Ik kijk naar de avond met veel interesse.

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Breakdown of Ik kijk naar de avond met veel interesse.

• naar: to
• met: with
• kijken: to watch
• de avond: the evening
• veel: much, many
• de interesse: the interest

Questions & Answers about Ik kijk naar de avond met veel interesse.

Why do we use naar here instead of a direct object?

In Dutch, the verb kijken typically goes with the preposition naar to indicate that you are directing your gaze toward something. In English, we often say “look at,” but in Dutch, it’s “kijken naar.”

Could “de avond” be replaced with “het avond”?

No. The noun avond (evening) is always masculine, so it takes the definite article de. There is no neuter version like “het avond.”

Is the phrase “met veel interesse” always placed at the end of the sentence?

Not necessarily. You could say Met veel interesse kijk ik naar de avond, but that changes the emphasis. The most common, neutral placement is after the object, as in Ik kijk naar de avond met veel interesse.

How do you pronounce avond?

Avond is pronounced roughly like AH-vond. The a is a short ah sound, and the vowel in the second syllable sounds like the o in on. Pay attention to the final d, which is pronounced as a /t/ sound in standard Dutch.

What is the function of met in this expression?

Met simply means with in Dutch. In this context, you're expressing that you are doing the action (looking toward the evening) with a certain amount of interest, much like you’d say with great interest in English.