Word
Om twaalf uur roept de docent dat het etenstijd is.
Meaning
At twelve o’clock the teacher calls out that it is mealtime.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of Om twaalf uur roept de docent dat het etenstijd is.
zijn
to be
dat
that
het
it
roepen
to call out
Questions & Answers about Om twaalf uur roept de docent dat het etenstijd is.
Why do we use om before twaalf uur instead of op?
In Dutch you use om for specific clock times (e.g. om 8 uur, om 12.30). Op is used for days, dates or parts of the day (e.g. op maandag, op 5 mei, op de ochtend).
Why is the verb roept in second position when the sentence starts with Om twaalf uur?
Dutch main clauses follow the V2‐rule (verb-second). Whatever element comes first (subject, time, place, object), the finite verb stays in slot two. Here Om twaalf uur is slot one, roept slot two.
Why do we add dat after roept de docent?
Because this is indirect speech. In Dutch a subordinate clause introduced by speech verbs needs dat (or of for yes/no). Without dat you’d have a fragmented sentence.
Why does the verb is come at the end in dat het etenstijd is?
Subordinate clauses in Dutch typically use verb-final word order, so the finite verb (is) goes to the end.
What’s the difference between roeper and zeggen (i.e. roept vs zegt)?