De klant koopt een boek.

the book

Breakdown of De klant koopt een boek.

• kopen: to buy
• de klant: the customer

Questions & Answers about De klant koopt een boek.

Why is the article “de” used before klant instead of “het”?

In Dutch, nouns have genders. The definite article “de” is used with common gender nouns (and all plural nouns), while “het” is used with neuter gender nouns. Klant is a common gender noun, so we say de klant meaning “the customer.”

What does the verb koopt mean in this sentence?

Koopt is the third person singular present form of the verb kopen, which means “to buy.” In this sentence, it translates as buys, indicating that the customer is doing the action of buying.

What is the function of the word een in the sentence?

The word een is the indefinite article in Dutch, similar to “a” or “an” in English. It marks boek as an unspecific or non-unique item, so een boek means “a book.”

How is the word order in De klant koopt een boek structured, and is it similar to English?

Yes, the word order in this main clause is subject-verb-object (SVO), which is similar to English. De klant is the subject, koopt is the verb, and een boek is the object, making the sentence directly comparable to “The customer buys a book.”

If I wanted to ask a question using this sentence, how would the word order change?

In Dutch, to form a yes/no question, the verb typically comes first. For example, you could ask, Koopt de klant een boek? This inversion (verb before subject) is common in Dutch questions.

Would it be correct to say het klant or een klant instead of de klant in this sentence?

No, it wouldn’t be correct. Since klant is a common gender noun, the definite article must be de (not “het”). Also, when referring to a specific customer, the definite article de is used rather than the indefinite article een, so de klant is the proper form for “the customer.”