Breakdown of Jij maakt bezwaar tegen het lawaai in de tuin.
jij
you
in
in
de tuin
the garden
het lawaai
the noise
bezwaar maken tegen
to object to
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Questions & Answers about Jij maakt bezwaar tegen het lawaai in de tuin.
Why is bezwaar used with the verb maken to mean “to object,” instead of another verb like doen or hebben?
In Dutch the fixed expression for “to object to something” is bezwaar maken tegen iets. bezwaar is the noun “objection” and maken is the light verb. You can also say bezwaar hebben tegen iets (“to have an objection to something”), but you would not say bezwaar doen.
Why is there no article before bezwaar? I thought Dutch usually needs een or het/de before nouns.
Dutch allows certain abstract or mass nouns to appear without an article when used generically. Here bezwaar means “objection” in general, so no article is needed. If you want to highlight a specific countable objection, you could say jij maakt een bezwaar tegen het lawaai.
Why do we need the preposition tegen in bezwaar maken tegen? Can’t I just say bezwaar maken het lawaai?
In Dutch bezwaar maken always takes tegen to indicate the target of the objection: bezwaar maken tegen iets = “to object to something.” Omitting tegen would be ungrammatical.
Why is lawaai preceded by het and not de?
Because lawaai is a neuter noun in Dutch, so it takes the definite article het. You’ll need to memorize that lawaai is a “het‐word.”
Why do we say in de tuin and not op de tuin? I thought we say op het plein but in de kamer.
Prepositions in Dutch depend on spatial metaphors: in is used for spaces you enter or that enclose you (a garden is seen as an area you’re inside), so in de tuin. op is used for surfaces or open areas (op het plein, op de tafel).
Can I replace jij with je, and if so, what’s the difference?
Yes. je is the unstressed, informal subject pronoun. jij is the stressed form used for emphasis (e.g. “you, specifically”). Most everyday sentences use je: je maakt bezwaar tegen het lawaai in de tuin.
Could I use u instead of jij for a more formal tone?
Absolutely. In a polite or formal context you’d say u maakt bezwaar tegen het lawaai in de tuin. u also occupies the first position and still triggers the verb in second position.
Why is maakt placed right after jij instead of later, like in English “You object to the noise”?
Dutch main clauses follow the V2 (verb‐second) rule: the finite verb must appear in the second position. Here jij is first, so maakt comes directly after.