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Questions & Answers about Wij bakken brood in de oven.
Why do we use wij at the beginning of the sentence?
In Dutch, you generally need an explicit subject pronoun. Unlike English, you cannot drop the subject, so you say wij or its colloquial form we to mean “we.” Wij is used for emphasis or in formal contexts; we is more common in everyday speech.
What’s the difference between wij and we?
- wij: stressed or formal/written form of “we.” Use it when you want to emphasize the subject or in formal writing.
- we: unstressed, common spoken form. Equivalent to “we” in everyday English conversation.
Why is the verb bakken used here and not bakt?
Dutch verbs conjugate according to person and number. In the present tense:
• ik bak
• jij/u bakt
• hij/zij/het bakt
• wij/jullie/zij bakken
Since wij is first person plural, you use the full infinitive form (stem + en): bakken.
Why is there no article before brood?
Brood here is an uncountable (mass) noun meaning “bread” in general. When talking about bread as a substance, Dutch omits the indefinite article. If you meant “a loaf of bread,” you would say een brood.
Why do we say in de oven?
• in indicates location inside something (the oven cavity).
• oven is a common‐gender noun, so it takes the definite article de when you refer to a specific oven (in this case, the one you’re using).
Where do these words fit in the Dutch word order?
Dutch main clauses follow the V2 rule (verb‐second):
- wij (subject) – position 1
- bakken (finite verb) – position 2
- brood (direct object) – follows the verb
- in de oven (prepositional phrase) – after the object
How do I make the sentence negative?
• To negate the noun “bread,” insert geen before it:
Wij bakken geen brood in de oven.
• To negate the whole action more broadly, you can place niet at the end (less common):
Wij bakken brood in de oven niet.