Learn Hardcore Dutch: Tijdens de middagpauze nemen Anna en Sofie elkaars aantekeningen nog eens door. - During the lunch break Anna and Sofie go through each other’s notes once more.

Tijdens de middagpauze = during the lunch break
in de middagpauze is possible but less common and sounds a bit more like “in the lunch break” as a block of time, not so much “throughout it”.
op de middagpauze is not correct.

So:

Use tijdens + noun when you would say “during X” in English.
Use in + part of the day for more general times:
- in de middag = in the afternoon
- in de pauze can work, but here tijdens de middagpauze is more natural and specific.

Why is it de middagpauze and not het middagpauze?

The short answer: pauze is a de-word, so the compound middagpauze is also a de-word.

de pauze (feminine/common gender)
de middag (also a de-word)
Combine → de middagpauze

In Dutch, most compound nouns take the gender of the last part of the word.
Since pauze is de pauze, you say de middagpauze.

Why does the verb nemen come right after Tijdens de middagpauze and before Anna en Sofie?

This is the Dutch verb-second (V2) rule for main clauses.

The basic order without anything in front is:

Anna en Sofie nemen elkaars aantekeningen nog eens door.
(Subject first, then the conjugated verb.)

When you move another element to the front, like Tijdens de middagpauze (a time phrase), that element takes the first position, and the conjugated verb must still be in second position. The subject then moves after the verb:

Tijdens de middagpauze (1st slot)
nemen (2nd slot: conjugated verb)
Anna en Sofie (subject, after the verb)

So:

Anna en Sofie nemen… (neutral word order)
Tijdens de middagpauze nemen Anna en Sofie… (with a fronted time phrase, so inversion)

What’s going on with nemen … door? Is that like a phrasal verb?

Yes. Doornemen is a separable verb in Dutch:

Base form: doornemen = to go through / review
Prefix: door
Main verb: nemen

In a main clause in the present tense, the prefix goes to the end:

Ze nemen de tekst door.
(literally: They take the text through.)

In forms like infinitives and past participles, it’s together:

Infinitive: De docent wil de les doornemen.
Perfect tense: We hebben de aantekeningen doorgenomen.

So in your sentence:

nemen … door is just doornemen split because of the main‑clause word order.

What does nog eens mean here, and how is it different from weer or nog een keer?

Nog eens here means “once more / again (one more time)”.

nog = still / yet / more
eens = once

Nuances:

nog eens → “once again / one more time”
nog een keer → literally “one more time”; very similar in meaning to nog eens, slightly more explicit
weer → “again” in a more general sense, often for repetition that happens at another time

In this context, all three are possible:

…nemen elkaars aantekeningen nog eens door.
…nemen elkaars aantekeningen nog een keer door.
…nemen elkaars aantekeningen weer door.

Nog eens and nog een keer emphasize one more time; weer can be a bit more neutral or habitual, depending on context.

What exactly is elkaars? How is it related to elkaar?

elkaar = each other / one another (object form)
elkaars = each other’s (possessive form)

So:

Ze helpen elkaar. = They help each other.
Ze lezen elkaars aantekeningen. = They read each other’s notes.

In your sentence, elkaars aantekeningen literally means “each other’s notes.”

Key points:

elkaars is one word (no space)
It’s not written with an apostrophe: ✗ elkaar’s is wrong
Use elkaars + noun when you would say “each other’s + noun” in English

Why is there no apostrophe in elkaars (why not elkaar’s)?

Because elkaars is not formed like a normal English‑style genitive (Anna’s, Peter’s). It is the fixed possessive form of the pronoun elkaar.

Pronoun: elkaar = each other
Possessive form: elkaars = each other’s

Dutch treats this as one word, not as “elkaar + ’s”.
So only elkaars is correct, with no apostrophe.

What does aantekeningen mean, and is it different from notities?

Aantekeningen are notes you write down, especially in class, meetings, while studying, etc.

Singular: de aantekening = a (written) note
Plural: de aantekeningen = notes

Difference with notities:

aantekeningen is the more common everyday word for “class notes / lecture notes / study notes”.
notities (from French notice) can sound a bit more formal or neutral, like short written remarks or memos.

In your sentence, elkaars aantekeningen strongly suggests “their class or study notes.”

Why is the verb nemen plural? Could it be neemt?

The subject is Anna en Sofie → two people → plural subject.

In Dutch present simple:

hij / zij / het neemt (3rd person singular)
zij nemen (3rd person plural)

Since Anna en Sofie = zij (meervoud), you must use nemen, not neemt:

Anna en Sofie nemen elkaars aantekeningen nog eens door. ✅
Anna en Sofie neemt … ❌ (ungrammatical)

Can the word order be different? For example, can I move tijdens de middagpauze or nog eens somewhere else?

Yes, Dutch word order is somewhat flexible, as long as you respect:

The V2 rule (conjugated verb in 2nd position in main clauses)
The separable verb pattern (nemen … door)

Some acceptable alternatives:

Anna en Sofie nemen tijdens de middagpauze elkaars aantekeningen nog eens door.
Anna en Sofie nemen elkaars aantekeningen tijdens de middagpauze nog eens door.
Anna en Sofie nemen elkaars aantekeningen nog eens tijdens de middagpauze door. (possible but less natural)

Nog eens usually goes before the separable prefix door, often right before the object or just after it:

nemen nog eens elkaars aantekeningen door
nemen elkaars aantekeningen nog eens door

Your original version with the time phrase fronted is also very natural:

Tijdens de middagpauze nemen Anna en Sofie elkaars aantekeningen nog eens door.

How do you pronounce aantekeningen and what are the important sounds?

Approximate pronunciation (IPA): /ˈaːntəkˌneːɣə(n)/

Broken down:

aan- → aa is a long [aː], like the “a” in British father, but longer.
te- → schwa [ə], like the a in sofa.
ke- → again [kə], with a schwa.
nin- → nee is [neː], like “nay” but without the English diphthong glide.
gen → g is the guttural [ɣ] or , in the back of the throat; -en is often reduced to a schwa or almost dropped in casual speech: [ə] or “uhn”.

Syllables (stress on the first):
AAN‑te‑ke‑nin‑gen → [AAN]-te-ke-NEE-gen

Key Dutch features here:

Long vowels aa [aː] and ee [eː]
The guttural g sound in gen
Many unstressed schwa vowels [ə] in endings

When should I use tijdens and when terwijl? They both look like “during”.

tijdens is a preposition: it’s used before a noun.
- tijdens de middagpauze = during the lunch break
- tijdens de les = during the lesson
terwijl is a subordinating conjunction: it introduces a clause with a subject and a verb.
- terwijl ze lunchen = while they are having lunch
- terwijl de docent praat = while the teacher is talking

Compare:

Tijdens de middagpauze nemen Anna en Sofie elkaars aantekeningen nog eens door.
Terwijl ze pauze hebben, nemen Anna en Sofie elkaars aantekeningen nog eens door.

So:

tijdens + noun
terwijl + full clause (subject + verb)