Ik wil eerst mijn boek lezen.

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Breakdown of Ik wil eerst mijn boek lezen.

• het boek: the book
• lezen: to read
• willen: to want
• mijn: my
• eerst: first

Questions & Answers about Ik wil eerst mijn boek lezen.

Why is wil used here instead of wilt?

In Dutch, the verb willen is conjugated as:
• ik wil (I want)
• jij wilt (you want)
• hij/zij wil (he/she wants)
Because the sentence starts with ik (I), the correct form is ik wil, not ik wilt.

Why does eerst (first) appear right after wil?

In Dutch, short adverbs like eerst often come after the conjugated verb if you want to emphasize when something happens. So the natural order is Ik wil eerst. You could also say Ik wil mijn boek eerst lezen, but placing eerst directly after wil is more common when indicating what you want to do before doing something else.

Why is mijn (my) used here, instead of something like van mij?

Mijn is the possessive pronoun ("my"), whereas van mij ("of me") is usually used for emphasis or clarification. For example, you could say Dat boek is van mij ("That book is mine") to stress ownership. But when you simply say "my book," you use the standard possessive mijn boek.

Why is the verb lezen (to read) at the end of the sentence?

In Dutch, if there is only one conjugated verb (wil in this case) and another verb in the infinitive (lezen), the infinitive typically goes to the end of the clause. So you get Ik wil ... lezen. The structure is [subject] + [conjugated verb] + [other elements] + [infinitive].

Is Ik wil considered polite enough, or should I use something else to be more polite in Dutch?

Using Ik wil can sound quite direct. If you want to be more polite, you could say Ik zou graag or Ik zou willen, such as Ik zou graag eerst mijn boek lezen ("I would like to read my book first"). This softens the sentence and is often preferred in more formal or polite contexts.