De vriendin fietst naar de markt.

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Breakdown of De vriendin fietst naar de markt.

• de markt: the market
• fietsen: to bike
• de vriendin: the friend

Questions & Answers about De vriendin fietst naar de markt.

What does fietst mean, and why is it conjugated that way?

Fietst is the third-person singular present tense form of the Dutch verb fietsen, which means to cycle (or to ride a bicycle). In Dutch, regular verbs typically add a -t to the stem when the subject is hij/zij/het (he/she/it). Since de vriendin (the girlfriend) is the subject, fietst is the correct form.

Why is the definite article de used with vriendin instead of het?

In Dutch, most common gender nouns take the article de. The noun vriendin (meaning a female friend or girlfriend) is a common gender noun and so correctly takes de. The neuter article het is reserved for a smaller set of nouns in Dutch.

What does the phrase naar de markt indicate about the sentence’s structure and meaning?

Naar de markt is a prepositional phrase where naar means to (indicating direction) and de markt means the market. This phrase tells us the destination of the action, showing that the girlfriend is cycling to the market. Structurally, it functions as an adverbial phrase describing the direction of the movement.

How do I identify the verb stem in fietst, and what is the rule for its conjugation?

The base form of the verb is fietsen. To find the verb stem, you remove the -en ending, which gives you fiets. For the third-person singular present tense in Dutch, you add a -t to the stem (unless the stem already ends in t or other exceptions apply), resulting in fietst.

Is the word order in De vriendin fietst naar de markt similar to English, or does it differ significantly?

In this simple sentence, the word order is very similar to English. It follows a subject-verb-adverbial structure: De vriendin (subject) + fietst (verb) + naar de markt (adverbial phrase indicating direction). Both Dutch and English use a relatively similar structure in straightforward declarative sentences like this one.