Breakdown of Tom morst koffie op het tapijt, maar ruimt het snel op.
Tom
Tom
maar
but
het
it
snel
quickly
de koffie
the coffee
op
on
het tapijt
the carpet
morsen
to spill
opruimen
to clean up
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Questions & Answers about Tom morst koffie op het tapijt, maar ruimt het snel op.
Why is the verb form morst used here?
The infinitive is morsen (“to spill”). In Dutch present-tense conjugation you add -t for the third person singular: ik mors, jij morst, hij/zij morst. Hence Tom morst.
Why is there no article before koffie?
Koffie is an uncountable (mass) noun in this context, so you generally omit the article. If you wanted to specify an individual cup you could say een kopje koffie (“a cup of coffee”).
Why is it op het tapijt (on the carpet) and not in het tapijt?
Dutch uses op to indicate something spills onto a surface. In would suggest going inside the carpet’s interior, which isn’t natural here. So spilled liquid lands op (“on”) the carpet.
Why is it het tapijt and not de tapijt?
Tapijt is a neuter noun, so its definite article is het. You can remember that many words ending in -ijt are neuter.
What is a separable verb and how does ruimt op fit in?
In Dutch, verbs like opruimen (“to clean up”) are separable: the prefix op detaches in main clauses and goes to the end. So instead of Tom opruimt het snel, you get Tom ruimt het snel op.
Why does the sentence say ruimt het snel op instead of ruimt op het snel?
Word order in a simple Dutch main clause follows V2 (verb in second position). Here “maar” is first, ruimt is second, then the object het, then the adverb snel, and finally the separated prefix op. Adverbs normally sit between the object and the final particle in separable-verb constructions.
Why is the subject Tom omitted in the second part, “maar ruimt het snel op”?
Dutch often drops a pronoun if it’s clear from context. You could insert maar hij ruimt het snel op (“but he cleans it up quickly”), but it’s optional once the subject is known.
Why is maar used here? Could I say en instead?
Maar means “but” and signals a contrast: he made a mess, but then cleaned it up. Using en (“and”) would just link two actions without implying contrast: Tom morst koffie... en ruimt het snel op is grammatically fine but loses the “however/contrasting” nuance.