Breakdown of De toerist zit de duif te voeren.
de toerist
the tourist
de duif
the pigeon
voeren
to feed (animals)
zitten te
to be ...-ing (seated)
Questions & Answers about De toerist zit de duif te voeren.
Why is de duif placed between zit and te voeren?
In this continuous structure, the posture verb (zit) is the main verb, so it takes the normal second position in the sentence. The te + infinitive part (te voeren) is pushed to the very end. Any objects or other details, like de duif, get sandwiched in between.
Does zit mean the tourist is literally sitting down?
Yes! In Dutch, when you use a posture verb (zitten, staan, liggen, or lopen) to show an ongoing action, it usually matches the actual physical position of the person. If the tourist were standing up, you would say De toerist staat de duif te voeren.
Could I say De toerist is de duif aan het voeren instead?
You definitely could. Both structures mean that an action is currently happening. However, using zit te adds the specific visual detail that they are sitting while doing it. Dutch speakers use these posture verbs extremely often to describe ongoing actions.
Why do we use the word voeren here instead of eten?
Eten means to eat, but voeren specifically means to feed an animal. If you wanted to say you were feeding a person (like a baby), you would usually use eten geven (to give food), but for birds and pets, voeren is the standard verb.
Learn De toerist zit de duif te voeren 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