Breakdown of In de speeltuin komen de kinderen vrolijk naar de schommel en het klimrek rennen.
en
and
het kind
the child
in
in
naar
to
komen
to come
het
it
rennen
to run
vrolijk
cheerful / merry
de schommel
the swing
de speeltuin
the playground (park with play equipment)
het klimrek
the climbing frame
Questions & Answers about In de speeltuin komen de kinderen vrolijk naar de schommel en het klimrek rennen.
Why do we use the bare infinitive rennen instead of a present participle like rennend for 'running'?
This is a special rule for the verb komen when expressing a manner of arrival. Instead of using a participle like in English ('come running'), Dutch uses komen plus a bare infinitive (an infinitive without te). The same rule applies to other methods of motion, such as komen fietsen (come cycling) or komen vliegen (come flying).
Why are komen and rennen separated by so many words?
This sentence uses the classic Dutch verb brace. The conjugated verb komen sits in the second position, while the infinitive rennen is pushed to the very end of the clause. All the descriptive details—how they run (vrolijk) and where they go (naar de schommel en het klimrek)—must be sandwiched between them.
Why is it komen de kinderen instead of de kinderen komen?
This is a quick refresher on inversion. Because the sentence starts with the location phrase In de speeltuin, the conjugated verb komen must stay in the strict second position. This forces the subject de kinderen to slide into the third position, immediately after the verb.
Why is the adverb vrolijk placed before the destination phrase?
In Dutch, the general rule for the middle part of the sentence is to order information by 'Time, Manner, Place' (TMP). Here we have a manner (vrolijk) and a directional place (naar de schommel en het klimrek). Following the TMP rule, the manner correctly appears right before the place.
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