Word
We hoorden de kinderen op het speeltoestel naast de fietsenstalling spelen.
Meaning
We heard the children play on the playground equipment next to the bicycle parking.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of We hoorden de kinderen op het speeltoestel naast de fietsenstalling spelen.
het kind
the child
spelen
to play
op
on
naast
next to
Questions & Answers about We hoorden de kinderen op het speeltoestel naast de fietsenstalling spelen.
Why is spelen pushed all the way to the end of the sentence?
When using a sensory verb like horen (to hear) alongside another verb, Dutch places the infinitive (spelen) at the very end of the clause. While English puts the verbs close together ("heard the children play on..."), Dutch wraps the prepositional phrases inside this verb brace: hoorden de kinderen [op het speeltoestel...] spelen.
English usually says "heard the children playing." Can I use the Dutch present participle spelend here?
No, Dutch almost always uses the standard infinitive (spelen) for this construction. After sensory verbs like horen (to hear) or zien (to see), you must use the infinitive, regardless of whether English translates it as "play" or "playing".
Why is there an -en- in the middle of fietsenstalling?
This is a compound noun made from fiets (bicycle) and stalling (storage). Because the standard plural of fiets is fietsen, that full plural form is used as the "glue" to join the two nouns together.
How could we express the action on the playground equipment using the impersonal prepositional passive from this lesson?