Breakdown of De hete soep is pikant, maar we hebben er nog niet van gegeten.
zijn
to be
niet
not
maar
but
hebben
to have
eten
to eat
de soep
the soup
van
from (possession, starting point) / made of
we
we (unstressed form of wij)
nog
still, yet / more, another (with a quantity)
er
it (in 'er ... op/mee', pronominal adverb)
heet
hot
pikant
spicy (hot, pungent)
Questions & Answers about De hete soep is pikant, maar we hebben er nog niet van gegeten.
Why does this sentence use both hete and pikant? Don't they both mean "hot"?
In English, "hot" can mean high in temperature or spicy. Dutch makes a clear distinction: heet refers to temperature, while pikant (or pittig) refers to the spice level. So De hete soep is pikant specifically means the high-temperature soup is also spicy.
Why do we use er ... van instead of translating "from it" directly?
In Dutch, you cannot combine a preposition with het (it). Instead of saying van het, you must create a pronominal adverb: ervan. In this sentence, it splits around nog niet, placing er early in the clause and pushing van toward the end.
Why is van placed right before the past participle gegeten?
When a pronominal adverb like ervan is split, the first part (er) usually goes as early as possible after the verb or subject. The preposition part (van) gets pushed toward the end of the clause, landing just before the verbs at the end (in this case, the past participle gegeten).
Since this lesson is about evenmin, how could I use it if both parts of the sentence were negative?
If you wanted to say "The soup is not spicy, nor have we eaten from it yet," you could say: De soep is niet pikant, en we hebben er evenmin nog van gegeten. Here, evenmin acts as an adverb meaning "neither" or "nor," replacing ook niet. It elegantly connects the negative statements without changing the standard main clause word order.
Learn De hete soep is pikant, maar we hebben er nog niet van gegeten and more in Dutch
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free