Questions & Answers about Mijn oma drinkt graag thee.
What does the adverb graag mean, and how does it function in Mijn oma drinkt graag thee?
The adverb graag literally means gladly or with pleasure, and in Dutch it’s used right after a verb to express that someone likes doing that action. So drinkt graag indicates that my grandma enjoys drinking tea.
Why is the infinitive drinken written as drinkt here?
In Dutch present tense, you take the verb stem drink- and add -t for third person singular subjects (hij, zij, het, and thus oma). Therefore drinken becomes drinkt when talking about someone like oma who is third person singular.
Why is there no article before thee?
thee is treated as a mass noun (uncountable) when referring to tea in general. Dutch omits the article for mass nouns. If you wanted to speak of a specific tea you would say de thee, or for a cup of tea you’d say een kop thee.
How come mijn oma doesn’t need the article de before it?