Onze boer verkoopt vers brood op de markt.

the bread

Breakdown of Onze boer verkoopt vers brood op de markt.

• onze: our
• verkopen: to sell
• vers: fresh

Questions & Answers about Onze boer verkoopt vers brood op de markt.

Why is onze used for our instead of ons?

Boer is a common‐gender noun (a de-word), so the possessive pronoun takes onze. Ons is used only before het-words (neuter nouns).

Why doesn’t vers get an –e ending here?

Adjectives take –e when the noun is definite or when it’s a common-gender/plural noun with no article. Here brood is singular neuter and indefinite (no article), so the adjective stays in its base form vers. If it were definite you’d say het verse brood.

Why is there no article before vers brood?

Dutch often omits the article for general or indefinite references to mass nouns like bread. You’re talking about fresh bread in general, not a specific loaf, so no article is needed.

What gender is boer and how can I tell?

Boer is a common-gender (de-word) noun. You can tell because the definite article is de (de boer), not het (het boer would be incorrect).

Why does the verb appear as verkoopt with a –t?

In the present tense, the third-person singular (he/she/it) form adds –t. So you have ik verkoop, jij verkoopt (informal), and hij/zij/het verkoopt.