De slimme meter meet het energieverbruik.

Dutch nouns take one of two main definite articles: de or het.

• meter is a de-word, so you say de meter
• energieverbruik is a het-word, so you say het energieverbruik

Unfortunately, this is something you often have to learn with each noun. There are patterns, but many nouns simply need to be memorized together with their article.

A useful tip: always learn new nouns as a pair, for example:

• de meter
• het verbruik
• het energieverbruik

Because Dutch adjectives usually take an -e ending when they come before a noun with de, or before most singular nouns in normal definite phrases.

So:

• de slimme meter
• de grote auto
• het slimme systeem

In this sentence, slim becomes slimme because it is placed before the noun meter in a definite noun phrase.

The basic adjective is slim, but before meter here it becomes slimme.

Yes. Slimme meter is the normal Dutch term for a smart meter, the digital utility meter that automatically records energy usage.

Literally:

• slim = smart, clever
• meter = meter

But together, slimme meter is a standard real-world term, not just a random literal combination.

Yes. Meet is the verb in this sentence.

Its infinitive is meten, which means to measure.

Here is the pattern:

• meten = to measure
• ik meet = I measure
• de meter meet = the meter measures

So in De slimme meter meet het energieverbruik, meet means measures.

Be careful not to confuse meet with English meet. The Dutch word meet comes from meten, not from the English verb to meet.

This is a normal Dutch main clause, so the word order is:

subject + verb + object

• De slimme meter = subject
• meet = verb
• het energieverbruik = object

So the structure is very straightforward:

The smart meter measures the energy consumption.

Dutch often looks similar to English in simple main clauses. Word order becomes more different in questions, subordinate clauses, and sentences with multiple verbs.

Because Dutch very often forms compound nouns by writing them as a single word.

So:

• energie = energy
• verbruik = consumption, use

Together:

• energieverbruik = energy consumption

This is extremely common in Dutch. English often uses two words where Dutch uses one compound word.

Other examples:

• huisdeur = house door / front door
• tafelblad = tabletop
• waterfles = water bottle

A good rule: if English has a noun + noun combination, Dutch often turns it into one word.

In Dutch compounds, the last part usually determines the gender and article.

Here:

• energieverbruik
• last part = verbruik
• het verbruik → therefore het energieverbruik

So if you know the final noun in the compound, you can often predict the article of the whole compound.

More or less, yes. Dutch meter can mean a measuring device, just like English meter.

In this sentence, it means a utility meter, such as an electricity or gas meter.

Do not confuse it with meter meaning the unit of length. Dutch also uses meter for that, but the meaning depends on context.

Here, because of slimme meter and energieverbruik, it clearly means the device.

It is very similar to English meet in pronunciation, though the exact vowel quality may differ slightly depending on accent.

Roughly:

• meet sounds close to English mate without the strong glide, or close to a long ay sound in careful Dutch pronunciation

This is because Dutch ee is usually a long vowel.

So although it looks like English meet, do not assume it has the English meaning; it only sounds somewhat similar.

Slimme is an adjective.

It describes the noun meter.

So:

• meter = noun
• slimme = adjective describing the noun

In English, adjectives do not change form, but in Dutch they often do. That is why you see slim become slimme.

Normally, het energieverbruik is the most natural form here if you mean the energy consumption in a general, identifiable sense.

Leaving out the article would sound less natural in this sentence. Dutch often uses the article with nouns where English might sometimes be more flexible.

So:

• natural: De slimme meter meet het energieverbruik.

You might see article-less nouns in other structures, but here het is the expected choice.

The plural would be:

De slimme meters meten het energieverbruik.

Changes:

• meter → meters
• meet → meten

So:

• singular: De slimme meter meet het energieverbruik.
• plural: De slimme meters meten het energieverbruik.

This is a useful example of subject-verb agreement in Dutch.

Literally, slim means smart or clever, but in combinations like slimme meter, it has the same broader meaning as English smart in smart device.

So here it suggests:

• digital
• advanced
• automated
• able to send or process data

It is not saying the meter is literally intelligent like a person. It is the standard technology term.