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Ik lees elke pagina van het boek.

Ik lees elke pagina van het boek.
I read every page of the book.
FromLesson 25inHardcore Dutch
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Breakdown of Ik lees elke pagina van het boek.

ik
I
het boek
the book
lezen
to read
elke
every
van
of
de pagina
the page

Questions & Answers about Ik lees elke pagina van het boek.

Why do we use elke pagina instead of alle pagina’s, and what about ieder(e) pagina?
elke = each, goes with a singular noun. alle pagina’s = all pages, a plural form meaning the collection. ieder(e) pagina is also grammatically correct and almost identical to elke pagina, though elke is more frequent in spoken Dutch.
Why is pagina singular after elke—shouldn’t it be plural?
With elke (each), you refer to every single item individually, so the noun remains singular: elke pagina (each page), not elke pagina’s.
Why is it van het boek and not uit het boek or simply het boek?

• van expresses a part–whole relationship: pages of the book.
• uit indicates extraction or selection (“from the book,” as in quoting passages).
• Saying Ik lees het boek omits detail; it means “I read the book” in general, not “each page of it.”

Why doesn’t lezen require a preposition before its object?
In Dutch, lezen is a transitive verb (takes a direct object). You say ik lees een boek, just like in English “I read a book,” with no preposition before the direct object.
Why is it het boek and not de boek?
Dutch nouns are either common gender (use de) or neuter (use het). boek is a neuter noun, therefore it takes het in the singular.
How do I express “I am reading each page” if Dutch doesn’t have a continuous form?

The simple present ik lees elke pagina can mean both “I read each page” or “I am reading each page,” depending on context. To explicitly stress the ongoing action, you can say:
Ik ben elke pagina aan het lezen.

How do I pronounce lees—does it rhyme with English “less” or “lease”?
The Dutch ee represents a long /e:/ sound, similar to English “lace” (minus the diphthong). So lees is pronounced roughly like lease, not less.
Can I change the word order to Ik lees van het boek elke pagina?

The neutral order is S-V-O-PP (Subject–Verb–Object–Prepositional Phrase): Ik lees elke pagina van het boek.
You can front the PP for emphasis: Van het boek lees ik elke pagina.
Putting the PP between the verb and its direct object, as in your example, is less common.

What is the plural of pagina, and can I say Ik lees alle pagina’s van het boek?

The plural is pagina’s (apostrophe to separate the vowel + a).
Ik lees alle pagina’s van het boek means “I read all the pages of the book.” It’s grammatical and similar in meaning, but alle pagina’s treats the pages collectively, whereas elke pagina highlights them one by one.

What’s the difference between pagina and bladzijde?

Both words can mean page, but:

  • pagina is the standard term for a page in any text.
  • bladzijde literally means “sheet side” and is used more in formal or technical contexts (e.g. librarians talking about one side of a leaf).
    In everyday Dutch you’ll almost always use pagina.

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