Ik print een brief.

I

Breakdown of Ik print een brief.

• een: a, an
• de brief: the letter
• printen: to print

Questions & Answers about Ik print een brief.

What is the infinitive form of print in this sentence?

The underlying infinitive is printen, ending in -en. Dutch infinitives typically end in -en and correspond to the English to print.

Why doesn't ik print have a -t at the end of print?

In Dutch, the first person singular present uses the verb stem without an additional -t. Remove -en from printen to get the stem print, so you write ik print (not prinnt or printt).

If I say he prints a letter, should I write hij print or hij printt?

Although the third person singular normally adds -t, the stem of printen (print) already ends in -t. You do not write a double t, so you still write hij print, but you conceptually keep the -t ending in pronunciation.

Why is afdrukken not used here, and when would you use printen instead?