Learn Hardcore Dutch: Tom drinkt water.

In Dutch, verbs change based on the subject. Since Tom is a third-person singular subject (he), the verb drinken takes the -t ending, becoming drinkt.

Why is there no article before water?

In Dutch, you generally don’t use an article for uncountable or mass nouns when talking about them in a general sense. Here, water is being described simply as a substance, so no article is needed.

Is the word order important here?

Yes, Dutch typically follows a subject–verb–object word order in simple statements. So Tom (subject) drinkt (verb) water (object) follows the standard pattern.

Could the sentence be Tom drinkt het water?

That would mean Tom drinks the water, implying a specific amount or specific water. In general, if you’re just saying that Tom is drinking water, you’d stick with Tom drinkt water.

How would I say it in the past tense?

You’d typically say Tom dronk water. The verb drinkt changes to dronk in the simple past tense.