De jas hangt in de kast.

The coat is hanging in the cupboard.

Breakdown of De jas hangt in de kast.

• in: in
• de jas: the coat
• de kast: the cupboard
• hangen: to hang

Questions & Answers about De jas hangt in de kast.

Why is the sentence “De jas hangt in de kast” using de for both jas and kast, and not het?

In Dutch, every noun is either a de-word or a het-word.
• Jas (coat) and kast (closet) are both de-words, so they take the definite article de.
• There is no hard rule by meaning, you simply memorize which nouns are de and which are het (or consult a dictionary).

What does hangt mean, and how is it conjugated in the present tense?

Hangt is the third-person-singular present form of the verb hangen (to hang / be hanging).
Conjugation in the present tense:
• ik hang
• jij/u hang(t)
• hij/zij/het hangt
• wij/jullie/zij hangen
In English you’d translate hangt as “hangs” or “is hanging.”

Why don’t we use the separable verb ophangen instead of hangen here?

Dutch has two related verbs:
• hangen = to hang (intransitive) or be hanging (state).
• ophangen = to hang up (transitive, an action you do).
Since “De jas hangt in de kast” describes the coat’s state (it’s already hanging), you use hangen rather than the action-verb ophangen.

Why is the preposition in used, and not op or aan?

• in = inside something (the coat is inside the closet).
• op = on top of something.
• aan = attached to something (e.g. aan de kapstok = on the coat rack).
Because the coat hangs inside the closet, in de kast is correct.

Why do we use hangen and not other position verbs like liggen, staan or zitten?

Dutch has several “locational” verbs:
• liggen = to lie (horizontal position)
• staan = to stand (vertical on the ground)
• zitten = to sit
• hangen = to hang
A coat is not lying, standing or sitting—it’s hanging—so hangen is the proper choice.

How would I turn “De jas hangt in de kast” into a question?

Dutch main clauses follow the V2 (verb-second) rule. To make a yes/no question, invert subject and verb:
Hangt de jas in de kast?
Literally: “Hangs the coat in the closet?”

How can I say “A coat is hanging in the closet” (indefinite)?

Replace the definite article de with the indefinite een:
Een jas hangt in de kast.
Note that een is the Dutch word for “a/an.”

Why is hangt in second position in the sentence?

In Dutch main clauses the finite verb must occupy the second “slot” (V2 rule).
Structure here:

1. Subject (De jas)
2. Verb (hangt)
3. Rest (in de kast)
   So hangt naturally comes second.