Breakdown of Wij brengen de avond door in het park.
wij
we
in
in
het park
the park
de avond
the evening
doorbrengen
to spend
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Questions & Answers about Wij brengen de avond door in het park.
What is the function of door at the end of the sentence?
door is the separable prefix of the verb doorbrengen (to spend time). In Dutch main clauses the prefix detaches from the verb and moves to the end. So we brengen de avond door literally “we bring the evening through,” idiomatically “we spend the evening.”
Could you explain the word order in this sentence?
Dutch follows a V2 (verb-second) rule. The structure here is:
1) Subject: Wij
2) Finite verb: brengen
3) Object: de avond
4) Separable prefix: door
5) Adverbial phrase (place): in het park
Is de avond here a time expression or a direct object?
Grammatically it’s the direct object of doorbrengen, but semantically it indicates the time span (“the evening”). So it functions both as object and as a temporal expression.
Why is the verb in the simple present tense? Can it be interpreted as a future action?
The simple present in Dutch can describe habitual actions, general facts, or scheduled/future events. Here brengen…door in the present can mean “we are (going to) spend” or “we habitually spend,” depending on context.
Why is it in het park rather than op het park?
In Dutch, a park is viewed as an enclosed or defined space, so you use in. You would say op for surfaces or specific platforms (e.g. op het gras “on the grass”).
Why do we say de avond but het park? How do I know which article to use?
Avond is a common-gender noun (hence de), while park is neuter (hence het). Unfortunately you often have to learn noun genders by memorizing or consulting a dictionary. Patterns: most diminutives are het, abstract nouns ending in -ing, -aar, -er are usually de, etc.
Can we replace wij with we or drop it altogether?
Yes, we is the unstressed spoken form of wij. However, Dutch normally requires an explicit subject in main clauses, so you cannot simply omit it as you might in English (“(We) spend the evening…”).
Can we move in het park to the front of the sentence?
Yes. If you start with an adverbial phrase, you must still keep the finite verb in second position:
In het park brengen wij de avond door.
Here brengen remains the second element, and wij follows it.
What’s the difference between doorbrengen and verbrengen?
Both mean “to spend time.” Doorbrengen is more common in everyday speech, while verbrengen can sound more formal or literary. Both are separable verbs (we brengen de avond door / we brengen de avond ver).