Ik schrijf een kort gedicht voor mijn buurvrouw.

I am writing a short poem for my female neighbor.

Breakdown of Ik schrijf een kort gedicht voor mijn buurvrouw.

• ik: I
• voor: for
• kort: short
• schrijven: to write
• mijn: my
• het gedicht: the poem
• de buurvrouw: the (female) neighbor

Questions & Answers about Ik schrijf een kort gedicht voor mijn buurvrouw.

How is the sentence "Ik schrijf een kort gedicht voor mijn buurvrouw" structured in terms of subject, verb, object, and prepositional phrase?

In this sentence, Ik is the subject (“I”), schrijf is the first person singular present tense form of the verb “to write,” een kort gedicht is the noun phrase serving as the direct object (“a short poem”), and voor mijn buurvrouw is a prepositional phrase indicating the recipient (“for my neighbor”).

Why is the adjective kort not inflected as korte before the noun gedicht?

Dutch adjective endings depend on both the gender of the noun and whether the noun is accompanied by a definite or indefinite article. Since gedicht is a neuter noun (a het-woord) and follows the indefinite article een, the adjective remains uninflected in its base form as kort.

What does the verb form schrijf indicate about the timing or frequency of the action?

The form schrijf is in the present tense, which in Dutch can denote either a current action or a habitual one. Without further context, it can be understood as “I am writing” at this moment or “I write” on a regular basis. The context usually helps clarify which interpretation is intended.

What does the word buurvrouw mean in this sentence?

Buurvrouw means “neighbor,” but it specifically refers to a female neighbor. It tells us who is receiving the poem that is being written.

How does the word order in this Dutch sentence compare to English word order for similar sentences?

The word order in this sentence is similar to English. It follows the basic sequence: Subject (Ik), Verb (schrijf), Object (een kort gedicht), and then the Prepositional Phrase (voor mijn buurvrouw). However, while this straightforward structure is common, Dutch can have different word order rules in more complex sentences, so it’s useful to become comfortable with the basic pattern first.