Tom zoekt het rooster in zijn agenda.

Tom looks for the timetable in his planner.

Breakdown of Tom zoekt het rooster in zijn agenda.

• Tom: Tom
• in: in
• zijn: his
• zoeken: to look for
• de agenda: the planner
• het rooster: the timetable

Questions & Answers about Tom zoekt het rooster in zijn agenda.

What does zoekt mean in this sentence?

Zoekt is the third-person singular present tense of the verb zoeken, which means “to look for” or “to search.” Here it translates as “(he) looks for” or “(he) is looking for.” Since Dutch does not distinguish between simple present and present continuous, Tom zoekt can mean either “Tom looks for…” or “Tom is looking for…”

Why is there no naar after zoeken? I’ve seen zoeken naar before.

Dutch zoeken can be used both transitively (without a preposition) and intransitively with naar.

• Transitive: Tom zoekt het rooster. (“Tom looks for the schedule.”)
• Intransitive + naar: Tom zoekt naar het rooster.
  In everyday speech you’ll hear both. Omitting naar is slightly more direct, especially when the object is concrete (like het rooster).

Why is it het rooster and not de rooster? How do I know which article to use?

Dutch nouns are either de-words or het-words. Unfortunately, there are few hard rules, so you often have to learn them with the noun.

• Rooster (meaning “timetable” or “schedule”) is a het-word, so it takes het.
• Agenda is a de-word, so it would normally take de if you used an article by itself.

Then why isn’t it Tom zoekt de agenda instead of zijn agenda?

Here agenda is possessed by Tom, so we replace the article with the possessive pronoun zijn (“his”).

• de agenda = “the planner/agenda”
• zijn agenda = “his planner/agenda”

Can agenda mean the same as in English, like “meeting agenda”?

Yes, agenda in Dutch can mean both:
1) a personal diary/planner (as in zijn agenda),
2) the list of items to be discussed in a meeting (just like in English).
Context tells you which meaning is intended.

What part of speech is rooster here? Could it be something else?

In this sentence, rooster is a noun meaning “timetable” or “schedule.” It can also mean “grid” or “grating” in different contexts, but with agenda around it, it clearly refers to a schedule.

Why is the phrase in zijn agenda placed after het rooster? Can I switch them?

Dutch main clauses follow the pattern:

1. Subject (Tom)
2. Finite verb (zoekt)
3. Objects/complements/adjuncts in flexible order
   Here, the direct object het rooster comes before the locational phrase in zijn agenda. You could swap them for emphasis:
   
   • Tom zoekt in zijn agenda het rooster.
     That changes the focus slightly, putting more stress on in zijn agenda.

Could I start the sentence with In zijn agenda for emphasis?

Yes, you can front a prepositional phrase in Dutch main clauses, but you must keep the verb-second (V2) rule, which means the verb stays in second position:

• In zijn agenda zoekt Tom het rooster.
  This emphasizes the location (in his planner).

How would I say “Tom is looking for his timetable in his planner” if I want to be extra clear about the progressive aspect?

Dutch doesn’t have a separate progressive form, but you can use bezig zijn met + gerund to stress ongoing action:

• Tom is bezig het rooster in zijn agenda te zoeken.
  Literally: “Tom is busy searching for the schedule in his planner.”