Breakdown of Ik lees een boek tijdens de treinrit.
ik
I
het boek
the book
lezen
to read
tijdens
during
de treinrit
the train ride
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Questions & Answers about Ik lees een boek tijdens de treinrit.
What does tijdens mean in this sentence?
Tijdens is a preposition in Dutch that means “during” in English. It specifies the time period in which the action (reading) is taking place—in this case, during the train ride.
How is the verb lees correctly conjugated in this sentence?
The verb lezen (to read) is conjugated as lees in the first person singular present tense to match the subject Ik (I). This is the standard conjugation for “I read” in Dutch.
Why is treinrit written as one compound word, and what does it mean?
Dutch often forms compound nouns by joining words together. Treinrit combines trein (train) and rit (ride) to create a specific term that means “train ride.” This compact form is typical for many Dutch compound nouns.
What is the role of the articles een and de in this sentence?
In the sentence, een is an indefinite article used with boek (book) to indicate that it is any book, while de is a definite article used with treinrit (train ride) to point to a specific journey. This distinction follows common Dutch article usage.
How does the sentence structure convey when the action takes place?
The sentence follows the standard Subject-Verb-Object order with the prepositional phrase tijdens de treinrit added at the end. This phrase provides extra information about the timing of the action, specifying that the reading occurs during the train ride.