Breakdown of Wandelen in de ochtend is gezond.
zijn
to be
in
in
de ochtend
the morning
gezond
healthy
het wandelen
the walking
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Questions & Answers about Wandelen in de ochtend is gezond.
What part of speech is wandelen in “Wandelen in de ochtend is gezond”? How can an infinitive act as the subject of a sentence?
Here wandelen is an infinitive functioning as a noun, often called a verbal noun or gerund. In Dutch you can use the bare infinitive (without het) to talk about an activity in general. It becomes the subject of the sentence, just like “Swimming is fun” in English.
Why isn’t there an article before wandelen? Could I say Het wandelen in de ochtend is gezond?
You can add het (the definite article) and say Het wandelen in de ochtend is gezond, but speakers often omit it for general statements about activities. Omitting het makes the sentence more natural and concise.
Why do we say in de ochtend and not op de ochtend or simply in ochtend?
For parts of the day Dutch uses in plus the definite article: in de ochtend, in de middag, in de avond. You cannot drop de, because ochtend is a de-word. Op de ochtend would only work in very specific contexts (e.g. “Op de ochtend van zijn verjaardag…”).
Could I also express “in the morning” as ’s ochtends? How would that affect word order?
Yes. ’s Ochtends is an adverbial form meaning “in the mornings” or “during the morning.” You could say ’s ochtends wandelen is gezond, where ’s ochtends occupies the first position, the verb wandelen follows, and then is gezond.
Why is gezond not inflected (no “-e”) at the end of the sentence?
Gezond here is a predicative adjective (it follows a linking verb is). Predicative adjectives in Dutch remain in their base form. Only attributive adjectives (those directly before a noun, e.g. een gezonde maaltijd) take an -e.
If I want to refer to individual morning walks, how do I say “morning walk” or “morning walks” in Dutch?
You can use the noun ochtendwandeling (literally “morning walk”).
- Singular: een ochtendwandeling
- Plural: ochtendwandelingen