Een gast spreekt met Tom.

Een is the indefinite article, so it means a or an.

• een gast = a guest
• de gast = the guest

The noun gast is a de-word, not a het-word, so het gast is incorrect.

It is a de-word:

• de gast = the guest
• een gast = a guest

In the plural, all Dutch nouns take de, so:

• de gasten = the guests

Because the subject is een gast, which is third person singular: he/she/it.

The verb is spreken = to speak. In the present tense:

• ik spreek = I speak
• jij spreekt = you speak
• hij/zij/het spreekt = he/she/it speaks

So een gast spreekt follows the same pattern as hij spreekt.

This is normal Dutch main-clause word order:

1. subject
2. finite verb
3. the rest of the sentence

So:

• Een gast = subject
• spreekt = finite verb
• met Tom = prepositional phrase

Dutch is a verb-second language in main clauses, which means the finite verb usually comes in the second position.

Met Tom means with Tom.

It is a prepositional phrase:

• met = with
• Tom = Tom

It tells you who the guest is speaking with. Dutch often uses spreken met iemand for to speak with someone.

Yes, spreken met is very common, and so is praten met.

Both can mean to speak/talk with someone:

• Een gast spreekt met Tom.
• Een gast praat met Tom.

Often:

• spreken can sound a little more neutral or slightly more formal
• praten can sound a little more like talk/chat

But in many everyday contexts, they overlap a lot.

Yes. Dutch present tense often covers both the simple present and the present continuous, depending on context.

So Een gast spreekt met Tom can mean:

• A guest speaks with Tom
• A guest is speaking with Tom

If Dutch wants to emphasize an action in progress, it can also use another structure, such as:

• Een gast is met Tom aan het praten.

But the simple present is very common.

In careful speech, een can sound roughly like ane with a very short vowel, but in normal speech it is often reduced.

Very often, unstressed een sounds like:

• uhn
• or even just ’n

So een gast is often pronounced almost like ’n gast.

This is very common in spoken Dutch.

Not always. Its basic meaning is guest, but in real Dutch it can have a few uses depending on context.

Common possibilities include:

• guest in the usual sense
• customer/patron in some settings
• informally, sometimes guy or bloke

But in a basic sentence like Een gast spreekt met Tom, the safest meaning is usually a guest.

The plural of gast is gasten.

So:

• Een gast spreekt met Tom. = A guest is speaking with Tom.
• Gasten spreken met Tom. = Guests are speaking with Tom.

Notice two changes:

• gast → gasten
• spreekt → spreken

Then Dutch keeps the verb in second position, so the subject moves after the verb:

• Met Tom spreekt een gast.

That is grammatically possible, but it sounds marked or literary in many contexts.

A more natural alternative would often be:

• Een gast spreekt met Tom.

This is a good example of the Dutch verb-second rule: if something other than the subject comes first, the verb still stays in second position.