De professor leest deze week mijn scriptie.

The professor is reading my thesis this week.

Breakdown of De professor leest deze week mijn scriptie.

• lezen: to read
• mijn: my
• deze: this
• de week: the week
• de professor: the professor
• de scriptie: the thesis

Questions & Answers about De professor leest deze week mijn scriptie.

Why is it de professor and not het professor?

In Dutch every noun has a grammatical gender, and that determines whether you use de or het.

• Professor is a de-word (common gender), so you say:
  • de professor = the professor
  • een professor = a professor

You almost never see het professor; that would be incorrect in standard Dutch.

Why is the verb leest and not lees or lezen?

The verb is lezen (to read), and it is conjugated like this in the present tense:

• ik lees – I read
• jij / je leest – you read (singular, informal)
• hij / zij / het leest – he / she / it reads
• wij / jullie / zij lezen – we / you (plural) / they read

The subject of the sentence is de professor → third person singular (hij), so you must use:

• de professor leest

Does De professor leest deze week mijn scriptie mean “reads,” “is reading,” or “will read”?

It can correspond to several English tenses, depending on context. Dutch present tense is quite flexible:

• The professor is reading my thesis this week.
  → most natural interpretation: it’s planned or happening during this week.

• The professor reads my thesis this week.
  → grammatically okay in English, but sounds less natural.

• It can also have a near-future meaning like:

  • The professor will read my thesis this week.
    (A scheduled action during this week.)

So the Dutch present leest + time expression deze week covers both “is reading this week” and “will read this week.”

How would I say explicitly “The professor is reading my thesis (right now)”?

To emphasize an action happening right now, Dutch often uses a progressive construction:

• De professor is mijn scriptie aan het lezen.
  (literally: The professor is at the reading of my thesis.)

Two other common options:

• De professor zit mijn scriptie te lezen.
  (literally: The professor sits reading my thesis. → implies physical posture, quite natural in Dutch.)

• De professor leest nu mijn scriptie.
  (The professor is reading my thesis now.)
  Here nu (“now”) plus the simple present often feels progressive.

Can I move deze week or mijn scriptie to other places in the sentence?

Yes. Dutch word order is quite flexible with adverbials like deze week. All of these are correct but differ in emphasis:

1. De professor leest deze week mijn scriptie.
   Neutral; focus slightly on this week as the time frame.

2. De professor leest mijn scriptie deze week.
   Similar meaning; slight extra emphasis on this week as a contrast with other times.

3. Deze week leest de professor mijn scriptie.
   Strong emphasis on this week (e.g. this week vs. next week).

In all of them, the finite verb (leest) stays in second position in a main clause, which is an important Dutch rule: [something] + [finite verb] + …

Why is there no article before mijn scriptie? Why not de mijn scriptie?

In Dutch, you normally do not use an article with a possessive adjective:

• mijn scriptie – my thesis
• jouw boek – your book
• haar auto – her car

You don’t say:

• ✗ de mijn scriptie
• ✗ het jouw boek

Possessives like mijn, jouw, zijn, haar, ons, onze, jullie, hun replace the article; they already show definiteness and possession.

What exactly does scriptie mean? Is it the same as “essay” or “thesis”?

Scriptie is usually:

• a substantial academic paper or thesis, often at the end of:
  • a bachelor’s degree,
  • a master’s degree,
  • or sometimes a high-level project in other study programs.

Typical translations:

• bachelor scriptie → bachelor’s thesis
• master scriptie → master’s thesis / dissertation

For smaller, regular assignments or term papers, Dutch more often uses words like werkstuk, paper, or opstel (for school-style essays), not scriptie.

Why is it deze week and not dit week?

Dutch has two basic demonstratives:

• deze – used with de-words and all plurals
• dit – used with het-words (singular)

Since week is a de-word: de week

• deze week = this week
• ✗ dit week – incorrect

Examples:

• de man → deze man (this man)
• het huis → dit huis (this house)
• de boeken → deze boeken (these books – plural takes deze)

Does mijn change depending on gender or number, like “my” vs “mine”?

No, mijn is very simple:

• It doesn’t change for gender (de/het)
• It doesn’t change for number (singular/plural)

Examples:

• mijn scriptie – my thesis
• mijn boek – my book
• mijn tafels – my tables

In informal speech and writing you’ll also see m’n (reduced form of mijn), but grammatically it’s the same word.

How do I put this sentence in the past or future?

Past tense (simple past):

• De professor las deze week mijn scriptie.
  → The professor read my thesis this week.
  (Here the week is in the past, maybe you’re telling a story about last week.)

Present perfect (very common in spoken Dutch):

• De professor heeft deze week mijn scriptie gelezen.
  → The professor has read my thesis this week.

Future:

Several options, all natural:

• De professor zal deze week mijn scriptie lezen.
  → The professor will read my thesis this week.

• De professor gaat deze week mijn scriptie lezen.
  → The professor is going to read my thesis this week.

• Or still just the present with context:

  • De professor leest deze week mijn scriptie.
    → also usable for a scheduled future action.

How would the sentence change if I replace de professor with a pronoun?

You replace de professor (3rd person singular) with hij or zij, depending on who you’re talking about:

• Hij leest deze week mijn scriptie.
  → He is reading my thesis this week.

• Zij leest deze week mijn scriptie.
  → She is reading my thesis this week.

The verb leest stays the same, because hij and zij are also third-person singular subjects.

How do I turn this into a yes/no question: “Is the professor reading my thesis this week?”

For a yes/no question, Dutch inverts subject and verb:

• Leest de professor deze week mijn scriptie?
  → Is the professor reading my thesis this week?

Structure:

• Statement: De professor leest deze week mijn scriptie.
• Question: Leest de professor deze week mijn scriptie?

The finite verb (leest) comes first; the rest of the word order stays the same.

How do I ask “When will the professor read my thesis?” using this sentence?

Use a question word at the beginning and then put the finite verb in second position:

• Wanneer leest de professor mijn scriptie?
  → When will the professor read my thesis? / When is the professor reading my thesis?

Pattern:

1. Question word: Wanneer (When)
2. Finite verb: leest
3. Subject: de professor
4. Rest: mijn scriptie

You don’t need to add a future auxiliary; the present tense + context already gives a future meaning. If you want to be very explicit about the future, you can say:

• Wanneer gaat de professor mijn scriptie lezen?
• Wanneer zal de professor mijn scriptie lezen?