Wij doen samen de was.

We do the laundry together.

Breakdown of Wij doen samen de was.

• wij: we
• samen: together
• de was doen: to do the laundry

Questions & Answers about Wij doen samen de was.

Why is it de was (with the article) and not just was?

In Dutch, the activity “doing laundry” is idiomatically expressed as de was doen. The definite article de is part of the fixed expression; saying just was doen sounds wrong. You may also hear the countable expression een was (draaien) for “a load of laundry.”

Why use doen here? Could I use maken or wassen instead?

• Dutch uses the light verb doen with certain chores: de was doen, de afwas doen, boodschappen doen.
• Maken means “to make,” so de was maken is incorrect.
• Wassen is the verb “to wash.” You can say We wassen samen de kleren (“We wash the clothes together”), which is fine, but it’s a bit more literal than the standard idiom We doen samen de was.
• A very common alternative is We draaien samen een was(je) (“We run a load of laundry”).

How is doen conjugated?

Present:

• ik doe
• jij/je doet (but doe jij? in questions)
• hij/zij doet
• wij/jullie/zij doen

Past:

• ik deed
• wij deden

Past participle:

• gedaan (e.g., We hebben de was gedaan).

What’s the difference between wij and we?

Both mean “we.” Wij is the stressed form (often used for emphasis: “we, not someone else”), while we is the usual unstressed form. In everyday speech and writing, We doen samen de was is more common unless you want emphasis: Wij doen samen de was.

Why is samen placed between doen and de was? Can it go elsewhere?

Adverbs like samen usually sit near the verb and before the object, so Wij doen samen de was is the neutral choice. Variations are possible for emphasis:

• Wij doen de was samen (slight emphasis on “togetherness” at the end)
• Samen doen wij de was (strong emphasis on “together”) All are grammatical; the first is the most neutral.

Does the present tense here mean a habit, or can it also mean “right now”?

Both, depending on context. Dutch often uses the simple present for current actions. To be explicit:

• Habit: We doen samen elke zaterdag de was.
• Right now: We doen nu samen de was.
• Progressive (very clear): We zijn samen de was aan het doen.

How do I pronounce the tricky parts?

• wij: start with the Dutch w [like a soft v], then “eye” → roughly “vuy/why.”
• doen: oe is like “oo” in “food” → “doon.”
• samen: long “aa” → “saa-men” (final -n often very light).
• de was: “de” is “duh”; was has a short, open a like in “wok.” Also note Dutch w is not the English w; it’s closer to a soft v-sound.

How do I negate this? What’s the difference between negating the action vs. the togetherness?

• Not doing the laundry: We doen de was niet.
• We do the laundry, but not together: We doen de was niet samen.
• Not today (scoping over time): We doen de was vandaag niet. Place niet as close as possible to what you’re negating.

How do I turn it into a yes–no question or a Wh-question?

• Yes–no: invert subject and verb: Doen we samen de was?
• Wh-question: put the question word first, keep verb second: Wanneer doen we samen de was? / Waarom doen we samen de was?

What happens in a subordinate clause?

In subordinate clauses, the finite verb goes to the end:

• omdat we samen de was doen
• dat wij samen de was doen Main clause is verb-second; subordinate clause is verb-final.

Isn’t was also “was/were” (past of “to be”)? How do I avoid confusion?

Yes, was is also the past of zijn (“to be”) as in ik was (“I was”). In your sentence, de shows was is a noun meaning “laundry.” Note that het was means “it was,” so het was doen would be nonsense and misleading.

If I replace de was with a pronoun, what should I use?

To refer back to the task naturally, use a demonstrative:

• We doen dat samen. (“We do that together.”) You’ll also hear:
• We doen die samen. (pointing to a specific load; less common in writing) Avoid relying on het for de was; het works generically for “it” but doesn’t match the gender of de was. Using dat is the safest in context.

Is de afwas doen the same thing?

No. De was doen is doing laundry. De afwas doen is doing the dishes. They look similar but refer to different chores:

• was = laundry
• afwas = dishes (washing-up)

How do I say it in the past?

• Spoken-style perfect: We hebben samen de was gedaan.
• Simple past (more written/narrative): We deden samen de was. If you use wassen: We wasten samen de kleren / We hebben samen de kleren gewassen.

How do I include who we do it with?

Use samen met + person:

• We doen samen met mijn zus de was.
• Or: We doen de was samen met mijn zus. Both are fine; the second often flows more naturally.