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Wij staan een foto te maken op het terras.

Wij staan een foto te maken op het terras.
We are taking a photo on the terrace.
From Lesson 99:Continuous aspect with posture verbs (zitten te, staan te)·Dutch

Questions & Answers about Wij staan een foto te maken op het terras.

Why does the sentence use staan (to stand) instead of a form of "to be"?
In Dutch, if an action is ongoing and the subject is in a specific physical position, you use a posture verb like staan (to stand), zitten (to sit), or liggen (to lie). Here, staan te maken means "are taking" while emphasizing that you are standing up.
Why is een foto placed between staan and te maken?
In this continuous structure, the posture verb (staan) takes the normal verb spot right after the subject. The action itself (te maken) gets pushed to the end of the clause. Any objects, like een foto, are sandwiched in between them.
The translation says "taking a photo", but doesn't maken mean "to make"?
Yes! In English you "take" a picture, but in Dutch you "make" one. Een foto maken is the standard fixed phrase for taking a photo.
Could I use the aan het continuous form here instead?
Yes, you could say Wij zijn een foto aan het maken op het terras. That means exactly the same thing, but it just doesn't specify your physical posture. Native speakers often prefer the staan te version when the posture is obvious.

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