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Breakdown of Mijn nieuwe apparaat rekent de sommen automatisch uit.
nieuw
new
mijn
my
het apparaat
the device
uitrekenen
to calculate
de som
the sum
automatisch
automatically
Questions & Answers about Mijn nieuwe apparaat rekent de sommen automatisch uit.
Why is uit at the end of the sentence instead of next to rekenen?
uitrekenen is a separable verb in Dutch. In a main clause, the verb splits: the finite part (rekent) appears in second position, and the prefix (uit) moves to the end of the clause.
Why is the adjective nieuwe inflected with -e in mijn nieuwe apparaat? Shouldn't it be nieuw apparaat?
Adjectives preceding a noun take -e when the noun is introduced by a definite or possessive determiner (de/het, dit/dat, mijn, etc.). Here mijn functions like a definite article, so you get mijn nieuwe apparaat.
Why is the definite article de used before sommen? Can you have plural nouns without an article?
All Dutch plurals use de as their definite article. If you want an indefinite plural, simply omit the article (e.g. Sommen maken is leuk = “Making sums is fun”). In your sentence, de sommen refers to specific (or contextually known) sums.
Where does the adverb automatisch belong? Could I say Mijn nieuwe apparaat rekent automatisch de sommen uit?
Standard Dutch word order in a main clause is Subject-Verb-Object-Adverb (S-V-O-A). Placing automatisch after the object (de sommen) is most common. You can also say Mijn nieuwe apparaat rekent automatisch de sommen uit—that variation shifts the emphasis slightly onto how the device calculates.
What’s the difference between rekenen, uitrekenen, and berekenen?
rekenen means “to calculate” or “to do arithmetic” generally.
uitrekenen (separable) emphasizes working something out to completion (“to figure out”).
berekenen (inseparable) also means “to compute” or “to calculate,” often used for more formal or complex calculations; its prefix never separates.
Could I say Mijn nieuwe apparaat berekent de sommen automatisch instead?
Yes. Using berekent (from berekenen) is perfectly correct and slightly more formal. uitrekenen highlights that the sums are worked out completely; berekenen focuses on the computation itself.
Which part of the sentence is the subject and which is the direct object?
The subject is Mijn nieuwe apparaat (“My new device”), and the direct object is de sommen (“the sums”)—that’s what the device is calculating.
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