Learn Hardcore Dutch: Wij meten de temperatuur in het laboratorium. - We measure the temperature in the laboratory.

wij is the full-form subject pronoun and is used for emphasis or more formal/written contexts. we is the reduced, colloquial form used in everyday speech. Both are correct, so you can choose Wij meten… for emphasis or formality, and We meten… in casual conversation.

Why is the verb meten written without -t after wij? In English we say “we measure,” so why doesn’t Dutch add a -t?

In Dutch present-tense conjugation, only jij/je, hij/zij/het, and u get the -t ending (except ik which never takes -t). The plural subjects wij/jullie/zij use the infinitive form without -t. Hence:
• wij meten
• jullie meten
• zij meten

Why is it de temperatuur and not het temperatuur?

Dutch nouns are classified as de-words or het-words. temperatuur is a de-word, so it takes de. There’s no simple rule covering all nouns, but many words ending in -uur (like de cultuur, de natuur) are de-words.

Why is it het laboratorium and not de laboratorium?

laboratorium is a het-word. A common pattern is that many loanwords ending in -ium are neuter and take het, so you say het laboratorium.

Why does the phrase in het laboratorium appear at the end of the sentence?

Dutch basic word order is Subject–Verb–Object, and adverbials of place or time normally follow the object. That’s why you place in het laboratorium (a place adverbial) after de temperatuur. You can front it for emphasis, but that requires verb–subject inversion: “In het laboratorium meten wij de temperatuur.”

How do you turn this into a question in Dutch?

You invert the verb and the subject:
“Meten wij de temperatuur in het laboratorium?”
Colloquially you’d say:
“Meten we de temperatuur in het laboratorium?”
You can also add …niet? at the end (“Meten we de temperatuur in het laboratorium, niet?”) for a tag-question effect.

Can you drop the subject wij and just say Meten de temperatuur in het laboratorium?

No. Unlike some Romance languages, Dutch generally requires an explicit subject pronoun in non-imperative clauses. You must say Wij meten… or We meten…; you can’t just start with Meten… unless you’re issuing an imperative (“Meet de temperatuur!”).

In informal speech, can in het be contracted to in ’t?

Yes. In everyday spoken and informal written Dutch, het is often reduced to ’t, so you’ll hear in ’t laboratorium. This contraction is colloquial and typically avoided in formal writing.