De uurprijs bepaalt de opvangkosten.

Because Dutch normally writes compound nouns as a single word.

• uurprijs = uur
  • prijs
• opvangkosten = opvang
  • kosten

This is very common in Dutch. Where English often uses separate words, Dutch often prefers one long compound noun.

De is the definite article, meaning the.

It appears twice for two different reasons:

• de uurprijs: uurprijs is a de-word
• de opvangkosten: opvangkosten is plural, and all plural nouns take de

So even though both use de, the grammar behind them is not exactly the same.

The infinitive is bepalen.

In the present tense, Dutch uses stem + t for a third-person singular subject. The subject here is de uurprijs, which is singular, so the verb becomes bepaalt.

Compare:

• ik bepaal = I determine
• de uurprijs bepaalt = the hourly rate determines
• de uurprijzen bepalen = the hourly rates determine

The subject is de uurprijs.

That is the noun phrase that goes with the verb bepaalt and performs the action in the sentence.

The direct object is de opvangkosten, the thing being determined.

So the structure is:

• De uurprijs = subject
• bepaalt = verb
• de opvangkosten = direct object

The final part, kosten, is plural.

A few clues:

• it ends in -en, a very common Dutch plural ending
• it takes de, which all plural nouns do
• kosten is very commonly used as a plural noun meaning costs

So de opvangkosten is grammatically plural even though English learners may first process the whole compound as one single unit.

Because this is a simple main clause with the subject first.

Dutch main clauses usually place the finite verb in the second position. If the subject comes first, the result is often:

Subject + Verb + Object

So:

• De uurprijs = first position
• bepaalt = second position
• de opvangkosten = after the verb

That happens to match normal English word order in this sentence.

Yes. Dutch still keeps the finite verb in the second position.

For example:

• Vandaag bepaalt de uurprijs de opvangkosten.

Here Vandaag comes first, so the verb bepaalt must still stay in second position, and the subject de uurprijs moves after it.

This is a very common Dutch pattern and often feels unusual to English speakers.

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

So:

• uurprijs ends in prijs
• prijs is a de-word
• therefore: de uurprijs

And:

• opvangkosten ends in kosten
• kosten is plural
• therefore: de opvangkosten

This last part decides rule is very helpful when learning Dutch compound nouns.

Yes: the vowel in uur.

The uu sound in Dutch is difficult for many native English speakers because standard English does not really have the same vowel. It is similar to the vowel in German über or French tu.

A rough guide:

• uurprijs ≈ uur-prijs
• prijs is somewhat like English price, though not identical

So if one word in this sentence feels hard to say, it is very likely uurprijs.