Breakdown of Wij vinden op de rommelmarkt wat vazen bij het porselein.
wij
we
op
on
vinden
to find
bij
at / near / by
Questions & Answers about Wij vinden op de rommelmarkt wat vazen bij het porselein.
I learned that wat is used for uncountable nouns (like wat water). Why is it used here with the plural countable noun vazen?
While it is true that wat is used with uncountable nouns to mean "some", it is also extremely common in everyday Dutch to use wat with plural countable nouns. When used with a plural noun like vazen, it translates to "a few" or "some".
Could I use een paar or enkele instead of wat in this sentence?
Yes, you absolutely could! Wij vinden ... een paar vazen or enkele vazen would mean exactly the same thing. wat and een paar are very common in spoken and casual Dutch, whereas enkele sounds slightly more formal.
Why does the location (op de rommelmarkt) come before the direct object (wat vazen)?
This has to do with how definite and indefinite objects behave in Dutch word order. A definite object (like de vazen) would typically come before a place expression: Wij vinden de vazen op de rommelmarkt. However, because wat vazen is indefinite (meaning "some vases" rather than specific ones), it sounds most natural to place it after the location.
Why is the preposition bij used in bij het porselein?