Zijn kleinkind laat hem lachen met een grappige woordgrap.

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Questions & Answers about Zijn kleinkind laat hem lachen met een grappige woordgrap.

Why is zijn used before kleinkind? Can I use z’n instead?
zijn is the full possessive pronoun meaning “his.” In informal spoken Dutch you often hear the contracted form z’n, but in writing and in more careful speech it’s better to use zijn.
Why isn’t there an article like het before kleinkind?
Because the possessive pronoun zijn already marks ownership. You never say het zijn kleinkind—the structure is zijn + noun without an extra article.
Why is it kleinkind and not kleinkinderen?
kleinkind here is singular (“grandchild”). If you meant “grandchildren” (plural), you would say zijn kleinkinderen.
Why do we have laat hem lachen instead of just lacht?
This is the causative construction with laten. Zijn kleinkind laat hem lachen literally means “His grandchild lets him laugh,” i.e. “makes him laugh.” If you said zijn kleinkind lacht hem, it would mean “his grandchild laughs him” (which makes no sense in Dutch).
Why is the object pronoun hem used instead of hij?
hem is the object (accusative) form of hij. After laten you need the object form because the grandchild is “causing him” to laugh.
Why do we say met een grappige woordgrap? Couldn’t we just say met een grap?
You could say met een grap (“with a joke”), but woordgrap specifies a “play on words” or pun. The preposition met indicates the instrument or means by which he laughs: “with a pun.”
Why is it grappige woordgrap and not grappig woordgrap?
Because when an adjective precedes a singular common-gender or plural noun with an indefinite article (een), it takes the -e ending. Even though woordgrap is a compound noun, it behaves like a common-gender noun here: een grappige woordgrap.
Why is laat the second word in the sentence and not at the end?
In a main clause Dutch follows the V2 rule: the finite verb (laat) must occupy the second position. The subject zijn kleinkind is first, so laat comes second, then the rest of the sentence.