Word
De kast staat vol boeken.
Meaning
The cupboard is full of books.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Questions & Answers about De kast staat vol boeken.
Why is the verb staat used here instead of is?
In Dutch, stative or positional verbs like staan (to stand), zitten (to sit) and liggen (to lie) often replace English to be when describing how something is situated or filled. Here, De kast is thought of as an upright container in a certain condition (full), so you say De kast staat vol boeken rather than De kast is vol boeken.
What part of speech is vol in De kast staat vol boeken? Is it an adjective?
In this sentence, vol functions as a predicative preposition meaning “full (of).” It follows the verb and takes a noun phrase directly, without an article. Unlike an attributive adjective (which would sit before a noun, as in een volle kast), here vol completes the sense of the verb by specifying the cupboard’s contents.
Why is there no met before boeken? Could I say De kast staat vol met boeken as well?
Yes—both De kast staat vol boeken and De kast staat vol met boeken are grammatically correct and mean the same thing. Omitting met makes the sentence a bit more concise and is very common in everyday speech.
Why is there no article before boeken? Why not de boeken?