De kat loopt in het weiland.

The cat walks in the meadow.

Breakdown of De kat loopt in het weiland.

• de kat: the cat
• in: in
• lopen: to walk
• het weiland: the meadow

Questions & Answers about De kat loopt in het weiland.

Why is it de kat and het weiland? Why not het kat or de weiland?

In Dutch, nouns have two genders: common (using de) and neuter (using het).

• Kat is common gender ⇒ de kat
• Weiland is neuter ⇒ het weiland
  Unfortunately there’s no foolproof rule for every noun; you often learn each word’s gender or follow patterns (e.g. most diminutives are het, many “-ing” nouns are de).

How do you get loopt from the infinitive lopen?

To form the 3rd person singular present tense:

1. Start with the infinitive lopen (‘to walk’).
2. Drop -en → stem loop-.
3. Add -t → loopt.
   So de kat loopt literally means “the cat walks.”

Why is the verb in second position in De kat loopt in het weiland?

Dutch main clauses follow the verb-second (V2) rule:

1. First comes one element (often the subject).
2. Then the finite verb.
3. Then the rest of the sentence (objects, adverbials, etc.).
   Here:
4. De kat (subject)
5. loopt (verb)
6. in het weiland (prepositional phrase)