De lucht is grijs.

That is a very common question. Lucht literally often means air, but in Dutch it can also refer to the sky depending on context.

So:

• De lucht is vervuild. = The air is polluted.
• De lucht is grijs. = The sky is gray.

In this sentence, grijs makes sky the natural interpretation.

Because lucht is a de-word in Dutch. Dutch nouns have grammatical gender, and singular nouns usually take either de or het.

You simply have to learn each noun with its article:

• de lucht
• het huis
• de man
• het boek

There is not always a reliable shortcut, so it is best to memorize the article together with the noun.

This is the normal Dutch word order for a simple main clause:

subject + verb + complement

So:

• De lucht = subject
• is = verb
• grijs = adjective/complement

This is very similar to English:

• The sky is gray.

Dutch main clauses usually put the finite verb in the second position, and that is exactly what happens here.

Is is the third-person singular form of the verb zijn, which means to be.

The subject de lucht is singular, so Dutch uses is:

• ik ben = I am
• jij bent = you are
• hij/zij/het is = he/she/it is
• de lucht is = the sky is

So is matches the singular noun de lucht.

Because after the verb zijn, Dutch adjectives normally do not take an ending.

Compare:

• De lucht is grijs. = adjective after is → no -e
• De grijze lucht = adjective directly before the noun → usually -e

So:

• predicative adjective: De lucht is grijs
• attributive adjective: de grijze lucht

This is an important Dutch pattern.

Usually de is pronounced like a very short, unstressed duh.

It is not usually strongly emphasized. In normal speech, it is quick and light.

So de lucht sounds roughly like:

duh l...

The exact vowel is a schwa, like the a in English sofa.

This word can be tricky for English speakers.

Roughly:

• l = like English l
• u = a short vowel that does not exactly match English
• ch = the throaty Dutch sound, like the ch in Scottish loch or German Bach
• t = normal t

A rough approximation is something like lukht, but with a more fronted vowel and a real Dutch ch sound.

The hardest part is usually the ch.

Grijs sounds roughly like grice or grayss, but neither is perfect.

Important parts:

• gr = the Dutch g is usually throatier than English g
• ij = a diphthong, somewhat like the vowel in English my or eye
• s = normal s

A rough guide is ghrice or grice, depending on accent.

Also note that ij is a very common Dutch spelling, and learners should get used to seeing it often.

Yes. Dutch has one normal spelling here: grijs.

In English, both grey and gray are correct depending on variety of English, but in Dutch the standard form is simply grijs.

Yes, you can. Hemel also means sky, but it is a different word with a slightly different feel.

• de lucht is very common when talking about how the sky looks
• de hemel can also mean sky, but it can sound a bit more elevated, poetic, or simply a different choice depending on context

So both are possible, but De lucht is grijs is very natural in everyday Dutch.

Yes. De lucht is singular, which is why the verb is is.

If you made the subject plural, the verb would change:

• De lucht is grijs. = singular
• De wolken zijn grijs. = plural

So the sentence uses singular grammar throughout.

In theory, yes, but in most everyday situations De lucht is grijs will be understood as The sky is gray.

If you really wanted to talk about the air itself, Dutch would usually make that clearer through context or wording. So in this sentence, sky is the normal interpretation.

Sometimes. In this sentence, grijs stays in its basic form because it comes after is.

But before a noun, it often changes:

• De lucht is grijs.
• de grijze lucht

So color words behave like other adjectives in Dutch. The position in the sentence matters.