toetsenbord.

Since typen is an English loanword, does it follow standard Dutch conjugation rules here?