Ik luister naar een mooie melodie.

I listen to a beautiful melody.

Breakdown of Ik luister naar een mooie melodie.

• ik: I
• naar: to
• mooi: beautiful
• luisteren: to listen
• een: a, an
• de melodie: the melody

Questions & Answers about Ik luister naar een mooie melodie.

Why is naar used after the verb luisteren?

In Dutch, the verb luisteren requires the preposition naar to indicate what is being listened to. This construction—luisteren naar—is similar to the English phrase “listen to,” where the preposition shows the direction of the action toward the object.

How is the adjective mooie formed, and why does it have an –e ending in een mooie melodie?

In Dutch, adjectives preceding a noun usually take an –e ending when the noun is accompanied by an article, unless the noun is neuter and singular without a determiner. Since melodie is a common gender noun and is preceded by the indefinite article een, the adjective becomes mooie with the added –e ending.

What role does ik play in the sentence, and how is luister correctly conjugated?

Ik is the subject of the sentence and means “I.” The verb luisteren is conjugated in the first-person singular present tense as luister, matching the subject. This straightforward subject–verb agreement is similar to English, where “I listen” is used.

How does the structure of Ik luister naar een mooie melodie compare to its English equivalent?

Both Dutch and English follow a similar basic sentence structure: subject–verb–object. In the Dutch sentence, ik is the subject, luister is the verb, and naar een mooie melodie acts as a prepositional phrase specifying what is being listened to. While English uses “listen to,” Dutch mandates the explicit use of the preposition naar.

Why is the indefinite article een used here instead of a definite article like de or het?

The indefinite article een is equivalent to “a” or “an” in English and is used when referring to one non-specific instance of something—in this case, a melody. A definite article (de or het) would be used if the speaker and listener both recognize the melody being referred to. Here, een appropriately indicates that it’s any beautiful melody rather than a specific one.