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Questions & Answers about Anna kijkt naar de lucht.
What does kijkt mean, and why isn’t it kijken?
kijkt is the third‑person singular present tense of the verb kijken (to look). In Dutch, you remove ‑en and add ‑t for hij/zij/het:
• ik kijk
• jij kijkt
• hij/zij/het kijkt
• wij kijken
What is the role of naar in this sentence? Is it like the English “at”?
naar is a preposition that here corresponds to English “at” or “to” in the sense of “looking at.” When you kijken at something in Dutch, you normally use naar before the object: kijken naar iets.
Can de lucht be the direct object? Why can’t I say Anna kijkt de lucht?
No—de lucht is not a direct object but a prepositional object introduced by naar. Without naar, the sentence is ungrammatical: you cannot say Anna kijkt de lucht because kijken requires naar when indicating what you look at.
Why is it de lucht and not het lucht?
Dutch nouns are either de‑words or het‑words. lucht is classified as a de‑word, so it always takes de in both singular and plural. Unfortunately, you often have to memorize which nouns go with de or het.
Could I say Anna kijkt naar de hemel instead, and would the article change?
Yes. hemel (“sky”) is also a de‑word, so you say de hemel. The sentence Anna kijkt naar de hemel is perfectly natural and means essentially the same.
Why is kijkt placed second in the sentence?
Dutch main clauses follow the “V2” (verb‑second) word order rule: the finite verb must occupy the second position. If Anna (the subject) is first, kijkt comes immediately after in position two.
How do you pronounce kijkt? That final kt looks tricky.
kijkt is pronounced roughly as /kɛi̯kt/. The ij sounds like the English “eye” (/ɛi̯/), and the final kt is pronounced /kt/. So it’s something like “kaykt,” with a clear k at the end.
What is the plural of lucht, and can I say Anna kijkt naar de luchten?
The plural of lucht is luchten, so grammatically you can say Anna kijkt naar de luchten. However, native speakers rarely use that plural in this context—it would imply she’s looking at multiple “skies” or types of atmosphere.
What’s the difference between kijken and zien?
kijken means “to look” or “to watch” (an active action, often with naar), whereas zien means “to see” (a passive sense of perception). You kijkt naar a painting, but you ziet the painting if it comes into your line of vision.