Wij wassen de kleren samen.

We wash the clothes together.

Breakdown of Wij wassen de kleren samen.

• wij: we
• samen: together
• wassen: to wash
• de kleren: the clothes

Questions & Answers about Wij wassen de kleren samen.

Why use Wij instead of We?

In Dutch both wij and we mean “we.”

• Wij is the full form and often used in writing or to add emphasis (“Wij doen dit echt samen”).
• We is the reduced form you hear a lot in spoken Dutch (“We gaan nu”).
  They’re interchangeable in meaning; choosing one is a matter of style or emphasis.

Can you ever omit Wij in Dutch?

No, Dutch almost always requires an explicit subject pronoun, unlike English or Spanish.

• You cannot drop wij entirely (you’d need a subject).
• In speech you might shorten wij to we, but you don’t say just “Wassen de kleren samen.” You need “We wassen de kleren samen.”

Why is wassen in the second position?

Dutch main clauses follow the V2 (verb-second) rule:

1. Pick your first element (subject, adverb, object…).
2. The finite verb (wassen) comes next (position 2).
3. Everything else follows.
   In Wij (1) wassen (2) de kleren samen, the subject Wij is first, so wassen must follow.

Why de kleren and not kleding?

• Kleren refers to individual garments and is always plural. Its definite plural article is de, so de kleren = “the clothes.”
• Kleding is an uncountable, collective noun (“clothing” or “apparel”) and doesn’t take a plural form. You’d say de kleding but that feels more like “the clothing” as a general category.

Why is samen at the end? Can it be moved?

• Samen (“together”) is an adverb of manner. Dutch often places manner/adverbs near or at the end of the clause.
• You can move it before the direct object for a slight shift in emphasis:
  • Wij wassen samen de kleren. (more focus on “together”)
  • Wij wassen de kleren samen. (neutral, “we wash the clothes together”)

How can I emphasize de kleren by changing the word order?

Use topicalization: put de kleren first, then the verb, then the subject. The V2 rule still applies.
Example:
De kleren (1) wassen (2) wij (3) samen.
This highlights de kleren as the topic (“As for the clothes, we wash them together”).

Can you show me the present-tense conjugation of wassen?

Sure!

• ik was
• jij was / jij wast (colloquially you’ll hear jij wast)
• hij/zij/het wast
• wij wassen
• jullie wassen
• zij wassen
  Notice the stem change: singular third person adds -t, plural keeps -en.

How do you pronounce wassen, kleren, and samen?

• wassen: /ˈʋaːsən/ (“vah-sen”; aa = long “a,” w ≈ English “v”)
• kleren: /ˈklreːn/ (“klair-uhn”; ee = long “ay”)
• samen: /ˈsaːmən/ (“sah-muhn”; a = “ah”)
Listen for the Dutch r (often guttural or tapped) and the schwa /ə/ in unstressed syllables.