Jij en Tom spreken samen over het nieuwe boek.

You and Tom talk together about the new book.

Breakdown of Jij en Tom spreken samen over het nieuwe boek.

• jij: you
• Tom: Tom
• het boek: the book
• nieuw: new
• en: and
• samen: together
• over: about
• spreken: to talk

Questions & Answers about Jij en Tom spreken samen over het nieuwe boek.

Why does the sentence use Jij instead of Je?

Jij is a stressed form, meaning the speaker wants to emphasize you. Je is the unstressed form, used more casually without special emphasis.

What is the difference between spreken and praten?

Both mean to speak or to talk, but spreken can often be a bit more formal or general, while praten feels a bit more casual and conversational. In this sentence, spreken simply highlights the act of speaking or discussing.

Why do we say samen here, and what does it mean?

Samen means together. It indicates that Jij and Tom are actively speaking with each other as a shared activity, rather than separately or one after the other.

Why do we use over in this context instead of something like van or bij?

In Dutch, over commonly introduces a topic of conversation, like “talking about something.” Van implies possession or origin, and bij suggests location or being with a person. So to express that you are talking about a book, over is correct.

Why is it het nieuwe boek instead of de nieuwe boek?

In Dutch, boek is a neuter noun, which takes the article het instead of de. So you say het boek and when you add an adjective, you get het nieuwe boek.