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Het bord naast de deur is oud.

Het bord naast de deur is oud.
The sign next to the door is old.
FromLesson 32inHardcore Dutch
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Breakdown of Het bord naast de deur is oud.

zijn
to be
de deur
the door
oud
old
naast
next to
het bord
the sign

Questions & Answers about Het bord naast de deur is oud.

Why is the article het used with bord instead of de?
Because bord is a neuter noun in Dutch. Neuter singular nouns take the definite article het, while common-gender nouns take de.
Why isn’t the adjective oud inflected as oude?
When an adjective comes after a linking verb like zijn, it is in predicative position and remains in its base form (oud). Only attributive adjectives (those placed before a noun) get an -e when the noun has a definite article: het oude bord.
What is the function of naast?
naast is a preposition meaning next to or beside, introducing the prepositional phrase naast de deur, which specifies the location of het bord.
Why does de deur use de instead of het?
Because deur is a common-gender (a “de-woord”) singular noun in Dutch, and common-gender nouns always take de as their definite article.
Could I move naast de deur to the beginning of the sentence?

Yes. Dutch main clauses follow the V2 (verb-second) rule, so you can say:
Naast de deur is het bord oud.
Here naast de deur is in first position, is remains the second constituent, followed by subject and predicate.

Why doesn’t the adjective oud come before bord, as in the English “the old sign”?

To place oud before the noun, you make it an attributive adjective and add -e after a definite article:
het oude bord naast de deur.
In your original sentence, oud is predicative (after is), so it stays uninflected.

Can I use bij instead of naast?

bij means by or at, indicating general proximity rather than immediate adjacency.
Het bord bij de deur is oud is grammatically correct but suggests the sign is near the door, not necessarily right next to it.

What is the V2 rule, and how does it apply here?
The V2 rule in Dutch states that in independent clauses the finite verb must occupy the second position. In Het bord naast de deur is oud, het bord is the first constituent, is is the second. If you front another element (e.g. naast de deur), the verb still comes second: Naast de deur is het bord oud.
How do you pronounce oud, bord, and deur?

Approximate IPA transcriptions:

  • oud: /ɑu̯t/ (like English “out” but with a clear /t/)
  • bord: /bɔrt/ or /bort/ (similar to English “bort”)
  • deur: /dyr/ (the vowel is a rounded “ee”-sound, not like English “door”)
How would you form the plural of bord, and how would the sentence change?

The plural of bord is borden. To say “The boards next to the door are old,” you adjust article, noun, and verb:
De borden naast de deur zijn oud.

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