Word
Het kind speelt met de bal in de tuin.
Meaning
The child plays with the ball in the garden.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of Het kind speelt met de bal in de tuin.
in
in
met
with
spelen
to play
de tuin
the garden
de bal
the ball
het kind
the child
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Questions & Answers about Het kind speelt met de bal in de tuin.
Why is the article "het" used with "kind" instead of "de"?
In Dutch, every noun has a grammatical gender. The noun kind (child) is neuter, so it takes the neuter definite article het rather than de, which is used for common gender nouns.
What is the role of "speelt" in this sentence?
Speelt is the third-person singular conjugation of the verb spelen (to play). It agrees with the subject het kind and indicates the action that the child is performing.
How do the prepositional phrases "met de bal" and "in de tuin" function in the sentence?
The phrase met de bal explains what the child is playing with, while in de tuin tells us where the action takes place. Both phrases act as modifiers of the main verb speelt, providing additional context about manner and location.
Why do the phrases "met de bal" and "in de tuin" use the article "de" instead of "het"?
In Dutch, the definite article de is used with common gender nouns. Both bal (ball) and tuin (garden) are common gender nouns, so they correctly take de as their article.
What is the sentence structure, and can the order of the phrases change in Dutch?
The sentence follows a basic Subject-Verb-Complement order: het kind (subject) + speelt (verb) + met de bal in de tuin (complement/prepositional phrases). While Dutch does allow for some flexibility in word order for emphasis or stylistic reasons, a straightforward declarative sentence like this one usually follows this structure to clearly communicate the intended meaning.
How do the prepositions "met" and "in" compare to their English equivalents in this sentence?
The preposition met translates to with in English and is used here to indicate accompaniment or means (playing with the ball). The preposition in functions in much the same way as in English, indicating location (playing in the garden). Both prepositions help situate the action by specifying the details of the activity.
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