Het examen vereist veel oefenen.

The exam requires a lot of practice.

Breakdown of Het examen vereist veel oefenen.

• veel: a lot
• oefenen: to practice
• het examen: the exam
• vereisen: to require

Questions & Answers about Het examen vereist veel oefenen.

Why is het used before examen instead of de?

Examen is a neuter noun in Dutch. Neuter nouns take the definite article het, whereas common‐gender nouns take de.

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What does vereist mean, and how is the verb vereisen used in Dutch?

Vereist is the third‐person singular present form of vereisen, meaning “to require” or “to demand.” It’s a transitive verb, so it takes a direct object:
• Ik vereis
• Jij/vrijwel altijd geëist: jij vereist
• Hij/zij/het vereist

In our sentence, het examen (subject) vereist (verb) veel oefenen (direct object).

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Why is the infinitive oefenen used here instead of the noun oefening?

Dutch often uses the infinitive as a verbal noun to express the act of doing something. Here, oefenen (to practice) refers to the general process of practicing. If you use oefening, you shift to “an exercise” or “practice session,” which is more concrete.

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Is oefenen acting like a noun or a verb in this sentence?

Grammatically it’s the infinitive form of a verb, but syntactically it functions as a noun (a verbal noun). Think of it as “practice” in English: it names an activity rather than showing someone doing it in a finite clause.

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What’s the difference between veel and vaak, and could you say vaak oefenen here?

• veel = much/many (quantity)
• vaak = often (frequency)

Het examen vereist vaak oefenen would mean “The exam requires practicing often,” emphasizing frequency rather than total amount. It’s grammatically fine, but changes the nuance.

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Can you say Het examen vereist veel oefening? What changes?

Yes. Here you use the noun oefening (“exercise” or “practice session”) with veel. The meaning remains “The exam requires a lot of practice,” but it might suggest “many exercises” rather than the ongoing activity of practicing.

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Can vereisen be followed by te + infinitive, like veel te oefenen?

No. Vereisen demands a noun phrase as its object. You cannot say Het examen vereist veel te oefenen. If you want te + infinitive, rephrase with er is:
“Er is veel te oefenen voor het examen.”

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How do you turn this sentence into a question in Dutch?

Use verb–subject inversion (V2 rule):
Vereist het examen veel oefenen?

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How would you express that the exam does not require much practice?

You can negate it in two main ways:

1. Het examen vereist niet veel oefenen.
2. Het examen vereist weinig oefenen.

Both mean “The exam doesn’t require much practice.”

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What are alternative ways to express “require” in this context?

You can also say:
• Voor het examen is veel oefenen nodig. (using nodig zijn)
• Het examen vraagt veel oefenen. (using vragen as “to demand/require”)