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Wij drinken thee in de schemering op het terras.

Wij drinken thee in de schemering op het terras.
We drink tea at dusk on the terrace.

Breakdown of Wij drinken thee in de schemering op het terras.

drinken
to drink
wij
we
in
in
op
on
de thee
the tea
het terras
the terrace
de schemering
the dusk
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Questions & Answers about Wij drinken thee in de schemering op het terras.

What is the difference between wij and we?

In Dutch both mean “we,” but:

  • wij is the full, emphatic or formal form.
  • we is the shortened, more colloquial form used in everyday speech. Example: • Wij drinken thee… (emphasis or in writing)
    • We drinken thee… (common in conversation)
Why is the verb drinken used instead of drinkt?

Dutch conjugation for drinken (to drink) is: • ik drink
• jij drinkt
• hij/zij drinkt
• wij drinken
The first-person plural (wij) uses the infinitive form without an extra -t.

Why doesn’t thee have an article (like de or het)?
Thee is an uncountable mass noun when you’re talking about drinking tea in general. Mass nouns typically drop the article unless you mean a specific batch (then you’d say de thee, “the tea”).
What does in de schemering mean, and why do we use in?
  • in de schemering = “in the twilight” or “at dusk.”
  • in is the standard preposition for general periods of the day or seasons (in de ochtend, in de zomer). Since schemering is a time period, in is required.
Why is schemering preceded by de, not het?
Dutch has two grammatical genders for nouns: common (de) and neuter (het). Abstract or time-related nouns like schemering are usually common gender, so they take de.
Why is the order in de schemering before op het terras? Could I swap them?

Dutch prefers the adverbial sequence time → place:

  1. time (in de schemering)
  2. place (op het terras)
    While you can technically say op het terras in de schemering, the usual, more natural order is to state when first, then where.
Why do we say op het terras, and why is terras neuter?
  • op is used with surfaces or open spaces (op tafel, op straat, op het terras).
  • terras is a neuter noun (like many loanwords), so it takes het.
Can we start the sentence with In de schemering to change the emphasis?

Yes. Dutch follows the “verb-second” rule (V2). If you front in de schemering, the finite verb stays in second position: “In de schemering drinken wij thee op het terras.”
This emphasizes when the action takes place.