Wij melden de waterschade.

We report the water damage.

Breakdown of Wij melden de waterschade.

• wij: we
• melden: to report
• de waterschade: the water damage

Questions & Answers about Wij melden de waterschade.

Why is the subject wij and not we?

Both wij and we mean we.

• we is the more common unstressed form in everyday Dutch.
• wij is the stressed or full form. It can sound a bit more emphatic, contrastive, or formal.

So We melden de waterschade is also correct in many situations. Using wij can suggest something like we are the ones doing it.

What form of the verb is melden here?

Melden is the present tense form for wij.

Dutch present tense of melden:

• ik meld
• jij meldt / meld je
• hij/zij meldt
• wij melden
• jullie melden
• zij melden

So with wij, the verb looks the same as the infinitive: melden.

Why is the word order Wij melden de waterschade?

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

subject + finite verb + object

So:

• Wij = subject
• melden = finite verb
• de waterschade = object

Dutch main clauses follow the verb-second rule. Here the subject comes first, so the verb comes second. If another element came first, the verb would still stay in second position:

• Vandaag melden wij de waterschade.