Anna hangt het schilderij op de muur.

Anna hangs the painting on the wall.

Breakdown of Anna hangt het schilderij op de muur.

• Anna: Anna
• de muur: the wall
• op: on
• het schilderij: the painting
• ophangen: to hang up

Questions & Answers about Anna hangt het schilderij op de muur.

Why is hangt spelled with a -t at the end?

In the present tense, Dutch verbs add -t for hij/zij/het (third-person singular). The infinitive is hangen (to hang), stem hang. For “she hangs,” you add -t to the stem, yielding hangt.

Why is the finite verb hangt in second position, but op appears at the very end of the sentence?

Dutch main clauses follow the V2 rule: the finite verb occupies the second slot. For separable verbs like ophangen, the prefix (op) detaches from the verb and moves to the end of the clause, after object(s). The structure here is:

1. Subject (Anna)
2. Finite verb (hangt)
3. Direct object (het schilderij)
4. Separable prefix at the end (op) plus its complement (de muur)

What is op in Anna hangt het schilderij op de muur? A preposition or part of the verb?

Here op is the separable prefix of the verb ophangen (to hang up). It does not function as an independent preposition introducing de muur, but remains part of the verb. In main clauses, separable prefixes detach and appear at the end along with any complements.

What is the difference between hangen and ophangen?

• hangen (intransitive): “to hang” or “to be hanging” (e.g. Het schilderij hangt aan de muur = The painting is hanging on the wall).
• ophangen (separable, transitive): “to hang up,” i.e. you actively place something so that it hangs.

In Anna hangt het schilderij op, Anna is actively hanging up the painting, so we use ophangen.

Why is the definite article het used with schilderij, but de with muur?

Dutch has two definite articles:

• de for common-gender nouns
• het for neuter-gender nouns

Schilderij (painting) is neuter ⇒ het schilderij.
Muur (wall) is common ⇒ de muur.

You must learn each noun’s gender to know whether to use de or het.

Could you also say Anna hangt het schilderij aan de muur? Is that the same?

Yes. Two common patterns:

1. Intransitive hangen
   • preposition aan:
     • Anna hangt het schilderij aan de muur. (“Anna hangs the painting on the wall.”)
2. Separable ophangen:
   • Anna hangt het schilderij aan de muur op. (prefix op at the very end)

Most speakers prefer the first pattern to avoid stacking particles.

Why is there no een before schilderij in the sentence?

Because the sentence refers to a specific painting (“the painting”), it uses the definite article het. If you meant “a painting,” you’d say:
Anna hangt een schilderij op de muur.

What is the grammatical role of de muur here?

De muur is a locative (adverbial) complement that tells us where the painting is hung. It is introduced by the separable prefix op, not as a second direct object.