Breakdown of Tom mag meekijken tijdens de muziekles.
Tom
Tom
tijdens
during
mogen
may
de muziekles
the music lesson
meekijken
to watch along
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Questions & Answers about Tom mag meekijken tijdens de muziekles.
What does mag mean in this sentence?
mag is the present form of mogen, which means “to be allowed to” or “may.” It indicates permission rather than ability.
Why not use kan instead of mag?
kan (from kunnen) expresses ability or possibility (“can”), whereas mag expresses permission (“may”). Saying Tom kan meekijken would mean Tom is physically able to watch, but Tom mag meekijken means he has permission to do so.
What is meekijken?
meekijken is a separable verb made from mee (“along”) + kijken (“to look/watch”). Together it means “to watch along” or “to observe.”
Why is meekijken written as one word here?
In the infinitive form, separable verbs in Dutch are written as a single word. When you conjugate it in a main clause, you split it: e.g. Tom kijkt mee.
How do you conjugate meekijken for Tom in the present tense?
Tom (hij) kijkt mee. The stem kijk gets -t in the third‐person singular, and the prefix mee moves to the end.
Why does meekijken appear after mag rather than right after Tom?
Dutch main clauses follow the V2 (verb‐second) rule: the finite verb (mag) sits in second position, and any infinitives or verb particles go to the end of the clause.
Can we move tijdens de muziekles to the beginning of the sentence?
Yes. Dutch allows you to front time expressions. You can say:
Tijdens de muziekles mag Tom meekijken.
The finite verb mag still stays in second position.
Why is tijdens used instead of in or op here?
tijdens specifically means “during.” in de muziekles would sound off for “while the lesson is happening,” and op de muziekles typically means “attending the lesson” rather than “during it.”
Why is it de muziekles and not het muziekles or een muziekles?
les is a common de‐word, so it takes de. If you wanted to be indefinite you could say een muziekles (“a music lesson”), but here it’s a specific lesson: de muziekles.
What’s a natural English translation of the whole sentence?
A close translation is:
“Tom is allowed to watch along during the music lesson.”
More naturally:
“Tom may observe during the music lesson.”