Learn Hardcore Dutch: Tijdens de uitverkoop is die rok tamelijk goedkoop. - During the sale that skirt is quite cheap.

In de uitverkoop
Very common in everyday speech. It focuses a bit more on the situation of being on sale.
- Die rok is in de uitverkoop. = That skirt is on sale.
Bij de uitverkoop
Possible, but less natural in this context. Bij usually means at / near / with rather than during, so it may sound a bit off here.

So:

Tijdens de uitverkoop – grammatically fine, more literal “during the sale”.
In de uitverkoop – very idiomatic for “on sale”.
Bij de uitverkoop – not wrong, but unusual here.

Why is it de uitverkoop and not het uitverkoop?

In Dutch, each noun is either a de-word (common gender) or a het-word (neuter gender). You simply have to learn the gender with the noun.

de uitverkoop – correct
het uitverkoop – incorrect

A few points:

Uitverkoop is a de-word:
- de uitverkoop begint morgen – the sale starts tomorrow
- tijdens de uitverkoop – during the sale
You could also use the indefinite article:
- tijdens een uitverkoop = during a (any) sale
- tijdens de uitverkoop = during the (specific) sale (known to speaker and listener)

Why does the verb is come before die rok? I thought Dutch word order was Subject–Verb like English.

The basic Dutch order is indeed Subject – Verb – ...:

Die rok is tamelijk goedkoop.
That skirt is rather cheap.

But Dutch is a V2 language: in a main clause, the finite verb must be in position 2. The first position can be something other than the subject, for example a time expression.

In your sentence, the first element is the time phrase Tijdens de uitverkoop:

Tijdens de uitverkoop – first position (time phrase)
is – finite verb (must come second)
die rok – subject
tamelijk goedkoop – rest of the predicate

So:

Die rok is tamelijk goedkoop tijdens de uitverkoop. – subject first, very straightforward.
Tijdens de uitverkoop is die rok tamelijk goedkoop. – time phrase first, so we invert subject and verb.

Both are correct; the second just emphasizes the time frame.

Why is it die rok and not de rok or dat rok?

There are two separate issues here:

Article vs demonstrative
- de rok = the skirt (just identifying it, neutral)
- die rok = that skirt (demonstrative, you are pointing to it or distinguishing it)

So die here works like English that.

die vs dat
- Use die with de-words.
- Use dat with het-words.

Since rok is a de-word:

die rok = that skirt (correct)
dat rok = incorrect
die jurk (de jurk) – that dress
dat huis (het huis) – that house

You could also say:

Die rok is tamelijk goedkoop. – That skirt is rather cheap.
De rok is tamelijk goedkoop. – The skirt is rather cheap. (more neutral, less “pointing”)

What is the difference between rok and jurk?

They refer to different types of clothing:

rok = skirt (a garment that goes from waist down, no upper part)
jurk = dress (one-piece garment that covers upper and lower body)

Examples:

Ik koop een blauwe rok. – I’m buying a blue skirt.
Ze draagt een lange jurk. – She is wearing a long dress.

Be careful not to mix them up. If you say die rok, Dutch listeners will imagine a skirt, not a dress.

How do you form the plural of rok, and why does it become rokken with a double k?

The plural of rok is rokken.

Formation:

Singular: rok
Plural: rokken

In spelling, Dutch doubles a consonant to keep the vowel short:

The vowel o in rok is short.
If you add just -en → roken, the vowel would be read as long (like in roken = to smoke).
To keep the vowel short, you double the consonant: rokken.

More examples:

tak → takken (branch → branches)
bed → bedden (bed → beds)

What does tamelijk mean, and how is it different from words like erg, heel, redelijk, or nogal?

Tamelijk means rather / fairly / quite. It suggests a medium degree, sometimes slightly higher than expected, but not extreme.

Roughly:

tamelijk goedkoop – rather / fairly cheap
erg goedkoop – very cheap (often stronger)
heel goedkoop – very cheap / very inexpensive
redelijk goedkoop – reasonably cheap
nogal goedkoop – quite cheap (can sound a bit informal or slightly surprised)

All of these are possible:

Die rok is tamelijk goedkoop. – That skirt is rather cheap.
Die rok is erg goedkoop. – That skirt is very cheap.
Die rok is redelijk goedkoop. – That skirt is reasonably cheap.

Tamelijk sounds a bit more formal or careful than erg or heel.

Why is it tamelijk goedkoop at the end, and not something like die tamelijk goedkope rok?

In the original sentence, tamelijk goedkoop is a predicative complement: it describes the state of the skirt via the verb is.

Die rok is tamelijk goedkoop. – The skirt is rather cheap.

If you put the adjective before the noun, it becomes attributive and the structure changes:

die tamelijk goedkope rok – that rather cheap skirt

So you could say:

Tijdens de uitverkoop is die rok tamelijk goedkoop. – During the sale, that skirt is rather cheap.
Tijdens de uitverkoop koop ik die tamelijk goedkope rok. – During the sale I’m buying that rather cheap skirt.

Both are grammatical, but they say slightly different things: the original focuses on the price; the second focuses on the skirt as an item you’re buying.

Is goedkoop literally good + buy? How is it used, and what are the comparative and superlative forms?

Yes, historically goedkoop comes from goed (good) + koop (buy/purchase). The idea is “a good buy”, i.e. cheap / inexpensive.

Usage:

Die rok is goedkoop. – That skirt is cheap.
Het is niet zo goedkoop. – It’s not that cheap.

Comparative and superlative:

Comparative: goedkoper – cheaper
- Deze rok is goedkoper dan die. – This skirt is cheaper than that one.
Superlative: goedkoopst (attributive: goedkoopste) – cheapest
- Dit is de goedkoopste rok. – This is the cheapest skirt.

So tamelijk goedkoop = rather cheap, erg goedkoop = very cheap, goedkoper = cheaper, goedkoopste = cheapest.

How do you pronounce the difficult sounds in this sentence, especially tijdens, uitverkoop, rok, and goedkoop?

Approximate pronunciations (IPA and English hints):

tijdens – /ˈtɛi̯.dəns/
- ij sounds like the English diphthong in “say”, but starting a bit more towards “eh”; think of a long ei sound.
- Stress on the first syllable: TIJ-dens.
de – /də/
- Schwa sound, like “deh” or the a in “sofa”.
uitverkoop – /ˈœy̯t.vɛr.koːp/
- ui is a unique Dutch sound, something between English “ow” and “uh”; your mouth is more rounded.
- oo in koop is a long o, like in English “boat”, but without the w-glide: koop = /koːp/.
die – /di/
- Like English “dee”.
rok – /rɔk/
- r can be rolled or uvular depending on accent.
- o is short, like “o” in British “not”.
tamelijk – /ˈtaː.mə.lək/
- a in first syllable is long, like “ah” in “father”.
- Last syllable -lijk is often reduced to -luk /-lək/ in everyday speech.
goedkoop – /ɣutˈkoːp/ or /ɣutˈkoːp/ (regional)
- g is a gutural sound, made in the back of the throat; often harsh for learners.
- oe = /u/ as in “food”.
- oo again long o /oː/.

Spoken slowly, the sentence is something like:

[ˈtɛi̯.dəns də ˈœy̯t.vɛr.koːp ɪs di rɔk ˈtaː.mə.lək ɣutˈkoːp]

Could I replace tamelijk with nogal, best, or vrij? Would the meaning change much?

Yes, several adverbs can play a similar role. All of these are natural:

Die rok is tamelijk goedkoop. – That skirt is rather cheap.
Die rok is nogal goedkoop. – That skirt is quite cheap.
Die rok is best goedkoop. – That skirt is pretty cheap. (informal)
Die rok is vrij goedkoop. – That skirt is fairly cheap.

Nuances:

tamelijk – slightly formal, neutral, like rather / fairly.
nogal – quite, can sound a bit surprised or evaluative.
best – informal; often used in speech; like pretty in “pretty cheap”.
vrij – like fairly / quite, neutral, a bit careful.

Grammatically they function the same way in this sentence: adverb before goedkoop.

Would Dutch speakers actually say this sentence, or is there a more natural alternative?

The sentence is correct and natural, especially in slightly more formal or written context.

In casual speech, people might more often say:

In de uitverkoop is die rok best goedkoop.
Die rok is in de uitverkoop best goedkoop.
Tijdens de uitverkoop is die rok best goedkoop.

Changes you might hear:

in de uitverkoop instead of tijdens de uitverkoop
best goedkoop instead of tamelijk goedkoop

Your original sentence is perfectly fine; it just sounds a bit more neutral/formal.

Why is it is die rok tamelijk goedkoop and not kost die rok tamelijk goedkoop?

Dutch distinguishes between:

zijn (to be) for being cheap/expensive in a general way
kosten (to cost) for stating an exact price

So:

Die rok is tamelijk goedkoop. – That skirt is rather cheap. (general evaluation)
Die rok kost 20 euro. – That skirt costs 20 euros. (exact amount)

You normally do not say:

✗ Die rok kost tamelijk goedkoop. – incorrect / unnatural

You can combine them:

Die rok kost maar 20 euro; hij is tamelijk goedkoop.
That skirt only costs 20 euros; it is rather cheap.