Learn Hardcore Dutch: ’s ochtends leest mijn opa graag een boek. - In the morning my grandpa likes to read a book.

Historically, ’s is a contraction of des, an old genitive form of de (the). So ’s ochtends originally meant something like des ochtends = of the morning / in the morning.

So:

’s ochtends ≈ in the morning
It does not mean “morning’s” or “of the morning” in a possessive sense.

What exactly is ochtends? Why does it end in ‑s?

Ochtends is related to the noun de ochtend (the morning), but in ’s ochtends it functions as an adverbial time expression: in the morning / in the mornings.

The ‑s is historically a genitive ending (old case ending), similar to English expressions like:

days in Wednesdays (in older English: on Wednesday’s meaning during Wednesday).

So:

de ochtend = the morning (noun)
’s ochtends = in the morning / in the mornings (adverbial phrase of time)

Why does the sentence start with ’s ochtends? Could it start with Mijn opa instead?

Dutch has a fairly flexible word order, but the finite verb (here leest) must be in second position in main clauses.

You can say:

’s ochtends leest mijn opa graag een boek.
Mijn opa leest ’s ochtends graag een boek.

Both are correct and natural. The difference is in emphasis:

Version 1 starts with ’s ochtends, so it emphasizes when the action happens.
Version 2 starts with Mijn opa, so it emphasizes who is doing the action.

In both cases the conjugated verb leest stays in second position in the clause.

Why is the verb leest in that position, right after ’s ochtends?

Dutch main clauses normally follow a verb‑second (V2) rule:

Some element (subject, time, place, etc.) comes first.
The conjugated verb comes second.
The rest of the sentence follows.

So in:

’s ochtends (1st position: time expression)
leest (2nd position: finite verb)
mijn opa graag een boek (rest of the clause)

This is standard Dutch word order. If you move ’s ochtends, the verb is still second:

Mijn opa leest ’s ochtends graag een boek.
Graag leest mijn opa ’s ochtends een boek.

What does graag add to the sentence? Why can’t we just say ’s ochtends leest mijn opa een boek?

Graag is crucial: it expresses liking / enjoyment / preference.

’s ochtends leest mijn opa een boek.
→ Just states a fact: In the morning my grandpa reads a book (no information about whether he likes it).
’s ochtends leest mijn opa graag een boek.
→ Adds the idea that he enjoys reading a book in the morning.

So graag + verb ≈ likes to / enjoys doing [verb]:

Ik eet graag pasta. = I like eating pasta.
Zij fietst graag. = She likes cycling.

Where can graag go in the sentence? Is its position fixed?

The most common place is after the subject and before the main verb or its object, but Dutch allows some flexibility. For your sentence, these are natural:

’s ochtends leest mijn opa graag een boek. (given)
’s ochtends leest mijn opa een boek graag. (possible, but less common; slightly odd emphasis)
’s ochtends graag leest mijn opa een boek. (unusual; sounds marked/poetic)

More standard alternatives:

Mijn opa leest ’s ochtends graag een boek.
Mijn opa leest graag ’s ochtends een boek. (emphasis on liking it specifically in the morning)

Best to learn the neutral pattern: [Subject] + [verb] + graag + [rest]
→ Mijn opa leest graag ’s ochtends een boek.

How is ’s ochtends pronounced, especially the ch sound?

Approximate pronunciation in IPA: /s ˈɔxtəns/

’s: just a normal s sound, attached to the next word.
och‑: o like in “off” or “bought” (depending on accent).
ch: a voiceless velar fricative, similar to:
- German Bach
- Scottish loch
- Spanish j in José (in many accents)
‑tends: tens (like English “tens” but with Dutch vowels).

So ’s ochtends is roughly like s OKH-tens, with the throat sound in ch.

Why is ’s ochtends not capitalized at the start, even though it’s the first thing in the sentence?

In Dutch, expressions like ’s ochtends, ’s middags, ’s avonds, ’s nachts traditionally start with a lowercase ’s, even at the beginning of a sentence. The apostrophe shows that something has been omitted (historically des), and the s itself normally stays lowercase.

So:

’s ochtends leest mijn opa graag een boek. ✅
’S ochtends leest mijn opa graag een boek. ❌ (normally considered incorrect)

The same happens with place names like ’s‑Hertogenbosch: the ’s stays lowercase even at the start.

What is the grammatical role of ’s ochtends in this sentence?

’s ochtends is an adverbial phrase of time (in Dutch: bijwoordelijke bepaling van tijd).

It tells you when the action happens:

leest = reads
’s ochtends = (when?) in the morning

So it functions like English “in the morning” or “in the mornings” in this context.

What’s the difference between ’s ochtends, ’s morgens, and in de ochtend?

All three can refer to the morning, but they differ slightly in nuance and usage:

’s ochtends
Very common, neutral. Roughly in the morning / in the mornings.
’s morgens
Also common; some speakers use ’s morgens a bit more in some regions, but for most learners it’s safe to treat it as a near‑synonym of ’s ochtends.
in de ochtend
More literal, like “in the morning”. Slightly more formal or explicit.
Example: In de ochtend leest mijn opa graag een boek.

In everyday speech, ’s ochtends or ’s morgens will sound the most natural.

Why is it mijn opa and not something like de opa or grootvader?

mijn opa = my grandpa / my grandad
Informal, warm, very common in spoken Dutch.
de opa = the grandpa
This usually refers to a specific grandpa that’s been identified earlier, or is used generically (e.g. de opa van de familie = the grandfather of the family). It doesn’t automatically mean “my”.
(mijn) grootvader = (my) grandfather
More formal or neutral, often used in writing, stories, or when you want a less childlike word.

In an everyday sentence about your own family, mijn opa sounds the most natural.

Why do we say een boek (a book) and not boeken (books) in this kind of habitual sentence?

Dutch often uses the singular with an indefinite article to express a habitual action, similar to English:

’s ochtends leest mijn opa graag een boek.
→ In the morning my grandpa likes to read a book (not necessarily always the same book; it’s about the activity).

You can say:

’s ochtends leest mijn opa graag boeken.
→ Emphasizes the plural “books” more; it sounds like he is generally fond of books as objects, not just the activity of reading one.

But the singular een boek is very natural to express the routine of “he likes to read (a/an) book in the morning.”