Breakdown of Een passer helpt ons mooie cirkels tekenen tijdens de wiskundeles.
mooi
beautiful
tijdens
during
een
a, an
tekenen
to draw
helpen
to help
ons
us
de passer
the compass
de cirkel
the circle
de wiskundeles
the math class
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Questions & Answers about Een passer helpt ons mooie cirkels tekenen tijdens de wiskundeles.
What does passer mean and how is it pronounced?
passer is the Dutch word for the drawing tool “compass” (used in geometry). It’s a common-gender noun, so you say de passer for “the compass.” The pronunciation is roughly /ˈpɑsər/ (PAH-suhr).
Why is the verb helpt spelled with a t at the end?
The infinitive is helpen (“to help”). In the present tense, third person singular (“he/she/it” or “de passer”) you drop -en from the infinitive to get the stem help-, then add -t → helpt.
Why is there no te before tekenen?
In Dutch, certain verbs (like helpen, laten, zien) can be followed directly by a bare infinitive without te. So you say helpt ons tekenen rather than helpt ons te tekenen.
Can I also say helpt ons om mooie cirkels te tekenen?
Yes. If you want to include om and te, you can say:
• Een passer helpt ons om mooie cirkels te tekenen.
This is slightly more formal but means the same thing.
Why is it mooie cirkels and not mooi cirkels?
Adjectives in attributive position (before a noun) get an -e ending when the noun is plural or has an article. Since cirkels is plural, mooi becomes mooie → mooie cirkels.
Why do we use een with passer but de with wiskundeles?
een is the indefinite article (“a/an”), so een passer = “a compass.”
de is the definite article (“the”), so de wiskundeles = “the math lesson.” We use de because we’re referring to the specific class that’s happening now.
Why is wiskundeles written as one word?
Dutch loves compound nouns: you simply glue related nouns together. wiskunde (“math”) + les (“lesson”) → wiskundeles.
What does tijdens mean, and could I use another preposition?
tijdens means “during” (a period of time). It’s the standard word for “while something is going on.” You could also say ’s middags in de wiskundeles or in de wiskundeles, but tijdens is the most direct translation of “during.”
How does ons function in this sentence?
ons is the direct object of helpt (“helps us”) but also the understood subject of the infinitive tekenen (“(for) us to draw”). Grammatically, the object of the main verb “raises” to become the subject of the infinitive clause.
Can I move tijdens de wiskundeles to the front of the sentence?
Yes. Time phrases are flexible in Dutch. You could start with:
Tijdens de wiskundeles helpt een passer ons mooie cirkels tekenen.