Breakdown of Wij drinken koffie op het terras.
drinken
to drink
wij
we
de koffie
the coffee
op
on
het terras
the terrace
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Questions & Answers about Wij drinken koffie op het terras.
Why is there no article before koffie?
In Dutch you often drop the article when talking about something in general or in bulk. Wij drinken koffie means “We drink coffee” as a general activity. If you want to talk about a specific quantity or item, you add an article and/or classifier, for example Wij drinken een kop koffie (“We’re drinking a cup of coffee”).
Why do we say op het terras instead of aan het terras or leaving out the article?
Dutch uses op with surfaces—terraces, tables, roofs, etc.—just like English “on.” Terras is a neuter noun, so it takes het. You need the article when referring to a particular terrace (e.g. the café’s). If you meant “on any terrace,” you could say op een terras.
Why is the article het used before terras?
Dutch nouns are divided into de-words and het-words; terras belongs to the het category. Unfortunately there’s no universal rule for which nouns take which article, so you learn them together with the noun: het terras.
Why do we use wij instead of we?
Both wij and we mean “we.” We is the unstressed, more casual form common in speech. Wij is the stressed or emphatic form, often used in writing or when you want to highlight who is doing the action. Here wij simply places a bit more emphasis on the subject.
How does the word order work in Wij drinken koffie op het terras?
Dutch main clauses follow the V2 (verb-second) rule. The finite verb (drinken) must occupy the second position. Here the sequence is Subject (Wij) + Finite Verb (drinken) + Object (koffie) + Adverbial Phrase (op het terras). If you start with the adverbial, the verb still stays second: Op het terras drinken wij koffie.
Why is the verb drinken identical to the infinitive?
In the present tense, Dutch verbs conjugate differently for singular and plural subjects. For wij, jullie, and zij (they), the present-tense form is the same as the infinitive: wij drinken, jullie drinken, zij drinken. Singular subjects use different endings (ik drink, jij drinkt).
Can I say Wij drinken een kop koffie op het terras instead, and does that change anything?
Yes. Adding een kop koffie makes kop the countable noun (“cup”), so you need the indefinite article een. The structure remains the same: Subject + Verb + Object + Adverbial. It simply specifies that you’re drinking a cup of coffee rather than coffee in general.