Breakdown of Het stoplicht is groen en wij steken over het zebrapad.
zijn
to be
wij
we
en
and
het stoplicht
the traffic light
het zebrapad
the crosswalk
oversteken
to cross
groen
green
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Questions & Answers about Het stoplicht is groen en wij steken over het zebrapad.
What does het stoplicht mean?
Het stoplicht literally means “the stoplight,” but in English you’d usually say “traffic light.” It’s the lamp that changes colour to control vehicles and pedestrians.
Why is het used with stoplicht instead of de? Is stoplicht neuter?
Yes. Stoplicht is a neuter noun in Dutch, so it takes the definite article het. Many Dutch words ending in -licht (like daglicht, licht) are also neuter.
Can I also say het verkeerslicht instead of het stoplicht?
Absolutely. Verkeerslicht is a synonym of stoplicht and means the same thing (“traffic light”). Stoplicht is more colloquial, while verkeerslicht may sound slightly more formal.
In het stoplicht is groen, what part of speech is groen?
Here groen is a predicative adjective. After a verb like zijn (to be), adjectives stay in their base form and don’t get an -e ending.
Why doesn’t groen have an -e at the end (like groene)?
Dutch distinguishes between attributive and predicative adjectives:
- Attributive (before a noun): you get -e if there’s an article. E.g., een groene auto, de groene auto.
- Predicative (after verbs like zijn, worden, blijven): no -e. E.g., de auto is groen.
What does oversteken mean and why is it written as wij steken over?
Oversteken is a separable verb meaning “to cross.” In a main clause, the prefix over- is detached and goes to the end: wij steken over (“we cross”).
Why is the subject pronoun wij used? Can I say we steken over instead?
Yes. We is simply the unstressed, colloquial form of wij. Both mean “we,” but wij can sound a bit more emphatic or formal, while we is more casual.
What does zebrapad mean, and why is it het zebrapad?
Zebrapad literally means “zebra path”; in English it’s called a “zebra crossing” (UK) or “crosswalk” (US). It’s a neuter noun, so with a definite article you use het: het zebrapad.
Why is it wij steken over het zebrapad instead of wij steken het zebrapad over?
Both are possible:
- Wij steken het zebrapad over treats zebrapad as the direct object of oversteken.
- Wij steken over het zebrapad uses over like a preposition (“across”) and het zebrapad as an adverbial place (“across the zebra crossing”). The first is more common, but the second occurs in informal speech to emphasise location.