Questions & Answers about Zij heeft griep en veel pijn.
Why doesn't the Dutch sentence use an article before griep, even though the English translation says 'the flu'?
In English, we usually say someone has 'the' flu. In Dutch, illnesses like griep (flu) are often used without an article. You literally just say she has flu: Zij heeft griep.
This lesson is about the conjunction want (because), but this sentence uses en (and). Do they work the same way?
Yes! Both en and want are coordinating conjunctions. This means they link two parts of a sentence together without changing the normal word order. Other common words in this group that behave exactly the same way are maar (but) and of (or).
Could I use ze instead of zij at the beginning of the sentence?
You certainly can. Zij is the stressed form of the word 'she'. You use it when you want to emphasize that she is the one who has the flu, perhaps contrasting her with someone who is healthy. If you do not need that extra emphasis, you can just use the unstressed form ze.
Why is it veel pijn instead of vele pijn?
You use veel without an extra 'e' at the end for uncountable things, like pijn (pain), time, or water. You only add the extra letter to make vele when you are talking about plural, countable things, like books or people.
Learn Zij heeft griep en veel pijn and more in Dutch
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free