Twaalf mensen lopen in het park.

Twelve people walk in the park.

Breakdown of Twaalf mensen lopen in het park.

• in: in
• lopen: to walk
• het park: the park
• de mens: the person
• twaalf: twelve

Questions & Answers about Twaalf mensen lopen in het park.

How do you pronounce Twaalf? Where is the stress?

Twaalf is pronounced /tʋaːlf/. The double aa represents a long [aː], similar to the ‘a’ in father, and the w is a voiced approximant [ʋ], close to an English ‘v’. Stress falls on the only syllable: Twaalf.

Why is it mensen and not mens? How do you form the plural of mens?

mens means “person.” Its plural is irregular:
• Singular: mens
• Plural: mensen
Most Dutch nouns add -en for plurals, but mens also changes its stem, giving mensen.

Why is the verb lopen not loopt? Shouldn't there be a -t for third-person plural?

Present-tense endings in Dutch are:
• ik loop (I walk)
• jij loopt / hij loopt (you walk / he walks)
• wij lopen / jullie lopen / zij lopen (we/you/they walk)
The -t appears only for 2nd-person singular (jij) and 3rd-person singular. All plural subjects use the -en ending identical to the infinitive.

Why is the simple present lopen used instead of a continuous form like “are walking”?

Dutch normally covers both simple and continuous actions with the simple present. To stress an ongoing action, you can use zijn aan het lopen:
Twaalf mensen zijn aan het lopen in het park.
But most of the time, just lopen is used.

Why is it in het park? Could you say in de park or in een park?

park is a neuter noun, so its definite article is het, giving het park. You can say in een park for “in a park.” You cannot use de park, because de is reserved for common-gender nouns.

Can you move in het park to the front of the sentence? How does the word order change?

Yes. Dutch main clauses put the finite verb in second position. Starting with the prepositional phrase gives:
In het park lopen twaalf mensen.
Here, in het park is first, lopen (the finite verb) is second, then twaalf mensen.

What's the difference between lopen and wandelen?

Both mean “to walk,” but:
• lopen is general (to walk/go on foot) and appears in compounds like hardlopen (“to run”).
• wandelen implies a leisurely stroll, often for pleasure.

How do you ask “Are twelve people walking in the park?” in Dutch?

Use inversion for a yes/no question:
Lopen twaalf mensen in het park?
To include the progressive nuance:
Zijn twaalf mensen aan het lopen in het park?

Can you contract in het to in 't?

In informal speech and writing, yes:
in ’t park
The apostrophe marks the dropped h from het. In formal contexts, use in het park.

Why is there no article before Twaalf mensen? Could you say De twaalf mensen lopen in het park?

Without an article, twaalf mensen is indefinite (“twelve people”). Adding de makes it definite:
De twaalf mensen lopen in het park. (“The twelve people are walking in the park.”)
Use de when referring to a specific, known group.