De vogel speelt in de tuin.

The bird plays in the garden.

Breakdown of De vogel speelt in de tuin.

• in: in
• spelen: to play
• de tuin: the garden
• de vogel: the bird

Questions & Answers about De vogel speelt in de tuin.

Why is it de vogel and not het vogel?

In Dutch, nouns can be either de words or het words. A large majority of Dutch nouns use de. There isn’t a simple rule that always tells you which article to use; it’s something learners often memorize or pick up through practice. Vogel (meaning bird) happens to be a de word.

What verb is being used here, and how is it conjugated?

The verb is spelen, which means to play. In this sentence, it is conjugated as speelt because the subject (de vogel) is in the third person singular (he/she/it form). For the third person singular, you generally add a t to the stem of the verb in Dutch.

Why is the order "speelt in de tuin" and not "in de tuin speelt"?

In simple Dutch sentences, the verb typically comes in the second position. When the subject is first, as in De vogel, the conjugated verb usually follows right after it. The rest of the phrase, in de tuin, comes after the verb.

Why do we say in de tuin and not another preposition?

In Dutch, you use in to indicate being or happening inside a place or space (such as a garden). Other prepositions like op (on) or bij (by, near) wouldn’t fit the meaning of the sentence, which is specifically that the bird is playing in or inside the garden.

How would I say "The birds are playing in the garden" instead?

You would make the noun and the verb plural: De vogels spelen in de tuin. You add -s to vogel to make vogels (birds), and drop the t from speelt to form spelen for the third person plural. Then the rest of the sentence remains the same.