Mijn fiets is snel.

to be

Breakdown of Mijn fiets is snel.

• mijn: my
• snel: fast
• de fiets: the bicycle

Questions & Answers about Mijn fiets is snel.

What does Mijn fiets is snel. literally translate to in English?

It translates to My bike is fast. The sentence contains a possessive noun phrase (Mijn fiets meaning my bike), the linking verb is, and the adjective snel meaning fast.

What is the grammatical structure of the sentence?

The structure follows the Subject + Linking Verb + Predicate Adjective pattern. Here, Mijn fiets is the subject, is functions as the linking verb, and snel is the predicate adjective describing the subject.

Why is the adjective snel not inflected with an -e ending in this sentence?

In Dutch, adjectives used predicatively (after a linking verb) remain in their base form. Adjectives are only inflected (given an -e ending) when they are used attributively (directly before a noun).

How would the sentence change if you wanted to express “my fast bike” instead?

If you use the adjective attributively, you would say Mijn snelle fiets. In this case, snel becomes snelle with an -e ending to agree with the noun fiets.

Is the word order in Mijn fiets is snel similar to that in English, and are there any exceptions in Dutch sentence structure?

Yes, this simple sentence follows a similar Subject + Verb + Complement order as in English. However, in more complex Dutch sentences—especially those with subordinate clauses or multiple verbs—the word order can differ significantly from English.

What role does the verb is play in this sentence?

Is is the third-person singular present form of the verb zijn (to be). It acts as a linking (copular) verb that connects the subject Mijn fiets to the descriptive predicate snel.

Does the noun fiets have a specific grammatical gender, and how does this affect adjective usage?

Yes, fiets is a common gender noun, typically taking the article de (as in de fiets). In this sentence, the possessive mijn is used, so no article appears. However, when adjectives are used attributively with an indefinite article, they adopt an -e ending (e.g., een snelle fiets) to match the gender and number of the noun.