Hij likt het ijsje af.

He licks the ice cream clean.

Breakdown of Hij likt het ijsje af.

• hij: he
• het ijsje: the ice cream
• aflikken: to lick clean

Questions & Answers about Hij likt het ijsje af.

Why is af at the end of the sentence instead of attached directly to likt?

aflikken is a separable-verb in Dutch. In main clauses the prefix af “separates” and moves to the end. So you get
he ⟶ likt (verb) ⟶ object ⟶ af (prefix).

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What exactly does likt correspond to in English?

likt is the third-person singular present form of likken (to lick). So hij likt = “he licks” or “he is licking.”

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Why is the word ijsje used rather than just ijs?

The -je ending is the diminutive suffix in Dutch. It turns ijs (ice cream) into ijsje (“little ice cream” or “ice cream cone”). Diminutives often make things sound cuter or more specific.

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If the noun is ijsje, why do we say het ijsje and not de ijsje?

All diminutives in Dutch are neuter and take the article het, regardless of the gender of the base noun. So it’s always het …-je, never de …-je.

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Could we drop af and say Hij likt het ijsje instead?

Yes—but meaning changes.

• Hij likt het ijsje. = “He licks the ice cream.” (Focus on the action of licking.)
• Hij likt het ijsje af. = “He licks the ice cream clean/off.” (Implies he finishes it completely.)

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Why is there a t at the end of likt?

In Dutch, present-tense verbs in the third-person singular (hij/zij/het) always get a -t on the stem. The stem of likken is lik, so hij lik → hij likt.

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How would you write this in a subordinate clause like “He says that he licks the ice cream off”?

In subordinate clauses the separable prefix does not move. You keep verb + prefix together at the end:
… dat hij het ijsje aflikt.

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What is the past participle of aflikken?

You form it like this: ge- + stem + t → afgelikt.
Example: “Hij heeft het ijsje afgelikt.” (“He has licked the ice cream clean.”)

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How do you pronounce ij in ijsje, and the -je that follows?

• ij in Dutch is a diphthong pronounced roughly like English “eye.”
• -je is like “yuh” (a schwa).
  So ijsje sounds like EYE-s-yuh (IPA: [ɛiʃjə]).