Learn Hardcore Dutch: Het water in het zwembad is extreem koud. - The water in the swimming pool is extremely cold.

Dutch nouns take either the article de (common gender) or het (neuter). Water is a neuter noun, so it takes het: het water. There’s no hard rule, so you usually have to learn the gender of each noun.

Why are there two het articles in this sentence?

The first het marks the subject noun (het water) as neuter. The second het marks the object of the preposition in: in het zwembad (“in the pool”). Both are needed because they refer to two different nouns.

What does zwembad literally mean and how is it formed?

Zwembad is a compound of zwem (“to swim”) + bad (“bath”). Literally it’s “swim-bath,” which we translate as swimming pool. Compounding is very common in Dutch.

Why is in used here and not another preposition like op?

In means “inside,” and you swim inside a pool. Op would mean “on top of,” which wouldn’t make sense here.

Why is the adjective phrase extreem koud placed after is rather than before het water?

Here, extreem koud is a predicative adjective describing the state of the water, so it follows the verb: subject + verb + predicate. If you put an adjective before the noun (attributive), you’d get het extreme koude water, but that has a slightly different structure and meaning.

Why don’t extreem and koud have an -e ending?

Predicative adjectives (those that come after zijn, worden, etc.) never take an -e ending in Dutch. Only attributive adjectives (before a noun with a definite article) take -e.

Could I say het extreem koude water instead?

Yes—you’d then be using an attributive adjective:

het (definite article) + extreem → extreme
- koud → koude
  - water
Result: het extreme koude water (“the extremely cold water”)
Note that both adjectives take -e here because of the definite article.

Is there another way to say extreem koud?

Yes, you could use synonyms like heel erg koud or ijskoud:
• heel erg koud = “very very cold”
• ijskoud = “ice-cold”
They’re interchangeable in casual speech.