Learn Hardcore Dutch: Wij maken samen soep in de keuken. - We make soup together in the kitchen.

wij is the stressed form – you use it when you want to emphasize we (as opposed to someone else).
- Wij maken samen soep. = We (not they) are making soup.
we is the unstressed, more neutral and more common form in everyday speech.
- We maken samen soep.

In this example sentence, wij is fine, but in casual speech you’ll hear we more often. Both are grammatically correct.

Can I leave out “wij” and just say “Maken samen soep in de keuken”?

No. In Dutch you normally must use the subject pronoun.

✅ Wij maken samen soep in de keuken.
✅ We maken samen soep in de keuken.
❌ Maken samen soep in de keuken.

Unlike in Spanish or Italian, Dutch is not a “null-subject” language: you can’t usually drop the subject pronoun.

Why is it “maken” and not “doen” or “koken”?

Dutch uses different verbs depending on what you’re doing:

maken = to make (to prepare, to create)
- Soep maken = to make/prepare soup (from ingredients).
doen = to do (a more general verb, not used like English “do” with food).
- You cannot say “soep doen”.
koken = to cook / to boil.
- Soep koken focuses more on the cooking/boiling process.
- Soep maken is broader: planning, cutting, mixing, cooking.

In everyday use, soep maken is very common and perfectly natural.

Why is there no article before “soep”? Why not “de soep” or “een soep”?

Soep is used here as an uncountable noun, like “water” or “bread”:

Wij maken soep. = We are making (some) soup.

You typically don’t use “de” or “een” when you mean soup in general:

✅ Ik eet graag soep. = I like eating soup (in general).

You use an article when you talk about a specific soup or a serving:

de soep = the soup (a particular soup, e.g. the one on the table)
een soep (less common) = a soup, often meaning a bowl of soup in context.

In this sentence, we just mean “we’re making soup” generally, so no article.

How does the verb “maken” change with different subjects?

Maken is a regular verb. Present tense:

ik maak – I make
jij / je maakt – you make (singular informal)
hij / zij / het maakt – he / she / it makes
wij / we maken – we make
jullie maken – you make (plural)
zij / ze maken – they make

In “Wij maken samen soep in de keuken”, maken is the form for wij.

Dutch uses “maken” but English says “are making”. Is this a tense difference?

Dutch usually doesn’t have a separate continuous form like English.

Wij maken samen soep in de keuken.
This can mean both:
We make soup together in the kitchen (habitually), and
We are making soup together in the kitchen (right now).

Context decides whether it’s a general habit or something happening at the moment.
There are progressive constructions in Dutch (e.g. “We zijn soep aan het maken”), but the simple present is much more common than in English.

What exactly does “samen” mean and where does it go in the sentence?

Samen means “together” (doing something with at least one other person).

Wij maken samen soep = We are making soup together.

About word order: samen is an adverb and normally goes in the middle field, after the conjugated verb and before the direct object:

Very natural: Wij maken samen soep in de keuken.
Also possible: Wij maken in de keuken samen soep. (correct, but less neutral)
Less natural: Wij maken soep samen in de keuken. (you can say it, but it sounds a bit clumsy; people might still understand easily though).

The given sentence has a very natural, standard word order.

Can I move “in de keuken” to the front of the sentence?

Yes, but then the verb must stay in second position (Dutch V2 rule):

✅ In de keuken maken wij samen soep.
- In the kitchen, we (together) make soup.

Structure:

In de keuken (adverbial phrase, first position)
maken (the finite verb, second position)
wij samen soep (subject + rest)

You cannot say:

❌ In de keuken wij maken samen soep.

The verb must always be in second position in a main clause.

Why is it “in de keuken” and not some other preposition?

In is used when you are inside a space:

in de keuken = in the kitchen (inside the room)
in de woonkamer = in the living room
in de tuin = in the garden (inside the garden area)

Some other prepositions for location in Dutch:

op – on (a surface) or at (some places):
- op tafel = on the table
- op school = at school
aan – at (attached or by an edge):
- aan de muur = on the wall
- aan tafel = at the table (sitting there for a meal)

Here the kitchen is a room you are in, so “in de keuken” is the natural choice.

Why is it “de keuken” and not “het keuken”? What gender is keuken?

Keuken (kitchen) is a de-word (common gender):

de keuken = the kitchen

Dutch has two grammatical genders:

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

You just have to learn the gender with each noun. In this case:

de keuken (not het keuken).

How is “wij” pronounced?

Wij is pronounced roughly like English “why”, but with a Dutch w:

w in Dutch is often between v and w: more like a soft v/w sound.
ij is usually like English “eye”.

So wij ≈ [vey] / [why], depending on accent.

How do you pronounce “maken” and the ending “-en”?

Maken is pronounced approximately: [MAA-kən].

aa = a long a sound, like in British “father” (but somewhat tenser).
k = like English k in “cat”.
-en at the end of verbs is often pronounced -ən or even just -e in casual speech:
- maken ≈ “maa-ke(n)”, not “maak-EN” with a full en.

So you don’t clearly pronounce the final n in everyday speech.

Is “Wij maken samen soep in de keuken.” a formal or informal sentence?

Grammatically, it’s neutral. It can be used in both formal and informal contexts.

The only stylistic note:

Wij feels a bit more emphatic than we.
- We maken samen soep in de keuken. sounds more like everyday conversation.
- Wij maken samen soep in de keuken. can sound slightly more pointed: We (as opposed to others) are making soup.

But both are correct and not “too formal” or “too informal.”