Breakdown of Anna ontwerpt een stoel voor de nieuwe kamer.
Anna
Anna
nieuw
new
voor
for
de stoel
the chair
de kamer
the room
een
a, an
ontwerpen
to design
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Questions & Answers about Anna ontwerpt een stoel voor de nieuwe kamer.
What does ontwerpt mean and why is it in this form?
Ontwerpt is the third-person singular present tense of the verb ontwerpen, which means “to design.” In Dutch you add -t to the stem when the subject is hij/zij/het (or a name like Anna). So Anna ontwerpt = Anna designs.
Why is the verb ontwerpt in the second position of the sentence?
Dutch is a V2 (verb-second) language. In a main clause, the finite verb must occupy the second slot, regardless of what comes first (subject, adverb, time expression, etc.). Here the subject Anna is first, so the verb follows immediately.
Why do we say een stoel and not de stoel?
Een stoel uses the indefinite article “a” because we’re introducing one chair in general, not a previously mentioned or uniquely identified chair. If it were a specific chair everyone already knows, you’d use de stoel.
Why does the sentence use de nieuwe kamer instead of een nieuwe kamer?
Here de nieuwe kamer refers to a specific room that’s understood in context (for example, the room that’s just been mentioned or shown). When the listener knows which “new room” you mean, you use de; if it were any new room without prior reference, you’d use een nieuwe kamer.
Why is nieuwe getting an -e ending?
In Dutch, adjectives take an -e ending when they stand before a noun with a definite article (de, het) or any plural or when the noun is gendered. Since kamer is common gender and has the definite article de, nieuw becomes nieuwe.
What does voor mean here, and could it mean something else?
In voor de nieuwe kamer, voor means “for” in the sense of purpose or intended recipient/place. It does not mean “in front of” here (which it can also mean in Dutch). Context tells us it’s about designing a chair for that room.
Can you change the word order for emphasis?
Yes. You could start with Voor de nieuwe kamer for focus:
“Voor de nieuwe kamer ontwerpt Anna een stoel.”
The finite verb ontwerpt still stays in second position, and the subject Anna follows. The meaning is essentially the same, but the emphasis shifts to the new room.
Why doesn’t ontwerpen take a preposition like aan? We don’t say ontwerpt aan een stoel, do we?
Correct: ontwerpen is a transitive verb that directly takes its object without a preposition. You simply ontwerpt (a direct object). Using aan would be incorrect here.