Wij stellen samen een vraag.

we

Breakdown of Wij stellen samen een vraag.

• samen: together
• een: a, an
• de vraag: the question
• stellen: to ask

Questions & Answers about Wij stellen samen een vraag.

What does each word in Wij stellen samen een vraag. correspond to in English?

Roughly word‑for‑word:

• Wij – we (subject pronoun, a bit more emphatic/formal than we)
• stellen – literally put / place, but in this expression it’s part of een vraag stellen = to ask a question
• samen – together / jointly
• een – a / one (indefinite article)
• vraag – question

So the structure is literally: We put together a question, which idiomatically means We (are) ask(ing) a question together.

Why do we use stellen here instead of vragen?

Dutch often uses stellen with certain nouns to form fixed expressions:

• een vraag stellen – to ask a question
• een doel stellen – to set a goal
• een eis stellen – to make a demand

In English you say ask a question, but in Dutch the natural collocation is een vraag stellen.

vragen means to ask, but you normally vragen someone or vragen for something, not vragen een vraag. So:

• Ik stel een vraag. – I ask a question.
• Ik vraag hem iets. – I ask him something.

Why is Wij vragen samen een vraag wrong or unnatural?

Because in Dutch vragen does not normally take vraag as its direct object. You don’t “ask a question” literally; you:

• stel(t) een vraag (use the verb stellen with the noun vraag), or
• vraagt iets (asks something), or
• vraagt iemand iets (asks someone something).

So you would say:

• Wij stellen samen een vraag. – correct and natural.
• Wij vragen samen een vraag. – grammatically odd / unidiomatic.
• Wij vragen samen iets. – fine (we are asking something together).

What exactly does samen add to the meaning?

Samen means together / jointly, implying cooperation or joint participation.

• Without it: Wij stellen een vraag. – We ask a question.
• With it: Wij stellen samen een vraag. – We ask a question together (we are jointly involved in asking it).

It can suggest that more than one person is formulating or voicing the question, or that the act is done as a group rather than individually.

Can samen go in other places in the sentence, and is the meaning different?

Yes, word order is fairly flexible for samen here:

• Samen stellen wij een vraag. – puts emphasis on together (Together, we ask a question).
• Wij stellen samen een vraag. – neutral, very common.
• Wij stellen een vraag samen. – also possible; often a bit more emphasis on the idea that the formulation of the question is done together.

All three are grammatically correct. Differences are mostly about emphasis and rhythm, not about basic meaning.

What is the difference between wij and we?

Both mean we, but:

• wij – more emphatic or formal; often used in writing or when you stress the subject: Wij stellen samen een vraag (niet zij).
• we – less emphatic, more common in everyday spoken Dutch.

In your sentence, We stellen samen een vraag. would be just as correct and more typical in casual speech. Using Wij at the start of an example sentence is also common in textbooks.

How is stellen conjugated in the present tense, and why does it look like the infinitive with wij?

Stellen is a regular verb. Present tense:

• ik stel – I ask/set
• jij/je stelt – you ask/set (singular, informal)
• hij/zij/het stelt – he/she/it asks/sets
• wij/we stellen – we ask/set
• jullie stellen – you ask/set (plural)
• zij/ze stellen – they ask/set

In Dutch, all plural forms (wij/jullie/zij) use the same form as the infinitive: stellen. That’s why wij stellen looks like the dictionary form.

What article and gender does vraag have, and why is it een vraag?

Vraag is a de‑word (common gender):

• de vraag – the question
• een vraag – a question

You use een (indefinite) when introducing a question in a general or non‑specific way: We are asking a question.

If you refer to a specific, known question, you’d use de:

• Wij stellen samen de vraag die iedereen wil stellen. – We are together asking the question that everyone wants to ask.

How would I turn Wij stellen samen een vraag. into a yes–no question in Dutch?

For a yes–no question, you invert the subject and the verb:

• Stellen wij samen een vraag? – Are we asking a question together?

In casual speech you’d more likely use we:

• Stellen we samen een vraag?

Dutch doesn’t use an auxiliary like do here; you just put the finite verb first.

Can this Dutch present tense also mean “We are asking a question (right now)”?

Yes. Dutch simple present often covers both:

• English simple present: We ask a question (sometimes / regularly).
• English present progressive: We are asking a question (right now).

Wij stellen samen een vraag. can mean We are (right now) asking a question together, depending on context. You don’t need a special progressive form (aan het stellen) in normal speech here.

Is there anything special about the pronunciation of this sentence for an English speaker?

Key points (using approximate English hints):

• Wij – like “vey” but starting with a soft v/w mix; written ij sounds similar to ei in many dialects.
• stellen – STEL-lən; short e as in “bet”; final -en often sounds like a weak -ə(n).
• samen – SAA-mən; long aa like “ah” but longer.
• een – usually ən (very weak), almost like the “a” in “a question”.
• vraag – vraahkh; long aa again, and g at the end is a throaty sound (velar fricative), not like English g.

Said smoothly, the sentence sounds roughly like: “vey STEL-lən SAA-mən ən vraahkh.”