Tom fietst vrij langzaam in het park.

Tom bikes quite slowly in the park.

Breakdown of Tom fietst vrij langzaam in het park.

• Tom: Tom
• in: in
• het park: the park
• fietsen: to bike
• langzaam: slowly
• vrij: quite

Questions & Answers about Tom fietst vrij langzaam in het park.

What does the verb fietst mean, and how is it conjugated in this sentence?

Fietst is the third-person singular present form of the verb fietsen, which means “to bike” or “to cycle.” In this sentence, it indicates that Tom is engaged in the activity of cycling.

What is the role of the adverb vrij in this sentence?

The adverb vrij acts as an intensifier similar to “pretty” or “quite” in English. It modifies the adverb langzaam (“slowly”), emphasizing that Tom is cycling at a relatively slow pace.

Why is the definite article het used in in het park instead of de?

In Dutch, every noun has a gender. The word park is a neuter noun, which takes the definite article het. Nouns of common gender would use de, but since park is neuter, het is used here.

What is the overall word order of the sentence, and how does it compare to that in English?

The sentence follows a typical Dutch word order: Subject – Verb – Adverbial phrase – Prepositional phrase. Specifically, Tom (subject) comes first, followed by fietst (verb), then vrij langzaam (the adverbial phrase modifying the manner of cycling), and finally in het park (the prepositional phrase indicating location). In English, this corresponds closely to “Tom bikes pretty slowly in the park,” although Dutch sometimes places adverbs differently depending on context.

How would the meaning change if we removed the adverb vrij from the sentence?

Omitting vrij would result in the sentence Tom fietst langzaam in het park, which translates to “Tom cycles slowly in the park.” While the overall meaning remains similar, removing vrij lessens the emphasis on the degree of slowness. The word vrij adds a nuance that his pace is notably slow, rather than just slow in a neutral sense.