Breakdown of Ik wil een afspraak maken met de arts.
de arts
the doctor
met
with
willen
to want
een afspraak maken
to make an appointment
Questions & Answers about Ik wil een afspraak maken met de arts.
Why is maken near the end of the sentence instead of right after wil?
In Dutch, when you use a helping verb like wil (want), the main action verb (maken) gets pushed to the end of the clause. You might notice that met de arts comes after it; in Dutch, prepositional phrases (phrases starting with words like 'with', 'in', or 'at') are often allowed to sneak past that final verb.
Does wil mean "will" (for the future tense) like it does in English?
No, wil is a classic false friend! It comes from the verb willen, which means "to want". If you want to talk about the future ("I will..."), Dutch uses a completely different verb: zullen.
Since we are learning about time, where would I add a time like "at half past two" to this sentence?
Dutch strongly prefers to put the time early in the sentence, right after the main verb and subject. To add a time, you would say: Ik wil om half drie een afspraak maken met de arts.
I've also seen the word dokter. Is there a difference between arts and dokter?
Both words mean "doctor" and you can use them interchangeably in everyday life. Arts is just a bit more formal and is the official medical title (similar to "physician" in English), while dokter is the common, everyday word.
Is afspraak only used for official or medical appointments?
No, you can use afspraak for almost anything! It is a very versatile word that means an appointment (with a doctor or hair stylist), a business meeting, or simply a scheduled plan to meet up with a friend.
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