Breakdown of Laat je ijsje niet smelten in de zon, eet het snel op.
niet
not
in
in
het
it
snel
fast
je
your
laten
to let
de zon
the sun
het ijsje
the ice cream
smelten
to melt
opeten
to eat up
Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have an entire course teaching Dutch grammar and vocabulary.
Questions & Answers about Laat je ijsje niet smelten in de zon, eet het snel op.
What function does Laat have in this sentence?
Laat is the singular informal imperative of laten (“to let/allow”). It opens the command Laat je ijsje niet smelten (“Don’t let your ice cream melt”), using a causative construction: laten + object + infinitive.
Why is smelten in the infinitive form instead of smelt?
After the causative verb laten, the following verb stays in its infinitive. So you say Laat ... smelten, never a conjugated form like smelt, because smelten completes the causative meaning “let melt.”
Why does niet come before smelten rather than after?
In Dutch imperatives the negation niet usually precedes the infinitive it negates. The standard word order here is:
imperative (Laat) – object (je ijsje) – negation (niet) – infinitive (smelten).
What is je in je ijsje?
Here je is the unstressed possessive pronoun meaning “your.” It attaches directly to the noun, so je ijsje = “your ice cream.” If you want emphasis you could use the stressed form jouw.
Why is eet used instead of eten in eet het snel op?
eet is the singular informal imperative of eten (“to eat”). Imperative forms are typically the verb stem (or an irregular root) addressing jij/je directly.
Why is op at the end of the clause in eet het snel op?
op is the separable prefix of the verb opeten (“to eat up”). In main clauses the prefix detaches and moves to the end: eet ... op.
Why is het used for het ijsje instead of hem?
Dutch ice cream (ijsje) is a neuter noun (a “het‐word”), so its pronoun is het. You use hem only for masculine/feminine (“de‐words”).
Why is there a comma between the two commands instead of en (“and”)?
In informal Dutch it’s common to link short imperatives with a comma for a snappier style. You could insert en:
Laat je ijsje niet smelten in de zon en eet het snel op,
but the comma alone is perfectly colloquial.
Why in de zon and not onder de zon?
in de zon (“in the sun” or “in the sunlight”) is the normal phrase for actual exposure to sunlight. onder de zon (“under the sun”) is more literary or idiomatic (like “all under the sun”) and isn’t used for physical melting.