De volkstuinder kiest het tuinperceel.

Dutch has two definite articles: de and het. Every noun belongs to one of these groups.

• de volkstuinder = a de-word
• het tuinperceel = a het-word

This does not usually match anything in English, since English just uses the for both.

A useful extra point: in Dutch compound nouns, the last part usually decides the article.

• volkstuinder ends in tuinder, and de tuinder is a de-word
• tuinperceel ends in perceel, and het perceel is a het-word

So the articles in the sentence follow the gender/class of the final part of each compound.

Kiest is the present tense singular form of the verb kiezen.

Conjugation:

• ik kies = I choose
• jij kiest = you choose
• hij/zij kiest = he/she chooses
• u kiest = you choose (formal)
• wij kiezen = we choose
• jullie kiezen = you choose
• zij kiezen = they choose

So in this sentence, kiest agrees with the singular subject de volkstuinder.

This is because of a common Dutch spelling and sound rule.

The infinitive is kiezen, with a z. But when the stem ends a syllable, Dutch often writes the sound as s instead of z. So the stem is written kies.

Then you add -t for the third person singular:

• kiezen
• stem: kies
• hij kiest

So kiest is exactly what you should expect from Dutch spelling, even though the infinitive has z.

This is a normal Dutch main clause, and in a basic main clause Dutch often looks a lot like English:

• subject: De volkstuinder
• verb: kiest
• object: het tuinperceel

So the pattern is subject + verb + object.

A more specifically Dutch way to think about it is: the finite verb is in second position in a main clause. Since the subject comes first here, the verb comes right after it.

For example:

• Vandaag kiest de volkstuinder het tuinperceel.

Here Vandaag is first, so the verb kiest still has to come second, and the subject moves after the verb.

Yes. Volkstuinder is a compound noun.

It is built from the idea of:

• volkstuin = an allotment garden / community garden
• tuinder = grower, gardener

So volkstuinder means a person who gardens on a volkstuin.

Dutch uses compound nouns very freely, much more than English does. English often prefers separate words, but Dutch often joins them into one long word.

Yes. Tuinperceel is made of:

• tuin = garden
• perceel = plot, parcel

So tuinperceel is a garden plot or garden parcel.

Again, the last part is important:

• perceel determines the article: het perceel
• therefore: het tuinperceel

It also usually determines the plural:

• het tuinperceel
• de tuinpercelen

You could say:

De volkstuinders kiezen de tuinpercelen.

Changes:

• volkstuinder → volkstuinders
• kiest → kiezen
• tuinperceel → tuinpercelen

A very important article rule appears here: in the plural, Dutch uses de for nouns, even if the singular uses het.

So:

• singular: het tuinperceel
• plural: de tuinpercelen

A careful pronunciation is approximately:

de volkstuinder kiest het tuinperceel
IPA: /də ˈvɔlkstœy̯ndər kist ɦət ˈtœy̯npərseːl/

A few helpful points:

• de often sounds like a weak duh
• het is often reduced in normal speech, sometimes almost like ut or even 't
• kiest has ie like the vowel in English see
• ui in tuin is a difficult Dutch vowel with no exact English equivalent
• perceel has stress on the second part: per-SEEL approximately

The hardest parts for English speakers are usually:

• the ui sound in tuin
• saying long compounds smoothly: volkstuinder, tuinperceel

Because Dutch does not capitalize ordinary nouns.

Unlike German, Dutch only capitalizes:

• the first word of a sentence
• proper names
• some special cases such as days in titles or formal writing conventions

So in this sentence:

• De is capitalized because it begins the sentence
• volkstuinder and tuinperceel stay lowercase because they are ordinary nouns

Yes. In careful, formal pronunciation you say het, but in normal speech it is often reduced.

You may hear:

• het
• 't

So the sentence may sound more like:

De volkstuinder kiest 't tuinperceel.

This is very common in spoken Dutch. As a learner, it is good to recognize this reduction when listening, even if you still pronounce the full form yourself at first.

You move the finite verb to the front:

Kiest de volkstuinder het tuinperceel?

This is a very common Dutch pattern for yes/no questions:

• statement: De volkstuinder kiest het tuinperceel.
• question: Kiest de volkstuinder het tuinperceel?

So if you know the statement form, making a basic question is often straightforward: put the conjugated verb first.