Tijdens de kantooruren kun je de professor vragen stellen over het tentamen.

During office hours you can ask the professor questions about the exam.

Breakdown of Tijdens de kantooruren kun je de professor vragen stellen over het tentamen.

• over: about
• kunnen: can
• tijdens: during
• je: you
• de vraag: the question
• de professor: the professor
• het tentamen: the exam
• de kantooruren: the office hours
• stellen: to ask

Questions & Answers about Tijdens de kantooruren kun je de professor vragen stellen over het tentamen.

Why does the verb come before je in "Tijdens de kantooruren kun je..."? In English we would say "you can" after "during office hours."

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

• The finite verb (here: kun) must be in second position in the sentence.
• The first position can be either:
  • the subject (Je kunt de professor…)
  • or some other element, like a time phrase (Tijdens de kantooruren…)

When you start with a time phrase (Tijdens de kantooruren), that takes the first position, so the verb must come next:

• Je kunt de professor vragen stellen…
• Tijdens de kantooruren kun je de professor vragen stellen…

Both are correct; the difference is just which part you want to emphasize or start with.

Can I also say "Je kunt de professor vragen stellen tijdens de kantooruren"? Is the word order flexible?

Yes, that sentence is also correct. Dutch allows several natural word orders here. For example:

• Je kunt tijdens de kantooruren de professor vragen stellen over het tentamen.
• Je kunt de professor tijdens de kantooruren vragen stellen over het tentamen.
• Je kunt de professor vragen stellen over het tentamen tijdens de kantooruren.

The rules to keep in mind:

1. In a main clause, the finite verb (kunt/kun) stays in second position.
2. The rest of the elements (objects, time, place, etc.) can be reordered quite freely for emphasis or style, as long as you don’t break fixed phrases or move verbs to the wrong place.

So your version is fine and natural.

What is the difference between "kun je", "je kunt", and "kan je"?

All three appear in real life, but there are some preferences:

• Je kunt – standard written Dutch, 2nd person singular of kunnen.
• Kun je – same form, but with inversion (verb before subject) because something else stands first:
  
  • Tijdens de kantooruren kun je…
  • Morgen kun je…
• Je kan / kan je – very common in spoken Dutch and in informal writing, but less preferred in formal written Dutch.

For careful, standard Dutch, aim for:

• Je kunt… when je comes first.
• Kun je… after a fronted element (time, place, etc.).

Why do we say "vragen stellen" instead of just using the verb "vragen"?

In Dutch, vragen can be:

1. A verb: iemand iets vragen – “to ask someone something”
2. A noun: een vraag / vragen – “a question / questions”

The phrase vragen stellen literally means “to put questions” and is very common and natural:

• vragen stellen aan de professor – to ask the professor questions

You could also use vragen as a verb:

• Je kunt de professor iets vragen over het tentamen.
  (“You can ask the professor something about the exam.”)

But you would not say:

• ✗ Je kunt de professor vragen over het tentamen.
  This sounds like “You can ask the professor (for) exams” or is just incomplete.

So:

• vragen stellen = “to ask questions” (using vragen as a noun)
• iemand iets vragen = “to ask somebody something” (using vragen as a verb)

Is "de professor vragen stellen" correct without "aan"? Shouldn’t it be "vragen stellen aan de professor"?

Both are correct, with a small nuance:

1. Je kunt de professor vragen stellen over het tentamen.

   • Very common.
   • De professor is the indirect object (the person receiving the questions).

2. Je kunt vragen stellen aan de professor over het tentamen.

   • Also correct.
   • Here aan de professor is a prepositional phrase.

They mean practically the same in this context. Dutch allows both patterns:

• iemand vragen stellen
• vragen stellen aan iemand

Using aan can sound a bit more explicit or formal, but in everyday speech you will often hear the version without aan.

Why is it "tijdens de kantooruren" and not something like "in de kantooruren"?

The preposition tijdens means “during”, and it’s the natural choice for time periods:

• tijdens de les – during the class
• tijdens de vakantie – during the holidays
• tijdens de kantooruren – during office hours

Using in with a time period like this is unusual here:

• ✗ in de kantooruren – not idiomatic Dutch in this meaning.

Other options with a similar meaning would be:

• gedurende de kantooruren – more formal, also “during office hours”
• tijdens kantooruren – dropping de is also possible and quite common.

But tijdens de kantooruren is clear and perfectly standard.

What exactly is "kantooruren"? Is it one word? Why?

Yes, kantooruren is one word. Dutch very often makes compound nouns by joining two nouns:

• kantoor (office) + uren (hours) → kantooruren (office hours)
• school
  • boeken → schoolboeken (schoolbooks)
• huis
  • werk → huiswerk (homework)

So kantooruren literally means “office hours” – the hours when the office is open or the professor is available.

You can use it with or without the article:

• Tijdens de kantooruren…
• Tijdens kantooruren…

Both are used; with de it sounds a bit more specific (“the office hours you know about in this context”).

Why is it "het tentamen" and not "de tentamen"?

In Dutch, every noun is either de-word (common gender) or het-word (neuter). You simply have to learn which each noun is.

• tentamen is a het-word:
  • het tentamen – the exam
  • een tentamen – an exam
  • de tentamens – the exams (plural always takes de)

So in your sentence, het tentamen is correct because tentamen is grammatically neuter.

A few extra examples:

• het moeilijke tentamen – the difficult exam
• Voor het tentamen moet je veel studeren. – You have to study a lot for the exam.

Why do we use "over" in "over het tentamen"? Could we use "van" or "om" instead?

Here over means “about, concerning”, which is the normal preposition for topics:

• praten over het tentamen – talk about the exam
• een boek over geschiedenis – a book about history
• vragen stellen over het tentamen – ask questions about the exam

Other prepositions wouldn’t work in this sense:

• ✗ vragen stellen van het tentamen – incorrect meaning
• ✗ vragen stellen om het tentamen – incorrect here

So when you mean “about (a topic)”, use over:

• vragen over iets, spreken over iets, informatie over iets.

Can I use "u" instead of "je" here to be more polite to the professor?

Yes, with a formal u the sentence changes slightly:

• Tijdens de kantooruren kunt u de professor vragen stellen over het tentamen.

Changes:

• je → u (informal → formal “you”)
• kun/kunt → kunt (2nd person singular polite)

Formal vs informal:

• Je kunt… / Kun je… – informal, to students, friends, etc.
• U kunt… / Kunt u… – formal, polite address.

Can I drop the article and just say "Tijdens kantooruren kun je..."?

Yes, that is also correct:

• Tijdens kantooruren kun je de professor vragen stellen over het tentamen.

Differences:

• Tijdens de kantooruren…

  • Slightly more specific; often suggests “the office hours we both know about” (for example, those listed on the syllabus).

• Tijdens kantooruren…

  • A bit more general; like saying “during office hours (in general).”

Both forms are natural; context and style decide which one sounds better.