Breakdown of Zijn koffer is zwaar, dus hij vraagt om hulp met de bagage.
zijn
to be
hij
he
met
with
zijn
his
om
for
dus
so
vragen
to ask
de hulp
the help
zwaar
heavy
de bagage
the luggage
de koffer
the suitcase
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Questions & Answers about Zijn koffer is zwaar, dus hij vraagt om hulp met de bagage.
What does the word zijn mean here? It looks like the verb “to be”…
In this sentence zijn is not the verb “to be” but the possessive pronoun “his.” Dutch uses zijn (for he) and haar (for she) to show possession. The verb “to be” in Dutch is also zijn in its infinitive form, but once conjugated it appears as is, ben, bent, etc. Here, “zijn koffer” simply means “his suitcase.”
Why isn’t there an article like de before koffer?
Possessive pronouns (mijn, jouw, zijn, haar, ons, hun) replace the definite (de/het) or indefinite (een) article. Just as in English you say “his suitcase” (not “his the suitcase”), in Dutch you say “zijn koffer” without adding de.
Why is om used in om hulp vragen – can’t we just say vragen hulp?
In Dutch om hulp vragen is a fixed expression meaning “to ask for help.” The om is mandatory in this construction. If you drop it and say vragen hulp, the sentence becomes ungrammatical.
Why isn’t there a te after om (like in om te helpen)?
There are two different uses of om:
1) om + noun: here om hulp (“for help”), so no te.
2) om + infinitive (with te): this expresses purpose, e.g. om te helpen (“in order to help”).
Since we need the noun hulp, we use plain om hulp.
Why does the sentence use met in met de bagage – could we say bij de bagage?
The collocation for “help with something” in Dutch is hulp met iets. So you get met de bagage when you mean “help carrying/handling the luggage.” You can also hear hulp bij de bagage, but that often emphasizes assistance “at the baggage area” or a more abstract kind of help. For lifting or carrying, met is most natural.
Why doesn’t bagage take a plural form (bagages)? And why is there de bagage?
Bagage is an uncountable (mass) noun in Dutch, just like “luggage” in English. It does not have a plural form. You say de bagage for “the luggage” or leave out the article if you want an indefinite general sense. To count items, you would use a phrase like drie stuks bagage (“three pieces of luggage”).
Why does the verb vraagt follow the subject hij after dus? Shouldn’t it be dus vraagt hij?
When dus simply links two independent clauses after a comma, it often acts as a discourse marker and doesn’t trigger inversion. You write “…, dus hij vraagt om hulp.” If you start a brand‑new sentence with dus, you can invert: Dus vraagt hij om hulp. Both are possible, but in connected speech the comma + dus hij vraagt is very common.