Breakdown of Kinderen horen de bel niet als ze praten.
niet
not
zij
they
praten
to talk
als
when
horen
to hear
het kind
the child
de bel
the bell
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Questions & Answers about Kinderen horen de bel niet als ze praten.
Why do we use horen here instead of luisteren?
Horen means “to hear,” focusing on the passive reception of sound. Luisteren means “to listen,” implying an active effort to pay attention. In this sentence, the idea is that the children simply don’t perceive the bell sound at all when they talk, so horen is the correct verb.
Why isn’t there a te in front of horen?
In Dutch, you only use te before an infinitive in certain constructions (e.g. after some verbs or adjectives). Here, horen is the main verb of a simple present-tense clause (Kinderen horen …), so no te is needed.
Why is niet placed before als ze praten rather than at the very end?
Niet negates the entire main clause “horen de bel.” Placing niet directly before the subordinate clause als ze praten makes it clear you’re saying “do not hear the bell when they talk.” If you moved niet to the end, it could sound like you’re negating the subordinate clause instead (“Children hear the bell when they don’t talk”).
Could we say wanneer ze praten instead of als ze praten?
Yes, both als ze praten and wanneer ze praten mean “when they talk.” In everyday spoken Dutch, als is more common. Wanneer is a bit more formal or used for specific time questions/statements.
Why is the verb order in als ze praten just Subject–Verb, rather than inversion?
Als ze praten is a subordinate clause. In Dutch subordinate clauses, the finite verb typically goes to the end (SOV order), but ze praten is very short (subject + verb) so it looks like normal SVO. There’s no inversion because you’re not asking a question.
Why use de bel and not een bel?
Using de bel (the bell) indicates a specific, known bell—likely the school bell. Een bel would be “a bell,” implying any bell in general, which is less natural if you’re talking about the usual school bell.
Why doesn’t kinderen have an article?
In Dutch, indefinite plural nouns often drop the article. English says “Children don’t…” without “the,” and Dutch does the same: kinderen horen… rather than de kinderen horen… (unless you mean “the children” in particular).
Could we replace horen with kunnen horen?
Yes, you could say Kinderen kunnen de bel niet horen als ze praten, which emphasizes inability (they are unable to hear). The original simply states the fact that they don’t hear it when talking. Adding kunnen makes the inability more explicit.