Questions & Answers about Wij beginnen met het werk.
The lesson is about adding "-t" to the verb stem, so why is the verb beginnen instead of "begint"?
The rule of adding "-t" applies to singular subjects like hij (he), zij (she), or jij (you). But in this sentence, the subject is wij (we), which is plural. For all plural subjects, Dutch just uses the full dictionary form of the verb, which usually ends in "-en".
Can I use we instead of wij in this sentence?
Yes, you can! Wij is the emphasized form, while we is the normal, unstressed form. You use wij when you want to strongly highlight that we are the ones beginning the work, perhaps in contrast to someone else who isn't.
Why is the article het used for werk instead of de?
In Dutch, every noun is assigned either de or het for the word "the". Werk is a neuter noun, so it always takes het. There isn't a strict rule to guess this just by looking at the word, so it is best to memorize het werk together as a set!
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