Ik loop langs het huis.

I

Breakdown of Ik loop langs het huis.

• het huis: the house
• lopen: to walk
• langs: along

Questions & Answers about Ik loop langs het huis.

What does langs mean in this sentence?

The word langs translates roughly to along or past in English. In this sentence, it indicates that the walking is happening alongside or in the vicinity of the house.

Why is the definite article het used before huis instead of de?

In Dutch, nouns have a specific grammatical gender. The word huis (house) is a neuter noun, and neuter nouns take the definite article het. That's why we say het huis rather than de huis.

How is the verb loop conjugated in this sentence and what does it imply?

Loop is the first-person singular form of the verb lopen (to walk) in the present tense. It implies that I walk or I am walking. Dutch uses the present tense for both habitual actions and actions happening right now.

What role does the prepositional phrase langs het huis play in the sentence?

The prepositional phrase langs het huis serves to describe the location or the route of the action. It tells you where the walking is occurring, similar to saying along or past the house in English.

Can this sentence structure be used with other prepositional phrases in Dutch?

Yes, Dutch often follows a similar subject–verb–prepositional phrase order. For example, you can say Ik fiets langs de rivier (I bike along the river), where the prepositional phrase follows the conjugated verb to indicate the path of the action.