Breakdown of Met die munten wil Tom straks een oude spaarpot vullen.
Tom
Tom
oud
old
met
with
willen
to want
een
a, an
vullen
to fill
straks
later
die
those
de munt
the coin
de spaarpot
the piggy bank
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Questions & Answers about Met die munten wil Tom straks een oude spaarpot vullen.
Why does the sentence start with Met die munten instead of Tom?
In Dutch you can front an adverbial or object to give it emphasis. Because Met die munten (“with those coins”) comes first, the finite verb wil must follow immediately (verb-second rule), and the subject Tom comes after that. You could also say Tom wil straks een oude spaarpot vullen met die munten, but fronting draws attention to Met die munten.
Why is die used instead of de or het in die munten?
Die is a demonstrative pronoun meaning “those” for plural nouns. De munten would simply mean “the coins,” while die munten specifically refers to “those coins” (e.g. the ones you can see or have just discussed).
What does straks mean, and how is it different from later?
Straks means “in a moment” or “later on,” usually referring to the near future (in minutes or hours). Later can be more vague or distant (“later today,” “tomorrow”), whereas straks is more immediate.
Why is vullen at the very end of the sentence?
Because willen is a modal verb (“want to”), Dutch places the full infinitive vullen (“fill”) at the end of the clause. The finite verb wil stays in second position, then come subject, time adverbial, object, and finally the infinitive.
Why isn’t there a te before vullen (as in te vullen)?
After a modal verb like willen, you do not use te before the following infinitive. You only add te when there is no modal verb and you need an infinitive link (for example om te vullen).
What exactly is a spaarpot, and how does it differ from spaarvarken?
A spaarpot is a general savings container or money box. A spaarvarken literally means “saving pig” and refers to a pig-shaped money box (piggy bank). So spaarpot is more generic; spaarvarken is specifically the pig version.
Why does the sentence use een oude spaarpot instead of de oude spaarpot?
Using een makes it indefinite: “an old piggy bank,” not one you’ve already identified. If you said de oude spaarpot, you’d be talking about a specific old piggy bank that’s known to both the speaker and listener.