Kunt u mij zeggen waar de dichtstbijzijnde bushalte is?

Could you tell me where the nearest bus stop is?

Breakdown of Kunt u mij zeggen waar de dichtstbijzijnde bushalte is?

• zijn: to be
• kunnen: can
• mij: me
• zeggen: to say
• u: you
• waar: where
• dichtstbijzijnd: nearest
• de bushalte: the bus stop

Questions & Answers about Kunt u mij zeggen waar de dichtstbijzijnde bushalte is?

Why does the sentence start with Kunt u and not Kan jij or Kun je?

Kunt u is the polite/formal way to say you can / could you when speaking to a stranger, older person, or in a formal situation.

• u = formal you
• kunt = the form of kunnen (can) that goes with u

Informal versions would be:

• Kun je mij zeggen…? (to a friend, someone your age)
• Kun jij mij zeggen…? (same, but with a bit more emphasis on jij)

So the sentence is deliberately polite: Kunt u mij zeggen… ≈ Could you tell me… in polite English.

What is the function of mij here, and could I also say me?

mij is the stressed object pronoun me in English: tell me.

• Kunt u mij zeggen…? = Could you tell me…?

In spoken Dutch, people very often use the unstressed form me:

• Kunt u me zeggen waar de dichtstbijzijnde bushalte is?

Both are grammatically correct.

• mij is a bit clearer/stronger (and slightly more formal or careful).
• me sounds more casual and is extremely common in everyday speech.

Why is it Kunt u mij zeggen waar… is? and not simply Waar is de dichtstbijzijnde bushalte?

There are two different types of questions:

1. Direct question (you ask the information directly):

   • Waar is de dichtstbijzijnde bushalte?
     = Where is the nearest bus stop?

2. Indirect question (you ask someone to tell you the information):

   • Kunt u mij zeggen waar de dichtstbijzijnde bushalte is?
     = Could you tell me where the nearest bus stop is?

The Dutch sentence you have is an indirect question, which sounds more polite. In English we do the same:

• Direct: Where is the nearest bus stop?
• Indirect: Could you tell me where the nearest bus stop is?

Why does is go at the end: …waar de dichtstbijzijnde bushalte is?

In Dutch, subordinate clauses (dependent clauses) usually send the finite verb to the end.

The part waar de dichtstbijzijnde bushalte is is a subordinate clause introduced by waar (where). So its word order is:

• [waar] [de dichtstbijzijnde bushalte] [is]

If it were a normal main clause (a direct question), it would be:

• Waar is de dichtstbijzijnde bushalte?

So:

• Main clause question → Waar is … ?
• Subordinate/indirect question → … waar … is.

What does dichtstbijzijnde mean exactly, and how is it formed?

dichtstbijzijnde = nearest / closest.

It is built from:

• dichtbij = near, nearby
• dichtsbij → dichtstbij (superlative form of dichtbij: nearest)
• dichtstbijzijnd(e) = closest (adjective form)

So de dichtstbijzijnde bushalte = the nearest bus stop.

Key points:

• It is a superlative adjective (like nearest, closest).
• de dichtstbijzijnde always has -e at the end here, because it comes before a noun (bushalte) and that noun is a de-word.

Why is it de dichtstbijzijnde bushalte and not het dichtstbijzijnde bushalte?

In Dutch, nouns are either de-words or het-words.

• de halte = the stop
• de bushalte = the bus stop

So bushalte is a de-word, and that’s why you say:

• de dichtstbijzijnde bushalte

If it were a het-word, the article would be het, and the adjective form could behave differently in some contexts. But here, bushalte is a de noun, so: de dichtstbijzijnde bushalte.

Why is bushalte written as one word instead of bus halte?

Dutch almost always joins nouns together into one compound word where English might write two separate words.

• bus
  • halte → bushalte (bus stop)
• trein
  • station → treinstation (train station)
• fiets
  • route → fietsroute (bike route)

So bushalte is a single noun, spelled as one word.

Is this whole sentence formal, and how would I say it informally?

Yes, it is polite/formal because of u and the structure Kunt u mij zeggen….

Informal alternatives:

• Kun je me zeggen waar de dichtstbijzijnde bushalte is?
• Weet je waar de dichtstbijzijnde bushalte is? (literally: Do you know where…?)

Even more natural in casual speech is often the short direct question:

• Waar is de dichtstbijzijnde bushalte?

Can I leave out mij and just say Kunt u zeggen waar de dichtstbijzijnde bushalte is?

You can say Kunt u zeggen waar de dichtstbijzijnde bushalte is?, and people will understand you, but it sounds a bit less natural.

Native speakers much more often include me/mij:

• Kunt u mij zeggen…?
• Kun je me vertellen…?

Leaving out mij is grammatically possible, but the version with mij/me is what you will typically hear.

Could I use vertellen instead of zeggen here?

Yes, you can say:

• Kunt u mij vertellen waar de dichtstbijzijnde bushalte is?

Both:

• Kunt u mij zeggen…?
• Kunt u mij vertellen…?

are natural. vertellen is a bit closer to English tell, while zeggen is say. In this type of polite question, they are almost interchangeable.

Where would I put alstublieft (please) in this sentence?

Common options are:

• Kunt u mij zeggen waar de dichtstbijzijnde bushalte is, alstublieft?
• Alstublieft, kunt u mij zeggen waar de dichtstbijzijnde bushalte is?

Both are polite. The version with alstublieft at the end is very typical in everyday speech.

How do you pronounce the tricky parts of this sentence?

Approximate pronunciation (Dutch → rough English-like):

• Kunt u → kunt oo (u like French tu / German ü, not like English you)
• mij → may (like English my, but often a bit shorter)
• zeggen → ZEH-ghen (the g is a throaty sound, like clearing your throat softly)
• waar → vaar (initial w is like English v for many learners)
• dichtstbijzijnde → dikhtst-bay-zaynd-uh
  
  • ch = throaty sound (like German Bach)
  • ij = like English eye (or ay in day, depending on accent)
  • final -e = a short, unstressed uh
• bushalte → bus-hal-tuh (short u like British bus)
• is → almost like English is, but shorter

Don’t worry about perfect pronunciation at first; getting the rhythm and word order right is more important.