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Behalve in de winter lopen wij elke dag in het park.

Behalve in de winter lopen wij elke dag in het park.
Except in winter, we walk in the park every day.

Breakdown of Behalve in de winter lopen wij elke dag in het park.

wij
we
in
in
lopen
to walk
het park
the park
elke
every
de dag
the day
de winter
the winter
behalve
except
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Questions & Answers about Behalve in de winter lopen wij elke dag in het park.

What does Behalve mean and how is it used here?
Behalve means except for. It’s a preposition at the beginning of the sentence that introduces an exception to the general statement. It must be followed by a noun phrase (in this case in de winter) which specifies what is excluded.
Why is it in de winter and not just winter?

In Dutch, when you refer to seasons you normally use in + the definite article de or het:

  • in de winter
  • in de zomer
  • in het voorjaar
    You can’t drop the article, so winter by itself would be ungrammatical here.
Why does the verb come before the subject in lopen wij?

Dutch has a V2 (verb-second) word order rule. When you start the sentence with any adverbial element—here Behalve in de winter—the finite verb must occupy the second position, and the subject follows the verb. Structure:

  1. Adverbial (Behalve in de winter)
  2. Finite verb (lopen)
  3. Subject (wij)
Do we have to include wij? In English we sometimes omit pronouns.
No. Dutch is not a pro-drop language. You always need an explicit subject pronoun (or noun). Omitting wij would make the sentence ungrammatical.
What is the difference between elke dag and dagelijks?
  • elke dag = every day (colloquial, focuses on each individual day)
  • dagelijks = daily (more formal or written style, general habitual sense)
    You could say either, e.g. Behalve in de winter lopen wij dagelijks in het park, though elke dag is more common in speech.
Why in het park and not op het park or just park?

For open or semi-enclosed spaces like parks and gardens, Dutch uses in:

  • in het park
  • in de tuin
    You use op for surfaces or specific points (op straat, op het station). You also cannot drop the article het here.
Can we say we instead of wij, and iedere dag instead of elke dag?

Yes.

  • we is the unstressed, informal variant of wij.
  • iedere dag is fully interchangeable with elke dag, perhaps a bit more formal.
    Example: Behalve in de winter lopen we iedere dag in het park.