Breakdown of De geur van verse koffie blijft hangen in de keuken.
in
in
vers
fresh
de keuken
the kitchen
de koffie
the coffee
van
of
blijven hangen
to linger
de geur
the smell
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Questions & Answers about De geur van verse koffie blijft hangen in de keuken.
What does blijft hangen mean in this sentence?
In Dutch, blijven can be followed by an infinitive to express a continuing action. Here blijft is the present tense of blijven (to remain) and hangen is the infinitive (to hang). Literally it means remains hanging, but idiomatically it means lingers or stays in the air.
Why is hangen placed at the end of the sentence?
Dutch is a verb-second (V2) language. In a main clause the finite verb (blijft) takes the second position, and any other verb forms (like the infinitive hangen) must go to the end of the clause.
Why is the adjective verse spelled with an -e?
In Dutch, attributive adjectives (those directly modifying a noun) take an -e ending:
• if the noun has a definite article (like de or het)
• for plural nouns
• after certain indefinite determiners
Here verse modifies koffie in the phrase van verse koffie, so it carries the -e ending.
Why is there no article before verse koffie (why not van de verse koffie)?
The phrase van verse koffie means “of fresh coffee” in a general (indefinite) sense. If you said van de verse koffie, you’d be referring to a specific batch of coffee. Omitting de makes it generic: “the smell of fresh coffee” (in general).
How do you know to use de with geur and koffie?
In Dutch each noun has grammatical gender (common or neuter) and a corresponding article: de for common-gender nouns and het for neuter nouns. Both geur (smell) and koffie (coffee) are common-gender, so they take de. Unfortunately you often have to learn each noun’s gender individually or check a dictionary.
Could we omit hangen and just say De geur blijft in de keuken?
You could say that, and it’d be understood, but Dutch speakers normally use the set phrase blijven hangen (“to linger”) to convey that a smell sticks around. Without hangen, it sounds stilted or incomplete.
Why do we use in de keuken rather than op de keuken?
The preposition in indicates that the smell is located inside the kitchen. Op would mean on top of (e.g. on the roof), which doesn’t fit here. Preposition choice in Dutch often mirrors English for spatial relations: in, op, aan, etc.
Can we start the sentence with In de keuken for emphasis?
Yes. You can front adverbials for emphasis, but the finite verb must still occupy the second position. So you’d say:
In de keuken blijft de geur van verse koffie hangen.