Breakdown of Een vriendelijke serveerster bracht ons twee kopjes koffie.
vriendelijk
friendly
een
a, an
het kopje
the cup
de koffie
the coffee
ons
us
twee
two
brengen
to bring
de serveerster
the waitress
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Questions & Answers about Een vriendelijke serveerster bracht ons twee kopjes koffie.
Why does the sentence start with een vriendelijke serveerster instead of de vriendelijke serveerster?
We use the indefinite article een (“a/an”) whenever we introduce someone new or speak about someone nonspecific. The definite article de (“the”) would imply that both speaker and listener already know exactly which waitress is meant.
Why does the adjective vriendelijke have an -e ending?
In Dutch adjective declension, attributive adjectives (those placed before a noun) take an -e ending when modifying:
- any de-word (nouns that use de in the definite form), or
- any plural noun,
whether the article is definite or indefinite.
The only exception is a singular, indefinite het-word (neuter noun), e.g. een groot huis (“a big house”).
Why is serveerster used, and is there a masculine or gender-neutral form?
serveerster is the standard feminine noun for “waitress,” formed with the -ster suffix marking a female agent. The masculine equivalent serveerder exists but is rarely used; more common is ober (“waiter,” borrowed from German). For gender neutrality or formality you might see bediende (“staff member”) or the more modern bedieningsmedewerker.
What is the infinitive of bracht, and why does it change like that?
The base form is brengen (“to bring”). It’s a strong (irregular) verb that forms the past tense by a vowel change rather than a regular suffix. Here, e in brengen becomes aa, and you drop -en, giving bracht for the third person singular past.
What role does ons play, and why is it placed before twee kopjes koffie?
ons is the object pronoun “us,” used for direct or indirect objects. In Dutch, short object pronouns generally precede full noun phrases, so ons comes before twee kopjes koffie. Note that ons is an object pronoun, whereas we/wij are subject pronouns (“we”).
Why is there no article before twee kopjes koffie, and how would you say “the two cups of coffee”?
When you express an exact number with a numeral like twee, you omit any article. To say “the two cups of coffee,” you add the definite article de before the numeral: de twee kopjes koffie.
Why is the noun kopjes in the diminutive form, and what’s the difference from koppen?
kopje is the diminutive of kop, formed with -je. Diminutives in Dutch often suggest smaller size or a friendly nuance. twee kopjes koffie (“two small cups of coffee”) sounds natural for serving coffee, whereas twee koppen koffie (“two cups of coffee”) is grammatically correct but may imply larger cups or sound a bit more formal.