Questions & Answers about De kat ligt onder de tafel.
Why is the definite article de used with both kat and tafel, and not het?
Both kat and tafel are common-gender nouns in Dutch, which take de as their definite article. Only neuter nouns use het, and you generally have to memorize which nouns are which, although diminutives (like tafeltje) are always neuter (het tafeltje).
What does ligt mean, and can I use is instead of ligt?
ligt is the third-person singular present tense of liggen (to lie, in a horizontal position). It describes the cat’s posture. You could say De kat is onder de tafel to simply state its location, but ligt conveys that it’s lying there rather than just being there.
Why is the word order De kat ligt onder de tafel and not De kat onder de tafel ligt?
Dutch main clauses follow the V2 rule (verb-second): the finite verb must occupy the second position. Here, the subject (De kat) is first, the verb (ligt) is second, and the rest (onder de tafel) follows.
What part of speech is onder, and why isn’t the noun case affected?