Learn Hardcore Dutch: Wij zetten de vuilnisbak naast de deur. - We put the trash can next to the door.

wij is the stressed form. You use it when you want to emphasize who is doing the action:
- Wij zetten de vuilnisbak naast de deur, niet zij.
  (We put the trash can next to the door, not them.)
we is the unstressed, more neutral everyday form, and it’s more common in speech:
- We zetten de vuilnisbak naast de deur.

So your sentence could very naturally also be:

We zetten de vuilnisbak naast de deur.

The meaning is the same; the difference is mainly emphasis and tone, not grammar.

Why is the verb zetten used here? Could I use leggen or doen instead?

Dutch has several “put” verbs, and they’re more specific than English:

zetten – to put/place something in an upright or standing position (or just neutral put if neither lying nor hanging is meant)
leggen – to lay something down horizontally
hangen – to hang something up
doen – “to do” or “to put in” (as in iets in iets doen: to put something into something)

A vuilnisbak (trash can) is normally imagined as standing upright, so zetten is the natural choice:

✅ Wij zetten de vuilnisbak naast de deur.
❌ Wij leggen de vuilnisbak naast de deur.
(Sounds like you are laying it down on its side.)
❌ Wij doen de vuilnisbak naast de deur.
(Unnatural; doen doesn’t work like “put” by itself.)

So: use zetten for something that stands, leggen for something that lies.

How is zetten conjugated in the present tense?

Zetten is a regular verb. Present tense:

ik zet – I put
jij / je zet – you put (singular, informal)
hij / zij / het zet – he / she / it puts
wij / we zetten – we put
jullie zetten – you (plural) put
zij / ze zetten – they put

In your sentence:

wij zetten = we put / we are putting

Does Wij zetten de vuilnisbak naast de deur mean “we put” or “we are putting”?

In Dutch, the simple present usually covers both English forms:

Wij zetten de vuilnisbak naast de deur.
can mean:
- We put the trash can next to the door (as a habit / regularly).
- We are putting the trash can next to the door (right now).

Context decides whether it’s habitual or happening now.

If you really want to stress that it’s happening right now, you can use a progressive form:

We zijn de vuilnisbak naast de deur aan het zetten.
(We are putting the trash can next to the door.)

But in everyday Dutch, the simple present (wij zetten) is usually enough.

Why is it de vuilnisbak and not het vuilnisbak?

Dutch nouns have two grammatical genders in modern use:

de-words (common gender)
het-words (neuter gender)

Vuilnisbak is a de-word, so it takes de:

de vuilnisbak = the trash can

There is no logical rule you can apply to every noun; you generally have to learn the article with the noun:

de tafel (the table)
de stoel (the chair)
het huis (the house)
het raam (the window)

So you should memorize it as de vuilnisbak.

What does vuilnisbak literally mean, and are there other words for “trash can”?

Vuilnisbak is a compound word:

vuilnis = garbage, trash
bak = container, bin, box

So vuilnisbak literally means “garbage container/bin.”

Common alternatives:

prullenbak – often used for an indoor trash can, especially for small waste like paper; very common.
afvalbak – “waste bin,” can be used in public places or more formal contexts.
kliko – informal word in the Netherlands for the big outdoor wheelie bins; originally a brand name.

All of these are de-words:
de vuilnisbak, de prullenbak, de afvalbak, de kliko.

What is the difference between naast, bij, and langs here?

All three can involve nearness, but they’re not the same:

naast = next to, directly beside, with little or no space between
- naast de deur – right next to the door
bij = at / by / near, more general and less precise
- bij de deur – at the door / by the door, somewhere in that area
langs = along / along the side of
- langs de deur is unusual in this context; it suggests movement or something stretching along the side.

For the idea “right beside the door,” naast de deur is the most precise and natural choice.

Where can naast de deur go in the sentence? Is the word order fixed?

In a simple main clause like this, the basic order is:

Subject – Verb – (Object) – Other information

So your sentence:

Wij (subject)
zetten (verb)
de vuilnisbak (direct object)
naast de deur (place phrase)

You can move naast de deur for emphasis, but you must keep the verb in second position in main clauses:

Wij zetten de vuilnisbak naast de deur. (neutral)
Wij zetten naast de deur de vuilnisbak. (possible but sounds odd/heavy)
Naast de deur zetten wij de vuilnisbak. (emphasis on “next to the door”; more stylistic or poetic)

The most natural everyday version is exactly what you have:

Wij zetten de vuilnisbak naast de deur.

Can I leave out wij like in some other languages (e.g. Spanish)?

No. Dutch generally requires the subject pronoun.

✅ Wij zetten de vuilnisbak naast de deur.
❌ Zetten de vuilnisbak naast de deur.
(Incorrect in standard Dutch; the subject is missing.)

Unlike Spanish or Italian, Dutch is not a “null-subject” language. You can only drop the subject in very limited, informal, elliptical contexts (like answers to questions), for example:

A: Wie zet de vuilnisbak naast de deur?
(Who puts the trash can next to the door?)
B: Wij.
(We do.)

But in a full sentence, you include wij (or we).

Why is it de deur and not een deur? Could I say naast een deur?

Both are possible; they just have different meanings.

naast de deur = next to the door (a specific, known door)
- Typically “the door of our house,” “the front door,” etc.
naast een deur = next to a door (some random, non‑specific door)
- For example, you’re describing a picture: “There is a trash can next to a door.”

In everyday situations at home, people almost always mean the door everyone knows about, so de deur is natural.

How do I pronounce the tricky sounds in wij zetten de vuilnisbak naast de deur?

Some key sounds for English speakers:

wij –
- w like English v/w mix (Dutch w is softer)
- ij sounds like the English “ay” in “day,” but a bit tenser: [wɛi] (often close to English “why”)
zetten –
- z like English z
- e in zet is like e in “get”
- -en has a weak -e- (schwa) and in many accents the final n is barely pronounced: [ˈzɛtə(n)]
de –
- Short, unstressed duh with a schwa: [də]
vuilnisbak –
- v like a soft English v
- ui is a very Dutch sound, somewhere between English “ow” in “cow” and “uh” in “up,” but with rounded lips: [vœy̯l] or [vʌy̯l] depending on accent
- nis like “nis” in “tennis” (without the “ten”)
- bak like “buck” with a short a
naast –
- Long aa like in British “father,” but longer
- Final st is pronounced; not silent
deur –
- eu like French peu, somewhat like the vowel in British “bird” but with rounded lips: [døːr]

Listening to native audio and repeating is very helpful for ui, ij, and eu, as they don’t exist in English.

Could I say Wij zetten de vuilnisbak bij de deur instead of naast de deur?

Yes, but there is a nuance:

naast de deur – right next to the door, directly beside it.
bij de deur – by / at the door, somewhere in that area, less exact.

Both are correct; which one you choose depends on how precise you want to be:

If you imagine the trash can standing directly up against or very close to the doorframe:
Wij zetten de vuilnisbak naast de deur.
If you just mean “somewhere near the door area” (e.g. in the hallway by the door):
Wij zetten de vuilnisbak bij de deur.

Is there a separable verb like neerzetten I could use here, and how would that change the sentence?

Yes. Neerzetten = to put something down (to set it down). It’s a separable verb, so in the present tense it splits:

Wij zetten de vuilnisbak naast de deur neer.

Structure:

wij – subject
zetten – conjugated verb
de vuilnisbak – object
naast de deur – place phrase
neer – particle (goes to the end)

This emphasizes the act of setting it down somewhere, not just its location. In many everyday contexts, zetten and neerzetten feel quite similar, but:

Wij zetten de vuilnisbak naast de deur. – We put/place the trash can next to the door.
Wij zetten de vuilnisbak naast de deur neer. – We set the trash can down next to the door (focus slightly more on the action of putting it down).