Learn Hardcore Dutch: We hebben een nieuwe laptop; we beginnen er meteen mee te werken. - We have a new laptop; we will start working with it right away.

In Dutch, attributive adjectives (i.e. adjectives placed before a noun) take an –e ending when the noun is accompanied by an article (definite or indefinite) or other determiner. Since laptop is a common-gender noun with the indefinite article een, nieuw becomes nieuwe.

Why is the indefinite article een used instead of the definite article de in een nieuwe laptop?

Using een signals that the speaker is mentioning the laptop for the first time or introducing it as something new to the conversation. You’d use de (the) if both speaker and listener already know exactly which laptop you are talking about.

What is the function of er in we beginnen er meteen mee te werken?

Here er is part of a pronominal adverb that replaces met de laptop (with the laptop). The verb beginnen met iets (“to start with something”) uses preposition met, so er (an abstract placeholder) + mee (the “met” part) together stand for “with it.”

Why is mee separated from er and placed near the end of the sentence?

Dutch word-order rules for main clauses with a catenative verb (like beginnen) plus an infinitive require:

Finite verb in 2nd position (beginnen)
Pronoun (er) and other mid-field elements (e.g. meteen) next
The prepositional part (mee), the particle te, and the infinitive (werken) at the end
So er comes early, and mee te werken forms the final “infinitive cluster.”

Why is there te before werken? Could we say we beginnen er meteen mee werken?

Because beginnen is a catenative verb that governs a te + infinitive clause. Even when you replace “met de laptop” by er … mee, you still need te before the infinitive werken. Without te, the structure is ungrammatical here.

Why does werken appear at the very end of the clause?

In Dutch, if a main clause contains more than one verb (e.g. a catenative verb plus an infinitive), the non-finite verbs (te werken) shift to the end of the clause. The finite verb (beginnen) stays in 2nd position, and werken goes last.

What is the role and placement of the adverb meteen in we beginnen er meteen mee te werken?

Meteen (“immediately/right away”) is a time adverb that belongs in the mid-field (between the finite verb and the final infinitive cluster). The typical order is: finite verb (2nd), pronoun (er), adverbial (meteen), then the rest (mee te werken).

Could we replace er … mee with a personal pronoun like hem?

No. Hem would be the direct-object pronoun for a masculine noun, but beginnen here takes a prepositional object (met). Dutch uses pronominal adverbs (e.g. ermee) to replace prepositional objects, not personal object pronouns like hem.

What’s the difference between we beginnen er meteen mee te werken, we beginnen erop te werken, and we beginnen eraan te werken?

ermee werken = “to work with it/use it” (correct for starting to use the new laptop).
erop werken = “to work on it” physically (e.g. build on top of something) → wrong context.
eraan werken = “to work on it” in the sense of developing or improving something (e.g. a project) → also not the intended “start using” meaning.

Why does the sentence use a semicolon rather than a period or en?

A semicolon links two closely related independent clauses without a conjunction. Here it emphasizes the immediate consequence (“We have a new laptop; thus we start using it right away”). You could use a period (.) for two separate sentences or add en (“and”) for a more conversational tone, but the semicolon is perfectly acceptable in written Dutch.