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Questions & Answers about Wij gaan naar het hotel.
What does Wij mean in the sentence?
Wij is the Dutch first-person plural pronoun, equivalent to we in English. It indicates that the speaker is including themselves as part of a group.
How is the verb gaan used in this sentence, and what does it signify?
The verb gaan means to go. In this sentence, it is conjugated for wij (we) and expresses the action of going. It can also be used in forming the future tense when paired with another verb, but here it simply indicates that we are going.
What role does the preposition naar play in this sentence?
Naar is a preposition meaning to. It specifies direction or destination. Thus, wij gaan naar het hotel translates to we are going to the hotel, clearly showing where the action is directed.
Why is the definite article het used before hotel instead of de?
In Dutch, every noun is assigned a gender. Hotel is a neuter noun, so it takes the neuter definite article het. In contrast, common gender nouns use de. That’s why we say het hotel.
Is it necessary to include wij in this sentence, or can it sometimes be omitted in casual conversation?
Dutch typically requires the subject pronoun, so including wij is standard to avoid ambiguity. In informal speech, if the context makes the subject clear, some speakers might drop the pronoun, but for clarity – especially for learners – it’s best to include wij.