Hun kat ligt op de nieuwe stoel.

Their cat is lying on the new chair.

Breakdown of Hun kat ligt op de nieuwe stoel.

• de kat: the cat
• nieuw: new
• de stoel: the chair
• liggen: to lie
• hun: their

Questions & Answers about Hun kat ligt op de nieuwe stoel.

Why do we use Hun here?

Hun is a possessive pronoun in Dutch that means their. It is used to show that the cat belongs to a group of people. In English, you would say their cat. Other Dutch possessive pronouns are mijn (my), jouw (your), zijn (his), haar (her), ons (our), and so on.

Why does the sentence use ligt instead of is or another verb?

In Dutch, verbs like liggen, zitten, staan, and hangen often show position or posture. Ligt comes from liggen, which denotes a lying or horizontal position. So if an animal is lying down, you use ligt. If it were sitting, you might use zit (from zitten).

Why is the preposition op used in this sentence?

Op generally means on in Dutch. It indicates the cat is positioned on top of the chair. Dutch next to English usually aligns well here: if something is physically resting on a surface, you use op.

Why is it de nieuwe stoel and not het nieuwe stoel?

In Dutch, stoel (chair) is a de-word. Most masculine and feminine nouns take de. Neuter nouns take het. Because stoel is a de-word, you say de nieuwe stoel. If it were a het-word, like het huis (the house), you would use het nieuwe huis.