Ik heb een boek.

I have a book.

Breakdown of Ik heb een boek.

• ik: I
• hebben: to have
• het boek: the book

Questions & Answers about Ik heb een boek.

Why does the sentence use een instead of de or het?

In Dutch, een is the indefinite article and translates to “a” or “an” in English. By contrast, de and het are definite articles, translating to “the.” Since we’re talking about a book in general, without specifying which book, we use een.

How do you pronounce heb correctly?

Heb is pronounced with a short e sound, like “hep” in English. The final b is a bit softer than in English but still audible. So you can think of it roughly as “hep.”

Is the word order always Ik heb een boek?

Generally, yes. In a basic Dutch sentence, the subject (ik) comes first, followed by the conjugated verb (heb), and then the rest of the sentence (een boek). Dutch word order can shift for emphasis or in certain constructions, but this sentence is typically stated as Ik heb een boek.

Why do we use Ik instead of something like Me or Mijn?

Ik means "I" as the subject of a sentence. Me in Dutch doesn’t exist in the same way as English “me”; instead you’d use mij or me as an object. Mijn means "my" and indicates possession. Since the sentence just needs “I have a book,” we use Ik instead of more possessive or object forms.