Anna en Tom gaan naar het muziekfestival.

Anna

Breakdown of Anna en Tom gaan naar het muziekfestival.

• Tom: Tom
• gaan: to go
• naar: to
• en: and
• het muziekfestival: the music festival

Questions & Answers about Anna en Tom gaan naar het muziekfestival.

What does the verb gaan mean in this sentence, and why is it used in this form?

The verb gaan means “to go”. In this sentence, it is used in its plural form because the subject consists of two people (Anna and Tom). If the subject were singular (for example, just Anna), the form would be gaat instead of gaan.

What role does the preposition naar play in the sentence?

The preposition naar translates to “to” in English. It indicates direction or destination, telling us that Anna and Tom are heading to a particular place—in this case, the music festival.

Why is the article het used before muziekfestival instead of de?

In Dutch, nouns are assigned genders, and muziekfestival is a neuter noun. Neuter nouns take the definite article het, whereas masculine or feminine nouns typically take de. Thus, het muziekfestival translates as “the music festival.”

How does the compound subject Anna en Tom affect the verb form in the sentence?

Because Anna en Tom forms a compound subject (two people acting together), the verb must agree in the plural form. That's why we use gaan (the plural form of to go) instead of a singular form like gaat.

How does the word order of this Dutch sentence compare to a similar sentence in English?

This Dutch sentence follows a word order that is quite similar to English. It starts with the subject (Anna en Tom), follows with the verb (gaan), and ends with the prepositional phrase specifying the destination (naar het muziekfestival). In English, the sentence “Anna and Tom go to the music festival” follows a very similar structure, making it easier for native English speakers to understand.