Learn Hardcore Dutch: Op het strand maken wij een lange strandwandeling langs de zee. - On the beach we take a long walk along the sea.

The sentence starts with a prepositional phrase:
- Op het strand = On the beach
  That whole phrase counts as position 1.
The conjugated verb must then come in position 2:
- maken (we make)
The subject comes after the verb:
- wij (we)

So:

Op het strand (1) maken (2) wij (3) …

If you start with the subject, you can say:

Wij maken op het strand een lange strandwandeling langs de zee.

Both sentences are correct; the given one just emphasizes “on the beach” by putting it first.

Why do you use “maken” (to make) for a walk instead of a verb like “to walk”?

Dutch often uses “maken” as a “light verb” in fixed expressions, where English uses “take” or sometimes no extra verb at all.

een wandeling maken = to take a walk / to go for a walk
een lange strandwandeling maken = to take a long walk on the beach

Some similar patterns:

een foto maken = to take a photo
een reis maken = to make / take a trip
fouten maken = to make mistakes

You can use verbs like:

wandelen = to walk (for pleasure)
lopen = to walk / to run (depends on context)

For example:

Wij wandelen op het strand langs de zee.
But “een wandeling maken” is a very common and natural collocation in Dutch.

What is the difference between “op het strand” and something like “aan het strand”?

op het strand literally means “on the beach”:
You are physically on the sand, on the beach itself.
aan het strand literally “at/by the beach”, but in practice it’s used more for something located at the beach (on the edge of it, facing it), for example:
- een huis aan het strand = a house by the beach
- een restaurant aan het strand = a restaurant on/at the beach (often slightly above/next to the sand)

For people walking on the sand, “op het strand” is the normal expression:

Op het strand maken wij een lange strandwandeling …
= On the beach we take a long walk …

Why is it “het strand” and not “de strand”?

In Dutch, every noun has a grammatical gender, which determines the article:

de = for common gender nouns (de-words) and all plurals
het = for neuter nouns (het-words)

strand happens to be a het-word:

het strand = the beach
een strand = a beach

This is mostly arbitrary and must be learned word by word. A few examples:

het huis (the house) – het-word
de tafel (the table) – de-word
het boek (the book)
de stoel (the chair)

So “het strand” is simply correct because “strand” is grammatically neuter.

Why is it “een lange strandwandeling” and not “een lang strandwandeling”?

The adjective “lang” gets an extra -e in this position, becoming “lange”.

Basic rule for attributive adjectives (adjective directly before a noun):

Add -e to the adjective in front of a de-word or any plural, and also in front of most het-words with “deze/die/het/een”.

Here:

wandeling is a de-word: de wandeling (the walk)
So the adjective must take -e: lange wandeling

More examples:

een mooie dag (day is a de-word)
de grote hond (dog is a de-word)
een koude wind

So “een lang strandwandeling” is grammatically wrong; it must be “een lange strandwandeling”.

What exactly is “strandwandeling”, and why is it one word?

Dutch loves compound nouns: two or more nouns joined into one new noun.

strand = beach
wandeling = walk (a walk, stroll)

Together:

strandwandeling = beach walk / a walk on the beach

In Dutch spelling, compounds are normally written as one word, not with a space:

strandwandeling (not strand wandeling)
huisdeur (house door, front door)
tafeltje → but eettafel (dining table)
koffiekopje (coffee cup)

So “een lange strandwandeling” is one long word + adjective + article:

een (a)
lange (long)
strandwandeling (beach walk)

What does “langs de zee” mean exactly, and how is it different from other prepositions?

langs means “along” or “by” in the sense of following the length of something.

langs de zee = along the sea / by the sea (following the shoreline)

Comparisons:

bij de zee = by/near the sea (close to it, but not necessarily walking along it)
aan zee = at the seaside, by the sea (often used for towns/locations: Ik woon aan zee.)
door de zee = through the sea (literally in the water, moving through it)
naast de zee = next to the sea (side by side; more spatial than directional)

So “een strandwandeling langs de zee” suggests walking on the beach with the sea at your side, following the coastline.

Why is it “de zee” and not “het zee”?

Like “strand”, the word “zee” (sea) has fixed grammatical gender.
But this time it is a de-word:

de zee = the sea
een zee = a sea

So:

het strand (neuter)
de zee (common gender)

It’s just part of the vocabulary you have to memorize:

de rivier (river)
de zee (sea)
het meer (lake)

What is the difference between “wij” and “we” in Dutch?

Both “wij” and “we” mean “we” in English.

wij is the stressed form
we is the unstressed form, used more in normal, neutral speech

In many sentences, you can use either:

Wij maken een lange strandwandeling.
We maken een lange strandwandeling.

In the example:

Op het strand maken wij een lange strandwandeling …
Using “wij” can give a slight emphasis on “we” (as opposed to someone else). In everyday speech, most people would often say “maken we”.

Could the sentence also be “Wij maken op het strand een lange strandwandeling langs de zee”? Is there a difference?

Yes, that word order is also correct.

Two versions:

Op het strand maken wij een lange strandwandeling langs de zee.
Wij maken op het strand een lange strandwandeling langs de zee.

Both mean the same thing. The difference is focus:

Version 1 puts “op het strand” first, so the location is emphasized or is the topic.
Version 2 starts with “wij”, so the subject (we) is the default topic.

Dutch allows a lot of flexibility in word order before the verb, as long as the conjugated verb is in second position.

Can you leave out “wij/we” like in some other languages?

Normally no. In Dutch you generally must use the subject pronoun:

(Wij) maken een lange strandwandeling.
→ You must say: Wij maken … or We maken …

Dutch is not a “null-subject” language like Spanish or Italian, where the verb ending makes the subject clear. Dutch verb endings are not distinctive enough, so the pronoun is needed for clarity.

The only exceptions are in imperatives (commands) and some very informal spoken sentences, but that’s a different situation:

Maak een lange strandwandeling! (Take a long beach walk!)

How would you negate this sentence in Dutch?

You can negate it in two main ways, depending on what you mean.

We don’t take a long beach walk (at all):
- Op het strand maken wij geen lange strandwandeling langs de zee.
- Wij maken op het strand geen lange strandwandeling langs de zee.

Here you use geen to negate the indefinite noun phrase “een lange strandwandeling”.

We don’t take a long beach walk on the beach, but somewhere else (emphasis on the place):
- Niet op het strand maken wij een lange strandwandeling langs de zee, maar …

Then niet negates the phrase “op het strand”.

Most commonly, for a simple “we don’t take a long beach walk”, you use geen before “lange strandwandeling”.

How do you pronounce “wij”, “strand”, “lange” and “wandeling”?

Very roughly (using English approximations):

wij: like English “why”, but shorter and with a bit more “eh” in it: [ʋɛi]
strand:
- str like “str” in “street”
- a like “a” in “father” (shorter)
- final d is devoiced, so it sounds like “strant”: [strɑnt]
lange: [ˈlɑŋə]
- la as in “luck”
- ng as in “sing”
- final e is the schwa sound, like the “a” in “sofa”
wandeling: [ˈʋɑndəlɪŋ]
- wan like “vun” (with a Dutch v/w sound)
- de = schwa again
- ling like “ling” in “linguistics”

Real Dutch pronunciation has sounds that don’t map perfectly to English, but these hints give you a rough idea.

What is the plural of “strandwandeling”, and does anything change in the phrase?

The plural is formed in a regular way:

de strandwandeling → de strandwandelingen
(add -en to wandeling → wandelingen)

In the full phrase:

Op het strand maken wij lange strandwandelingen langs de zee.

Changes:

maken stays the same (same form for “we”)
een disappears (no indefinite article in plural)
lange stays lange (adjectives before plural nouns also take -e)
strandwandelingen is plural

So the structure remains the same; only the noun and article change.