Mijn schoenen staan in de modder.

My shoes are in the mud.

Breakdown of Mijn schoenen staan in de modder.

• in: in
• staan: to stand
• mijn: my
• de schoen: the shoe
• de modder: the mud

Questions & Answers about Mijn schoenen staan in de modder.

Why is the verb staan used in this sentence instead of a more neutral verb like zijn?

In Dutch you often use specific “location verbs” to express both position and orientation of objects at rest. The main ones are:

• staan – for objects in an upright or vertical position
• liggen – for objects lying down (horizontal)
• zitten – for objects seated or embedded
• hangen – for objects hanging

You could say mijn schoenen zijn in de modder (“my shoes are in the mud”), which is correct, but staan adds the nuance that they’re standing/erect on their soles.

Could I use liggen instead of staan here?

Yes. If you want to emphasize that your shoes are lying flat, use:
 mijn schoenen liggen in de modder

• liggen → lying down
• staan → standing upright

Both are grammatically fine; you just choose based on how you imagine their orientation.

Why is the preposition in used here and not op?

• in expresses being inside or surrounded by something (here: the mud).
• op expresses being on top of a surface.

Since mud is something you can sink into or be surrounded by, you say in de modder, not op de modder.

Why do we need de before modder? Why not just say in modder?

Modder is a mass noun in Dutch. When referring to a specific instance or patch of it, you generally need a definite article:
 in de modder (“in the mud”).
Without de, in modder sounds ungrammatical here. You only drop the article in very general statements, e.g. Modder is vies (“Mud is nasty”).

Why is there no article before mijn schoenen?

Possessive pronouns (mijn, jouw, zijn, haar, etc.) replace the article entirely. You never combine de/het with mijn. So it’s always:
 mijn schoenen
never de mijn schoenen or mijn de schoenen.

Why is the verb written staan and not staat?

Dutch present-tense verbs take different endings depending on person and number. Here, mijn schoenen is plural, so you use the bare infinitive form for wij/jullie/zij:

• mijn schoen staat (singular)
• mijn schoenen staan (plural)

Can I change the word order and start with In de modder?

Yes. Dutch follows the V2 (verb-second) rule. If you front the adverbial phrase in de modder, the verb still stays in second position:
 In de modder staan mijn schoenen.
This shifts the focus to the location.

Is modder a de-word or an het-word?

Modder is a de-word. Unfortunately there aren’t foolproof rules for every noun, so it’s best to memorize the article along with the noun. Many mass nouns and words ending in -er are de-words, but there are exceptions.