De hond ligt diep in de schuur.

the dog

Breakdown of De hond ligt diep in de schuur.

• in: in
• liggen: to lie
• de schuur: the shed

Questions & Answers about De hond ligt diep in de schuur.

What does ligt mean in this context?

Ligt is the third-person singular present form of the verb liggen, meaning “to lie” in the sense of being in a horizontal position. So De hond ligt… literally means “The dog is lying…”

Why do we use liggen (conjugated as ligt) here instead of zitten or staan?

Dutch, like English, has different verbs for different body positions:

• liggen: to lie down (horizontal)
• zitten: to sit (upright)
• staan: to stand (vertical)
  Since the dog is lying down, we use liggen.

What part of speech is diep in this sentence?

Here diep functions as an adverb, modifying the verb ligt. It answers the question “How/where is the dog lying?” – deep (inside the shed).

Why is diep not diepe?

Diepe is the inflected adjective form you’d use before a noun (de diepe schuur = “the deep shed”). But when you modify a verb, you use the uninflected adverb diep, so it remains diep.