Learn Hardcore Dutch: Ik ontving een e-mail over studentenkorting voor de tram. - I received an email about student discount for the tram.

In Dutch you can express past actions with either the simple past or the present perfect. Ontving is the simple past of ontvangen (“to receive”) and is common in written or formal contexts. In everyday speech you’ll more often hear the perfect: Ik heb een e-mail ontvangen. Both are correct—choosing one is largely a matter of style and register.

How would you say the sentence in the present perfect?

You simply use heb (the present tense of hebben) plus the past participle ontvangen.
Example:
Ik heb een e-mail ontvangen over studentenkorting voor de tram.

Why is e-mail written with a hyphen and lowercase?

Dutch adopted e-mail from English but applies its own spelling conventions. The hyphen is used to join a loanword, and because it’s a common noun it stays lowercase. You will also encounter the variant email without a hyphen—both are now acceptable.

Why is there an indefinite article een before e-mail, but no article before studentenkorting?

You use een because you’re talking about “an email,” which is indefinite. After the preposition over (“about”) you can mention the topic directly without an article: over studentenkorting means “about student discounts” in general. If you wanted to specify “the student discount,” you could say over de studentenkorting.

What does the preposition over mean here, and could I use a different one?

In this context over means “about” or “regarding.” It introduces the topic of the email. You wouldn’t use voor here, because voor indicates purpose or benefit. Likewise, met (“with”) or op (“on”) don’t convey “about.”

How is the compound noun studentenkorting formed?

Dutch frequently creates compounds by joining words together. Studentenkorting consists of studenten (the plural/linking form of “student”) + korting (“discount”). The linking -en- connects the two parts, so literally it’s student discount.

What does voor de tram add to the sentence, and why this preposition?

Voor means “for.” Here it specifies that the discount applies to tram travel—“student discount for the tram.” It’s about the target or beneficiary. You wouldn’t say op de tram (which would literally mean “on the tram” in a location sense).

Is it possible to move or omit voor de tram?

You can omit it only if the context already makes clear which transport mode you mean. To change word order for emphasis:
Over studentenkorting voor de tram ontving ik een e-mail.
But that fronting sounds formal or poetic. The neutral S-V-O order at the end is clearest.

How do you pronounce ontving, especially the “ng” at the end?

Ontving is pronounced [ɔntˈvɪŋ] in phonetic terms. The “v” is like an English v, the “i” like the “i” in “sit,” and the “ng” is a velar nasal (the same sound at the end of English “sing”). In the Dutch “g” is silent here because it’s part of the digraph “ng.”