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?

Present-tense forms of eten:

• ik eet
• jij/je eet
• hij/zij/het eet
• wij eten
• jullie eten
• zij eten

In a main clause you’d then add op at the end for opeten.

How do you express “Tom eats up the croissant” in the perfect tense?

Use hebben + past participle. With separable verbs the ge of the participle goes between prefix and stem, and the prefix reattaches at the end:

• Tom heeft de croissant opgegeten.

How do you form a yes/no question from Tom eet de croissant op?

Simply invert subject and finite verb:

• Eet Tom de croissant op?

How do you replace de croissant with a pronoun?

Use the direct-object pronoun hem for a de-word:

• Tom eet hem op.

What happens to the separable prefix in a subordinate clause like “that Tom eats up the croissant”?

In subordinate clauses, the finite verb (with its prefix attached) moves to the very end:

• Ik denk dat Tom de croissant opeet.