De journalist spreekt met de fotograaf over het muziekfestival.

The journalist talks with the photographer about the music festival.

Breakdown of De journalist spreekt met de fotograaf over het muziekfestival.

• spreken: to speak
• met: with
• over: about
• het muziekfestival: the music festival
• de journalist: the journalist
• de fotograaf: the photographer

Questions & Answers about De journalist spreekt met de fotograaf over het muziekfestival.

Why is it de journalist and de fotograaf, but het muziekfestival?

Dutch has two definite articles:

• de for common-gender nouns
• het for neuter nouns

You usually have to learn the gender of each noun:

• de journalist – journalist is a common-gender noun → de
• de fotograaf – fotograaf is also common gender → de
• het muziekfestival – festival is a neuter noun → het

Muziekfestival is a compound: muziek + festival.
In Dutch compounds, the last part decides the gender, so:

• festival is neuter → het festival → therefore het muziekfestival

How is the verb spreekt formed, and what are the other forms of spreken?

Spreekt is the present tense, 3rd person singular form of the verb spreken (to speak).

Present tense of spreken:

• ik spreek – I speak
• jij / je spreekt – you speak (singular, informal)
• u spreekt – you speak (formal)
• hij / zij / het spreekt – he / she / it speaks
• wij / we spreken – we speak
• jullie spreken – you speak (plural)
• zij / ze spreken – they speak

In the sentence, de journalist is 3rd person singular → de journalist spreekt.

Why is the verb in second position: De journalist spreekt met… and not De journalist met… spreekt?

Dutch main clauses follow the V2 rule (verb-second):

• The finite verb (here: spreekt) must be in second position in the sentence.
• The whole block De journalist counts as the first position (one “chunk”).

So the basic structure is:

1. Subject: De journalist
2. Finite verb: spreekt
3. Rest of the sentence: met de fotograaf over het muziekfestival.

If you move another element to the front, the verb still stays second:

• Met de fotograaf spreekt de journalist over het muziekfestival.
• Over het muziekfestival spreekt de journalist met de fotograaf.

The order of the other parts can change for emphasis, but the finite verb remains in second place.

Can I also say praat instead of spreekt? What is the difference?

Yes, you can say:

• De journalist praat met de fotograaf over het muziekfestival.

Both spreken and praten mean to speak / to talk, and they overlap a lot.

Rough difference:

• spreken – a bit more formal, often used for:
  • speeches, official talks, “to speak a language”
  • e.g. Zij spreekt Nederlands.
• praten – more informal, everyday to chat / to talk
  
  • e.g. We praten over onze vakantie.

In your sentence, both verbs are acceptable. Spreekt may sound slightly more formal or neutral.

Can I change the order to De journalist spreekt over het muziekfestival met de fotograaf?

Yes, that is grammatically correct:

• De journalist spreekt met de fotograaf over het muziekfestival.
• De journalist spreekt over het muziekfestival met de fotograaf.

Both are fine. The difference is mainly emphasis:

• Original order tends to highlight who he’s speaking with first:
  focus slightly on met de fotograaf.
• Swapped order can put a bit more focus on over het muziekfestival (the topic), then add with whom.

In normal speech, the original version is very natural, but your alternative is not wrong.

Why do we say spreekt met de fotograaf and not spreekt tegen de fotograaf or aan de fotograaf?

The choice of preposition changes the nuance:

• spreken met iemand – to speak with someone

  • suggests a two-way conversation
  • neutral / most common for “have a talk with”

• spreken tegen iemand – to speak to someone

  • often more one-way or a bit authoritative (talking at them)
  • can sound like scolding or addressing someone directly
  • e.g. De leraar spreekt tegen de leerling.

• spreken aan iemand – is not used in this sense in Dutch.

So for “The journalist is talking with the photographer”, met is the natural preposition: spreekt met de fotograaf.

Why does over mean about here? Doesn’t over usually mean “over / above”?

Dutch over has several meanings, depending on context.

1. over = about / regarding (very common)

   • We praten over politiek. – We talk about politics.
   • Hij denkt over zijn toekomst na. – He thinks about his future.

2. over = over / across / above / on top of

   • De kat springt over de muur. – The cat jumps over the wall.
   • De lamp hangt over de tafel. – The lamp hangs above the table.

In your sentence, over het muziekfestival clearly refers to the topic of conversation, so it means about the music festival.

Why is muziekfestival written as one word, not muziek festival?

Dutch loves compound nouns. When two (or more) nouns are used together as one concept, they are usually written as one word:

• muziek
  • festival → muziekfestival (music festival)
• tafel
  • kleed → tafelkleed (tablecloth)
• huis
  • deur → huisdeur (house door)

Writing muziek festival would suggest two separate nouns standing next to each other, which is not how Dutch normally forms a single idea like “music festival”. So muziekfestival as one word is the correct spelling.

What are the plural forms of these nouns, and how would the sentence look in the plural?

Plural forms:

• de journalist → de journalisten (journalists)
• de fotograaf → de fotografen (photographers)
• het muziekfestival → de muziekfestivals (music festivals)

Example sentences:

1. De journalisten spreken met de fotografen over het muziekfestival.
   – The journalists speak with the photographers about the music festival.

2. De journalisten spreken met de fotografen over de muziekfestivals.
   – The journalists speak with the photographers about the music festivals.

Notice:

• The verb changes to spreken for a plural subject (de journalisten).
• het muziekfestival becomes de muziekfestivals in the plural.

How would I replace the nouns with pronouns, like “He talks with her about it”?

One natural version would be:

• Hij spreekt met haar erover. – He speaks with her about it.

Breakdown:

• de journalist → hij (he)
• de fotograaf → haar (her – assuming the photographer is female)
• over het muziekfestival → erover (about it)

Notes:

• er + over is often combined to erover.
• The order is typically: verb – [other elements] – erover or er + preposition.
  
  • e.g. Hij spreekt er met haar over. (also correct)
  • but Hij spreekt met haar erover. is very common and natural.

How is spreekt pronounced, especially the final -t?

Approximate pronunciation (in IPA): /spreːkt/.

Key points for an English speaker:

• spr- at the start is like English “spr-” in spring.
• ee in spreekt is a long “ay” sound: similar to spray but held a bit longer.
• The final -kt cluster is pronounced fully:
  • k as in cat
  • t as in top
• Don’t drop the final t; it should be clearly audible: spreek (I speak) vs. spreekt (he/she/it speaks, or you speak).