Breakdown of Hij zingt laag en rustig tijdens het optreden.
Questions & Answers about Hij zingt laag en rustig tijdens het optreden.
Laag literally means low. With zingen (to sing), zingt laag most often means:
he sings in a low pitch (a low voice)
It can sometimes be understood more vaguely as “down, subdued,” but if you specifically want to say softly / quietly, Dutch learners usually hear and use:
- zacht zingen – to sing softly, quietly
- zachtjes zingen – to sing gently, very softly
So:
- Hij zingt laag. → He sings in a low voice.
- Hij zingt zacht. → He sings softly / quietly.
In Hij zingt laag en rustig tijdens het optreden, rustig functions like an adverb: it describes how he sings.
Dutch often uses the adjective form as an adverb, without changing it:
- Hij loopt snel. – He walks fast. (snel = adj/adverb)
- Ze praat duidelijk. – She speaks clearly.
So:
- rustig (adj) = calm
- een rustige stem – a calm voice (before a noun → gets -e)
- rustig (adv) = calmly
- Hij zingt rustig. – He sings calmly (after a verb → no -e)
Because rustig is not placed before a noun here, you do not add -e.
Hij zingt rustige would be incorrect in this sentence.
Dutch main clauses follow the verb-second (V2) rule:
- The finite verb (here: zingt) almost always comes in second position in the sentence.
So:
- Hij zingt laag en rustig. ✅
(Subject Hij in first position, verb zingt in second.)
Putting the adverbs before the verb like:
- Hij laag en rustig zingt. ❌
breaks this V2 rule and sounds clearly wrong in standard Dutch.
Adverbs like laag and rustig normally come after the verb they describe.
Yes, that is grammatically correct:
- Hij zingt laag en rustig tijdens het optreden.
- Hij zingt rustig en laag tijdens het optreden.
Both are possible.
Possible nuance (very subtle and context‑dependent):
- laag en rustig might first highlight low (in pitch), then add that it’s calm.
- rustig en laag might first highlight the calm way of singing, then specify it’s low.
In everyday speech, most people will not feel a big difference; both orders are acceptable. Dutch does not have a strict fixed order for multiple adverbs like English sometimes does.
Yes, you can move tijdens het optreden. Common options:
Hij zingt laag en rustig tijdens het optreden.
(Neutral: “He sings low and calmly during the performance.”)Hij zingt tijdens het optreden laag en rustig.
(Slight extra focus on what he does during the performance, but still fairly neutral.)Tijdens het optreden zingt hij laag en rustig.
(The time phrase Tijdens het optreden is now in first position; it becomes more prominent:
As for during the performance, he sings low and calmly.)
All three are grammatically fine. The basic meaning is the same; only emphasis and rhythm change slightly.
In all cases, the finite verb (zingt) stays in second position of the main clause.
In Dutch, every noun is either de-word (common gender) or het-word (neuter).
- optreden (performance, gig; also: to perform) is a het-word:
- het optreden – the performance
- een optreden – a performance
- tijdens het optreden – during the performance
You simply have to learn the gender with each noun. There is no rule that lets you reliably predict “het” vs “de” for all words.
Plural forms:
- het optreden → de optredens in the plural:
- de optredens – the performances
- tijdens de optredens – during the performances
Grammar: both are correct.
Meaning: essentially the same.
Difference is in emphasis / information structure:
Hij zingt laag en rustig tijdens het optreden.
- Neutral subject-first sentence.
- Focus is more on how he sings; “during the performance” is added as extra info at the end.
Tijdens het optreden zingt hij laag en rustig.
- The time phrase is fronted (put first).
- You highlight the time frame: During the performance (as opposed to before/after it) he sings low and calmly.
It’s similar to English:
- “He sings low and calmly during the performance.”
- “During the performance, he sings low and calmly.”
Zingen (to sing) – present tense:
- ik zing – I sing
- jij / je zingt
- hij / zij / het zingt – he / she / it sings
- wij / jullie / zij zingen
So Hij zingt = He sings.
The Dutch present tense can mean:
Right now (progressive meaning, like English “is singing”), if context makes it clear:
- Hij zingt nu. – He is singing now.
Habitual / general:
- Hij zingt vaak laag en rustig tijdens optredens. – He often sings low and calmly during performances.
In your sentence, it could be either:
- describing what he is doing in this particular performance now,
- or what he usually does during performances, depending on context.
Both are possible, but they differ slightly in style:
Hij zingt laag en rustig.
- Simple present.
- Can already mean “He is singing low and calmly,” especially with a time phrase like nu (now) or tijdens het optreden.
- Neutral, the most common form.
Hij is aan het zingen, laag en rustig.
- Uses the “aan het + infinitive” construction, which is a more explicit progressive:
- Literally: “He is at the singing, low and calmly.”
- Stronger focus on the ongoing activity right now, like English “He is singing”.
In many situations, Dutch speakers prefer just Hij zingt rather than Hij is aan het zingen, unless they really want to stress the ongoing nature of the action.
The Dutch ij (also written as y in some old texts) is usually pronounced as a diphthong, roughly like the English sound in “eye”.
Approximate:
- hij → /hɛi/ or /hɑi/ depending on accent, roughly like English “high”.
- tijdens → /ˈtɛi.dəns/ or /ˈtɑi.dəns/, roughly like “TIE-dens”.
Important notes:
- The ij is one vowel sound, not two separate letters i + j in pronunciation.
- In handwriting, you may see ij written almost like one unit; in print it’s just i + j.
So when you see ij in hij, tijdens, tijd, mijn, you can think of an “eye” sound as a good starting approximation.