Breakdown of Ik fotografeer vogels in het park.
ik
I
in
in
het park
the park
de vogel
the bird
fotograferen
to photograph
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Questions & Answers about Ik fotografeer vogels in het park.
Why does fotografeer end without -t when the subject is ik?
In Dutch present tense the first-person singular (ik) uses the bare verb stem. You form the stem by removing -en from the infinitive fotograferen, giving fotografeer. Only the second-person singular (jij, u) and third-person singular (hij/zij) add -t, e.g. jij fotografeert, hij fotografeert.
Why is there no article before vogels?
Dutch omits articles before indefinite plurals, just like English “I photograph birds” (no “some”). If you mean specific birds, use the definite article: Ik fotografeer de vogels. For one bird, use an indefinite singular: Ik fotografeer een vogel.
Why het park instead of de park?
Dutch nouns are either common gender (taking de) or neuter (taking het). Park is a neuter noun, so it takes het.
Why in het park instead of op het park or aan het park?
To indicate being inside a park, Dutch uses in. Op het park would imply “on top of the park,” which isn’t natural. Aan het park means “by the park” (beside it). To say “to the park,” you’d use naar het park.
Can I move in het park to the front of the sentence?
Yes. Dutch main clauses follow the verb-second (V2) rule. By fronting the prepositional phrase you get:
In het park fotografeer ik vogels.
Notice fotografeer remains in slot two.
Is fotograferen the only way to say “to photograph,” or can I use foto’s maken?
You can also say foto’s maken (“to make photos”). So a more conversational alternative is:
Ik maak foto’s van vogels in het park.
How would I say “I photograph a bird in the park” instead of birds?
Simply switch the plural vogels to the singular with an indefinite article:
Ik fotografeer een vogel in het park.