Tom toont zijn auto.

Tom

Breakdown of Tom toont zijn auto.

• zijn: his
• de auto: the car
• tonen: to show

Questions & Answers about Tom toont zijn auto.

What does the sentence Tom toont zijn auto mean in English?

It means Tom shows his car. The sentence indicates that Tom is displaying his car.

What tense is used in the sentence and why is the verb conjugated as toont?

The sentence is in the simple present tense. The verb tonen (to show) is conjugated as toont for the third-person singular subject Tom, which is standard in Dutch.

What function does the word zijn serve in this sentence?

Zijn is a possessive pronoun meaning “his.” It indicates that the auto (car) belongs to Tom.

How does the word order in Tom toont zijn auto compare to the typical English sentence structure?

The sentence follows a Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) order, which is similar to English. Tom is the subject, toont is the verb, and zijn auto is the object.

Are there alternative ways to say “shows” in Dutch, and what are the differences?

Yes, another common way is Tom laat zijn auto zien. Both toont and laat ... zien translate as “shows,” but tonen is a single-word verb, whereas laten zien is a two-part expression often used in everyday conversation.

Why is there no article before auto in the sentence?

In Dutch, when a noun is preceded by a possessive pronoun like zijn, the pronoun functions as a determiner. Therefore, no additional definite article is needed before auto.