Wij drinken koffie op het terras.

We drink coffee on the terrace.

Breakdown of Wij drinken koffie op het terras.

• drinken: to drink
• wij: we
• de koffie: the coffee
• op: on

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?