Questions & Answers about Wij wachten op de trein.
How would I make this sentence negative to say "We are not waiting for the train"?
You would use the word niet (not) and place it after the verb: Wij wachten niet op de trein. In Dutch, niet usually comes after the conjugated verb and before prepositional phrases like op de trein.
The English translation says "waiting for", but doesn't op mean "on"?
Yes! In Dutch, the verb wachten (to wait) is almost always paired with the preposition op. So while English speakers say "waiting for", Dutch speakers literally say "waiting on" someone or something.
Why is there no translation for the word "are" in this sentence?
Dutch doesn't have a direct equivalent to the English continuous tense (are waiting, is eating, am walking) for standard actions. The simple present tense wij wachten translates to both "we wait" and "we are waiting".
Can I use we instead of wij in this sentence?
Yes, you can. Wij puts more emphasis on "we" (for example, to stress that WE are waiting, as opposed to someone else), while we is the neutral, everyday version. Both are grammatically correct here.
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