Word
Het schaap drinkt water in de tuin.
Meaning
The sheep drinks water in the garden.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of Het schaap drinkt water in de tuin.
drinken
to drink
het water
the water
in
in
de tuin
the garden
Questions & Answers about Het schaap drinkt water in de tuin.
Why is het used instead of de before schaap?
The definite article in Dutch has two forms: de for common-gender nouns and het for neuter nouns. Since schaap is neuter, you say het schaap.
How do I say a sheep rather than the sheep?
Use the indefinite article een. So een schaap is a sheep. For example:
een schaap drinkt water in de tuin means A sheep is drinking water in the garden.
Why is there no article before water?
Water is an uncountable (mass) noun in Dutch. When talking about it generally, you leave out the article. If you need to specify quantity, add a measure word: een glas water (a glass of water).
Why does drinken become drinkt here?
In the present tense, verbs end in -t for the third person singular (he/she/it).
Infinitive: drinken
Conjugation: ik drink, jij drinkt, hij/zij/het drinkt, wij drinken …
How do I express “is drinking” in Dutch?