Breakdown of De warme kop koffie staat op de tafel.
de tafel
the table
staan
to stand
warm
warm
de koffie
the coffee
op
on
de kop
the cup
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Questions & Answers about De warme kop koffie staat op de tafel.
Why does warme end with “-e”?
In Dutch, attributive adjectives (those placed before a noun) take an -e ending whenever the noun is introduced by a definite article (de) or is plural. This is called the weak inflection. Here kop is a de-word, so warm becomes warme in de warme kop koffie. (Only neuter singular nouns with an indefinite article — e.g. een warm huis — drop the “-e.”)
Why is the article de used for both kop koffie and tafel?
Dutch nouns have two grammatical genders: common (use de) and neuter (use het). Both kop (“cup”) and tafel (“table”) are common-gender nouns, so they take de when definite. If you were not talking about a specific cup or table, you’d use een:
Een warme kop koffie staat op de tafel. (A warm cup of coffee is on the table.)
Why is the verb staat used instead of ligt?
Dutch distinguishes between “to stand” (staan), “to lie” (liggen), “to sit” (zitten), etc., based on the object's orientation. Because a cup is upright, you use staan → staat in the present tense. If something is flat on a surface (a book, for example), you’d use ligt.
Why is it kop koffie and not koffiekop?
kop koffie (two words) literally means “a cup of coffee” – you’re naming the content in the container. koffiekop (one word) is a compound meaning “coffee cup” – the vessel itself, whether it’s full or empty. When you talk about the filled cup you use kop koffie.
What’s the difference between op de tafel and op tafel?
- op de tafel points to one specific table (definite).
- op tafel is more general or idiomatic for location: “on the table” in the sense of “on any (known) table” or as a set expression (e.g. Zet alles op tafel – “Put everything on the table”).
Can I start the sentence with Er, as in Er staat een warme kop koffie op de tafel, and does that change the meaning?
Yes. Er is an expletive pronoun used for existential or introductory statements (“There is…”).
- Er staat een warme kop koffie… = “There is a warm cup of coffee on the table.” (introducing something new)
- De warme kop koffie staat op de tafel. = “The warm cup of coffee is on the table.” (talking about a specific cup you already know)
How do I pronounce koffie and kop koffie?
- kop = /kɔp/ (short “o,” similar to English “cop”)
- koffie = /ˈkɔ.fi/ (two syllables: KOFF-ee; the ie sounds like English “ee” in “see”)
So kop koffie is /kɔp ˈkɔ.fi/ with the main stress on the first syllable of koffie.