Learn Hardcore Dutch: Het budget voor onze reis is klein.

budget is a neuter noun in Dutch (a “het-woord”). In Dutch you use het for neuter nouns. Many loanwords from English ending in a consonant are treated as neuter, so the correct article is het budget.

Why do we use voor onze reis rather than van onze reis?

The preposition voor expresses purpose or intended use (“for our trip”). Saying het budget van onze reis would literally mean “the trip’s budget” (possession) and sounds less idiomatic when you want to say “this is the money set aside for the trip.”

Why is it onze reis and not ons reis?

Possessive pronouns agree with the grammatical gender of the noun that follows. Reis is a de-woord (common gender), so you use onze. You only use ons before a het-woord, for example ons huis.

Why is the adjective klein not kleine?

Here klein is a predicative adjective (it comes after the verb is). Predicative adjectives are not inflected and stay in their base form, so you write is klein. If you put the adjective attributively (before a definite noun), it does get an -e, for example het kleine budget.

Could I say Ons budget voor onze reis is klein instead of Het budget voor onze reis is klein?

Yes. Starting with Ons budget emphasizes that the budget belongs to “us.” Using Het budget is more neutral and often chosen when you’re introducing “the budget” as the topic rather than stressing possession.

Can I start the sentence with Voor onze reis? Do I need to change the word order?

Yes. You can say Voor onze reis is het budget klein to highlight “for our trip.” Dutch main clauses follow the V2 rule, so the finite verb (is) must remain in second position, regardless of what you put first.

Are there other ways to express a small budget in Dutch?

Yes. A few alternatives:

beperkt: Het budget voor onze reis is beperkt (limited).
krap: Ons budget voor de reis is krap (tight).
Talking about money directly: We hebben weinig geld voor onze reis (we have little money for our trip).