Learn Hardcore Dutch: Zij sluit haar laptop en de lamp netjes aan op dezelfde stekkerdoos. - She neatly connects her laptop and the lamp to the same power strip.

Zij is the stressed form. It can be used:
- for emphasis: Zij (and not someone else) does it.
- more often in written or formal Dutch.
Ze is the unstressed / weak form, common in everyday speech:
- Spoken: Ze sluit haar laptop aan…
- Written/formal or emphatic: Zij sluit haar laptop aan…

In your sentence, Zij may give a slightly more formal or neutral written style, or mild emphasis on her as the subject. Grammatically, Zij and Ze are both correct here.

What is going on with sluit … aan? Why is the verb split?

Sluit … aan comes from the separable verb aansluiten, which means to connect / to plug in.

Dutch has many separable verbs:

Base form: aansluiten
Present tense, 3rd person singular: zij sluit … aan

In a main clause, the prefix (aan) goes to the end:

Zij sluit haar laptop aan. – She plugs in her laptop.
Zij sluit haar laptop en de lamp netjes aan.

In a subordinate clause, the verb is not split:

…dat zij haar laptop en de lamp netjes aansluit. (…that she neatly plugs in her laptop and the lamp.)

With extra elements like op dezelfde stekkerdoos, the pattern remains:

Main clause: Zij sluit haar laptop en de lamp netjes aan op dezelfde stekkerdoos.
Subordinate clause: …dat zij haar laptop en de lamp netjes op dezelfde stekkerdoos aansluit.

What exactly does netjes mean here, and where can it go in the sentence?

Netjes is an adverb. It can mean:

neatly / tidily (physically arranged in an orderly way)
properly / correctly / in a decent way

In this sentence it suggests she connects the devices in an orderly or careful way, not in a messy tangle.

Typical positions for netjes in a main clause are:

Zij sluit haar laptop en de lamp netjes aan op dezelfde stekkerdoos.
Zij sluit haar laptop en de lamp aan netjes op dezelfde stekkerdoos. (possible, but feels less neutral)
Zij sluit netjes haar laptop en de lamp aan op dezelfde stekkerdoos.

The most natural is usually:

subject – verb – objects – adverbs – rest:
- Zij sluit haar laptop en de lamp netjes aan op dezelfde stekkerdoos.

Word order with adverbs is flexible, but changing position can sound more formal, poetic, or slightly marked.

Why is it haar laptop but de lamp? In English we’d say “her laptop and lamp” – is the lamp hers?

Yes, this is a subtle point.

haar laptop = her laptop
de lamp = the lamp

In Dutch, using haar only once:

haar laptop en lamp would most directly mean “her laptop and (her) lamp”.

In your sentence, we get:

haar laptop en de lamp

This suggests:

the laptop is explicitly hers;
the lamp is just “the” lamp (maybe a desk lamp in that location, not necessarily her property).

So the nuance is slightly different from “her laptop and lamp” in English.

If you clearly want both to be hers, Dutch commonly repeats the possessive:

Zij sluit haar laptop en haar lamp netjes aan op dezelfde stekkerdoos.

Your sentence is not wrong; it just leaves the lamp’s ownership more neutral or context-dependent.

How does dezelfde work, and what’s the difference with hetzelfde?

Dezelfde and hetzelfde both mean “the same”, but they agree with the gender/number of the noun:

De-words (common gender) and plurals → dezelfde
- de lamp → dezelfde lamp (the same lamp)
- de stekkerdoos → dezelfde stekkerdoos
- de boeken → dezelfde boeken (the same books)
Het-words (neuter, singular) → hetzelfde
- het boek → hetzelfde boek (the same book)
- het huis → hetzelfde huis

In your sentence:

de stekkerdoos (common gender, de-word)
→ dezelfde stekkerdoos is required, not hetzelfde stekkerdoos.

As a pronoun (without a noun), you also see:

hetzelfde:
- Wij doen hetzelfde. – We do the same (thing).

Why do we say op dezelfde stekkerdoos and not in or aan?

Prepositions in Dutch are often idiomatic.

With aansluiten when you mean connecting something electrically, Dutch commonly uses op:

iets aansluiten op iets = to connect something to something
- de laptop aansluiten op de stekkerdoos – plug the laptop into the power strip
- de tv aansluiten op het netwerk – connect the TV to the network

So:

op dezelfde stekkerdoos = to the same power strip

Other prepositions are used in different contexts:

in is more for inside:
- in de doos – in the box
aan can be used with other verbs, like:
- iets aanzetten – to switch something on
- een lamp aan het plafond hangen – hang a lamp on the ceiling

But for aansluiten in this electrical sense, op is the normal choice.

What exactly is a stekkerdoos, and how is it different from stopcontact?

stekkerdoos = power strip / extension strip
A device with multiple sockets that you plug into a stopcontact.
stopcontact = wall socket / electrical outlet
The fixed socket in the wall.

So in your sentence:

op dezelfde stekkerdoos → onto / to the same power strip, not directly into the wall.

Related words:

stekker = plug
verlengsnoer = extension cord (often with a stekkerdoos at the end)

Could the word order be Zij sluit netjes haar laptop en de lamp aan op dezelfde stekkerdoos? Is that still correct?

Yes, that sentence is grammatically correct:

Zij sluit netjes haar laptop en de lamp aan op dezelfde stekkerdoos.

Differences:

Netjes comes earlier:
- Original: Zij sluit haar laptop en de lamp netjes aan op dezelfde stekkerdoos.
- Variant: Zij sluit netjes haar laptop en de lamp aan op dezelfde stekkerdoos.
Both are understandable and idiomatic. The original feels slightly more neutral:
- subject – finite verb – objects – adverb – separable part – rest

The variant places more immediate focus on how she does it (netjes) right after the verb:

It can sound a tiny bit more stylistic or marked, but still natural Dutch.

Why is it zij sluit and not zij sluiten? I thought zij could also mean “they”.

Correct: zij (or ze) can mean “she” or “they”, depending on context.

The verb form tells you which one it is:

zij sluit = she closes / she plugs in
(3rd person singular → verb ends in -t)
zij sluiten = they close / they plug in
(3rd person plural → verb ends in -en)

In your sentence:

Zij sluit haar laptop…
The verb sluit is singular, so Zij must mean “she”, not “they”.

How would this sentence look in a subordinate clause, for example after dat?

With a subordinate conjunction like dat (“that”), the word order changes:

Main clause:
Zij sluit haar laptop en de lamp netjes aan op dezelfde stekkerdoos.
Subordinate clause (after dat):
…dat zij haar laptop en de lamp netjes op dezelfde stekkerdoos aansluit.

Key changes:

The finite verb moves to the end, and the separable verb becomes one word:
- sluit … aan → aansluit
The rest of the order (subject, objects, netjes, op dezelfde stekkerdoos) stays largely the same in the “middle field.”

Example full sentence:

Ik zie dat zij haar laptop en de lamp netjes op dezelfde stekkerdoos aansluit.
– I see that she neatly plugs her laptop and the lamp into the same power strip.