Breakdown of Wij stellen morgen ons idee voor.
Questions & Answers about Wij stellen morgen ons idee voor.
In Dutch voorstellen is a separable verb. In a main clause the finite part (stellen) stays in second position, and the prefix (voor) detaches and goes to the end. So
Wij (1) stellen (2) … (voor)
becomes
Wij stellen morgen ons idee voor.
Dutch possessive adjectives agree with the noun’s grammatical gender and number. Idee is a neuter noun (het idee), so you use ons (our for singular het-words). Onze is used with de-words or any plural noun.
Dutch follows the “verb-second” (V2) rule: the finite verb must be in the second slot. After the subject (wij), the finite verb (stellen) comes. Then you can insert time adverbials like morgen, followed by objects, and finally the separable prefix. So the structure is:
Subject – Finite Verb – Time – Object – Prefix
Yes. You can front morgen for emphasis, but then you must invert subject and verb:
Morgen stellen wij ons idee voor.
You can also place morgen at the very end:
Wij stellen ons idee voor morgen.
- Voorstellen (separable) literally means “to present/put forward,” often used for ideas, plans or oneself. It’s a bit less formal.
- Presenteren (non-separable) is more formal, like giving a presentation or slideshow.
Both are correct:
Wij stellen morgen ons idee voor.
Wij presenteren morgen ons idee.
Invert the subject and the finite verb:
Stellen wij morgen ons idee voor?
If you front morgen, you still invert:
Morgen stellen wij ons idee voor?
Dutch often uses gaan + infinitive to talk about the near future. With a separable verb the particle stays attached:
Wij gaan morgen ons idee voorstellen.
Or, fronting morgen:
Morgen gaan wij ons idee voorstellen.
Yes. With the reflexive pronoun it changes meaning:
- zich voorstellen (to imagine): Ik stel me voor dat… (I imagine that…)
- zich voorstellen (to introduce oneself): Ik stel me aan je voor (I introduce myself to you).
Without zich, it generally means “to present (something).”