De groepsfoto toont het boeket.

Dutch nouns take one of two singular definite articles:

• de for common-gender nouns
• het for neuter nouns

So:

• de groepsfoto
• het boeket

Unfortunately, this is something you usually have to learn with each noun. There is not always a reliable way to guess.

A useful extra rule:

• all plural nouns take de
• diminutives always take het

So:

• de groepsfoto
• de groepsfoto's
• het boeket
• de boeketten

Because Dutch forms compounds very readily, much like German.

groepsfoto is a compound noun made from:

• groep = group
• foto = photo

Together, they form one idea: group photo.

In English, we often write this as two words, but in Dutch it is normally written as one word: groepsfoto.

This is very common in Dutch:

• treinstation = train station
• huisdeur = house door / front door
• tafelkleed = tablecloth

That -s- is a linking sound/letter used in some Dutch compounds.

So the compound is built from:

• groep
• foto

but the actual form becomes groepsfoto.

This linking -s- does not have a separate meaning here. It is just part of how certain compounds are formed. English speakers often wonder whether it means possession, but in this word it does not mean group's photo in a grammatical sense. It is just the normal compound form.

Dutch has several linking patterns in compounds, and they are not always fully predictable, so learners usually pick them up word by word.

Because the subject is de groepsfoto, which is third-person singular.

The verb is tonen = to show. In the present tense:

• ik toon = I show
• jij toont / toon jij
• hij/zij/het toont = he/she/it shows
• wij tonen
• jullie tonen
• zij tonen

Since de groepsfoto is singular and works like it, you use toont.

So:

• De groepsfoto toont ... = The group photo shows ...

Yes, in this sentence it is basically the same:

• De groepsfoto = subject
• toont = verb
• het boeket = object

So the pattern is subject + verb + object.

However, Dutch main clauses follow the verb-second rule. That means the conjugated verb normally comes in the second position, even if something other than the subject comes first.

For example:

• Vandaag toont de groepsfoto het boeket.

Here Vandaag comes first, so the verb toont still has to come second, before the subject.

That is a major difference from English.

Tonen is correct, and it means to show, to display, or to depict.

In everyday speech, Dutch speakers might also use:

• laten zien = to show
• sometimes a more context-specific phrasing, depending on what kind of picture it is

So these are also possible, depending on style:

• De groepsfoto laat het boeket zien.
• Op de groepsfoto staat het boeket.

That last one is especially common when talking about what appears in a photo.

So toont is perfectly grammatical, but it can sound a bit more formal or written than laat ... zien.

A rough pronunciation guide for English speakers:

• De ≈ duh
• groepsfoto ≈ khroops-fo-to
• toont ≈ tohnt
• het ≈ hut or a very reduced ut
• boeket ≈ boo-KET

A few key points:

• oe in groep and boeket sounds like oo in food
• the Dutch g in groepsfoto is a guttural sound, not like the English g in go
• oo in toont is a long vowel
• stress in boeket is on the last syllable: boe-KET

They are:

• de groepsfoto's
• de boeketten

Why these forms?

• groepsfoto becomes groepsfoto's with an apostrophe because the word ends in a vowel sound
• boeket becomes boeketten with double t to keep the vowel short

And remember: in the plural, both nouns take de.

So:

• de groepsfoto
• de groepsfoto's
• het boeket
• de boeketten

Usually, boeket most often means a bouquet of flowers.

That is probably the default meaning in a sentence like this.

It can also be used more figuratively in some contexts, like a bouquet of flavors, but for everyday learners, it is safest to think of boeket first as bouquet.

So in most normal situations:

• het boeket = the bouquet of flowers