Tom eet de croissant op.

Tom eats up the croissant.

Breakdown of Tom eet de croissant op.

• Tom: Tom
• de croissant: the croissant
• opeten: to eat up

Questions & Answers about Tom eet de croissant op.

Why is the verb split into eet and op instead of opeten?

Opeten is a separable verb. In main clauses, the finite verb (eet) appears in second position and the prefix (op) detaches and moves to the end. Hence Tom eet de croissant op, not Tom op eet de croissant.

What nuance does the prefix op add when combined with eten?

Without op, eten simply means “to eat.” Adding op (forming opeten) gives it a completive aspect: “to eat up” or “to finish eating” something entirely.

Why does croissant take de instead of het?

Dutch nouns are either common gender (de-words) or neuter (het-words). Croissant is classified as a common-gender noun, so it takes de. Unfortunately, article assignment often has to be memorized.

How do you conjugate eten in the present tense for all subjects?