Breakdown of Tijdens de lunchpauze schrijft Tom in zijn nieuwe notitieboek.
Tom
Tom
in
in
nieuw
new
zijn
his
schrijven
to write
tijdens
during
de lunchpauze
the lunch break
het notitieboek
the notebook
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Questions & Answers about Tijdens de lunchpauze schrijft Tom in zijn nieuwe notitieboek.
What is the role of tijdens, and how does it compare to the English word “during”?
tijdens is a preposition that introduces a time frame (“during”). It always appears before a noun phrase (e.g. tijdens de lunchpauze). Unlike the conjunction wanneer (“when”), tijdens cannot start its own clause—it only links to the following noun.
Why does the verb schrijft appear before Tom in the sentence?
Dutch follows the “verb-second” (V2) rule. When a sentence begins with any element other than the subject (here the time phrase Tijdens de lunchpauze), the finite verb must occupy the second slot. The subject (Tom) then comes right after the verb.
Why is lunchpauze written as one word, and why does it take the article de instead of het?
In Dutch, compounds like lunchpauze (lunch + pauze) are written solid. The gender (common, i.e. de-word) comes from the head noun pauze, which is feminine/common—hence de lunchpauze.
Why is there no article before zijn nieuwe notitieboek?
When you use a possessive adjective (here zijn = “his”), you omit the definite article. The possessive itself expresses definiteness, so you say in zijn nieuwe notitieboek, not in zijn het nieuwe notitieboek.
Why is the preposition in used with notitieboek? Could you use op instead?
To describe writing inside the pages of a notebook, Dutch uses in. Op would suggest writing on the surface or cover. So schrijft in zijn notitieboek means “writes inside,” which matches the intended meaning.
Could I place the time expression elsewhere, for example Tom schrijft in zijn nieuwe notitieboek tijdens de lunchpauze? What happens to word order then?
Yes. If the time phrase is not fronted, you keep the normal Subject–Verb–Object–Adverbial order (S V O A). The verb stays immediately after the subject, and there is no inversion:
Tom schrijft in zijn nieuwe notitieboek tijdens de lunchpauze.
What is the gender of notitieboek, and how would you use its definite article if there were no possessive?
notitieboek is a neuter noun, so its definite article is het: het notitieboek. In our sentence the possessive zijn replaces that article.