De brand begint in de keuken.

The fire starts in the kitchen.

Breakdown of De brand begint in de keuken.

• in: in
• de keuken: the kitchen
• beginnen: to start
• de brand: the fire

Questions & Answers about De brand begint in de keuken.

Why is it De brand and not Het brand?

In Dutch nouns are either common gender (de-words) or neuter gender (het-words). Brand (fire) belongs to the common gender class, so it takes de. Only neuter nouns like het huis (the house) take het.

Why is the verb begint spelled with a -t at the end?

Begint is the third-person singular present form of the infinitive beginnen (to begin/start). Dutch conjugation in the present tense usually works like this: • Ik begin
• Jij/u begint
• Hij/zij/het begint
Notice that for jij/u and hij/zij/het you drop -en and add -t.

Why does the verb come right after the subject (De brand begint)?

Dutch main clauses follow the Verb-Second (V2) rule: the finite verb must occupy the second position. When the sentence begins with the subject (De brand), the verb begint naturally comes second.

How do you pronounce brand and keuken?

• brand is pronounced /brɑnt/:
– a as in “father” but shorter;
– final d is often devoiced, sounding like a soft t.
• keuken is /ˈkøː.kən/:
– eu is a rounded vowel like German ö;
– the -en ending is a quick schwa [ə].

Why is only De capitalized, and not brand or keuken?

Unlike German, Dutch capitalizes only the first word of a sentence and proper names. Common nouns (like brand and keuken) stay lowercase.

Could I say De brand start in de keuken instead?

Yes. Dutch also uses starten (to start). De brand start in de keuken is perfectly understandable, though beginnen can sound a bit more neutral or formal.

The word brand looks like the English brand (trademark). How do I tell them apart?

They’re false friends. In Dutch brand always means fire, while merk means brand in the sense of a trademark. Context and the article help: de brand (the fire) versus het merk (the brand).

Is the preposition in used exactly like in English?

For location, yes: in de keuken = “in the kitchen.” However, Dutch prepositions can differ in idiomatic expressions, so it’s good to learn them case by case.