De hond eet alleen maar brood.

The dog only eats bread.

Breakdown of De hond eet alleen maar brood.

• de hond: the dog
• eten: to eat
• het brood: the bread
• alleen maar: only

Questions & Answers about De hond eet alleen maar brood.

Why is de used before hond instead of het?

In Dutch every noun is assigned a grammatical “gender” category: common (using de) or neuter (using het). hond belongs to the common-gender class, so it takes the definite article de.

Why is there no article before brood?

Here brood is treated as an uncountable noun—“bread” in general—so it appears without a definite or indefinite article. If you meant “the bread” you’d say het brood, and if you wanted a single loaf you could say een brood (“a loaf of bread”).

What does alleen maar mean, and why is it two words?

alleen maar is a fixed adverbial phrase meaning “only” or “nothing but.” alleen by itself can mean “only” or “alone,” and maar here is an intensifying particle. Together they stress that the dog eats nothing besides bread. You’ll also see alternatives like slechts or enkel, but alleen maar is very common in speech.

What part of speech is maar in this sentence?

In alleen maar, maar is not the conjunction “but” but an adverbial particle that strengthens the exclusivity expressed by alleen.

Can I say De hond eet alleen brood instead of De hond eet alleen maar brood? Is there a difference?

Yes, De hond eet alleen brood is grammatically correct and means essentially the same thing (“The dog only eats bread”). However, it’s a bit more neutral. Adding maar (alleen maar) gives extra emphasis—more like “the dog really doesn’t eat anything else.”

What happens if I change the position of alleen? For example, Alleen de hond eet brood?

Placement of alleen shifts which element is being restricted:

• De hond eet alleen maar brood restricts the object (only bread is eaten).
• Alleen de hond eet brood restricts the subject (only the dog eats bread; no one else does).

Why is eet in the second position of the sentence?

Dutch main clauses follow the verb-second (V2) rule: the finite verb must occupy the second slot. Here de hond is the first element, so the finite verb eet comes immediately after.

How do you pronounce hond with a final d?

Due to Dutch final-devoicing, voiced consonants like d become voiceless at the end of a word. So hond is pronounced [hɔnt], with a t-sound in the coda.