Wij genieten van het sporten in het park.

We enjoy exercising in the park.

Breakdown of Wij genieten van het sporten in het park.

• wij: we
• in: in
• het park: the park
• genieten van: to enjoy
• het sporten: the exercising

Questions & Answers about Wij genieten van het sporten in het park.

Why is van used after genieten?

In Dutch, the verb genieten always takes the preposition van to introduce what you enjoy. It’s analogous to English “to enjoy something,” but Dutch literally says “to enjoy of something.” So you must say genieten van + object.

Why do we say het sporten instead of just sporten?

Dutch uses het + infinitive to form a verbal noun (a gerund).

• sporten alone is the bare infinitive (verb) “to exercise.”
• het sporten treats “sporten” as a noun: “the act of exercising.”

Can we omit het and just say Wij genieten van sporten in het park?

Yes. Both are correct:

• genieten van sporten uses the infinitive directly after van.
• genieten van het sporten uses a noun form.
  The difference is subtle. With het you emphasize the activity as a concept; without het it feels a bit more like a pure action.

Why is the preposition in used with het park, not op?

Prepositions in Dutch depend on how we conceptualize a location:

• in het park = inside the three-dimensional space of the park.
• op is used with surfaces or certain fixed locations (e.g. op tafel, op school meaning “at school”).
  Since you roam within the park, Dutch uses in.

Why is park combined with het rather than de?

Dutch nouns are either de-words or het-words. Park is a neuter noun, so it takes het. There’s no rule that covers all nouns, so you memorize each word’s gender. A tip: many short, non-diminutive words of this type happen to be het-words, but practice and exposure are key.

Why does genieten come right after wij instead of at the very beginning?

Dutch follows the V2 (verb-second) rule for main clauses: the finite verb must be in the second position. Here the positions are:
1) Wij (subject)
2) genieten (finite verb)
3) rest of the sentence.
If you start with another element (e.g. In het park), the verb still stays second:
“In het park genieten wij van het sporten.”

What’s the difference between wij and we?

Both wij and we mean “we” in English.

• we is more common in speech (unstressed).
• wij is more emphatic or used for contrast or formality.
  Example:
  “We gaan morgen naar de markt.” (We’re going to the market tomorrow.)
  “Wij gaan wél morgen, niet overmorgen.” (We will go tomorrow, not the day after.)