Learn Hardcore Dutch: Normaal eten wij samen in de keuken. - Normally we eat together in the kitchen.

Both are grammatically correct. Starting with Normaal emphasizes the idea of normally / usually, while starting with Wij emphasizes we as the subject a bit more.

Are Normaal eten wij samen in de keuken and Wij eten normaal samen in de keuken exactly the same in meaning?

They describe the same situation, but the focus is slightly different.

Normaal eten wij samen in de keuken.
→ Emphasis on what is normal: Normally, what happens is that we eat together in the kitchen.
Wij eten normaal samen in de keuken.
→ Emphasis a bit more on wij: We (as opposed to someone else) normally eat together in the kitchen.

In everyday speech, the difference is quite subtle. Both can usually be translated simply as “Normally we eat together in the kitchen.”

What is the difference between wij and we in Dutch?

Both wij and we mean “we”.

wij – the strong/stressed form
Used when you want to emphasize we:
- Wij eten samen in de keuken, niet zij.
  We eat together in the kitchen, not them.
we – the weak/unstressed form
Used in neutral sentences without special emphasis:
- We eten samen in de keuken.

In speech, people very often say we. In Normaal eten wij samen in de keuken, the use of wij adds a tiny bit of emphasis to the subject. You could absolutely say Normaal eten we samen in de keuken in normal conversation.

Why is it eten wij and not wij eten here?

This comes from the V2 rule:

In a neutral sentence starting with the subject:
- Wij eten samen in de keuken.
  (subject wij in position 1, verb eten in position 2)
If you put something else (like an adverb) in position 1, the verb must still stay in position 2, so the subject moves after the verb:
- Normaal eten wij samen in de keuken.
  Normaal (1) – eten (2) – wij samen in de keuken (rest)

So eten wij is caused by starting the sentence with Normaal. It is not a question; in statements, this inversion is completely normal in Dutch.

Can you leave out wij like in Spanish or Italian (so just say Normaal eten samen in de keuken)?

No. Dutch is not a “pro‑drop” language. You generally must use a subject pronoun.

Normaal eten wij samen in de keuken. ✅ correct
Normaal eten samen in de keuken. ❌ wrong

The verb eten (to eat) does not show enough information by itself to tell us who is doing the action, so Dutch needs the pronoun wij / we.

What is the difference between normaal, meestal, and gewoonlijk?

All three can be translated as “normally / usually”, but they have slightly different nuances:

normaal
Literally “normal(ly)”, with a nuance of what is typical or standard. In speech, normaal is very common:
- Normaal eten wij samen in de keuken.
meestal
Literally “mostly”, often used to mean “most of the time / usually”:
- Meestal eten wij samen in de keuken.
  → Most of the time we eat together in the kitchen.
gewoonlijk
More formal or literary, roughly “as a rule / ordinarily”:
- Gewoonlijk eten wij samen in de keuken.

In casual conversation, normaal and meestal are most frequent.

What exactly does samen mean here, and where can it go in the sentence?

samen means “together”.

In this sentence, it modifies the action of eating: they are eating together, not separately.

Common word orders:

Normaal eten wij samen in de keuken. ✅
Normaal eten wij in de keuken samen. ✅ (possible, but less neutral; often adds focus on together)

Putting samen before the prepositional phrase in de keuken is the most natural here.

Putting it all the way in front is less common and would sound marked:

Samen eten wij normaal in de keuken. – possible, but with strong focus on together; not the neutral version.

Why is it in de keuken and not in het keuken?

Dutch nouns have grammatical gender: either de‑words (common gender) or het‑words (neuter gender).

de keuken – “the kitchen” (common gender) ✅
het keuken – ❌ incorrect

You just have to learn the gender of nouns as vocabulary.

in here is simply the preposition “in”, used just like in English:

in de keuken = “in the kitchen”.

Could you say at the kitchen in Dutch, or do you always use in de keuken?

For the usual meaning of eating in the room called the kitchen, you say:

in de keuken = “in the kitchen”

You would not normally say something like aan de keuken for this meaning.

If you mean at the kitchen table, you would specify the table:

We eten aan de keukentafel.
→ We eat at the kitchen table.

So:

in de keuken = in the kitchen (room)
aan de keukentafel = at the kitchen table

Does Dutch have a present continuous like English “are eating”? How would you say “We are normally eating together in the kitchen”?

Dutch does not use a separate tense for the present continuous the way English does. The simple present is used for both:

Wij eten samen in de keuken.
can mean:
- We eat together in the kitchen (habit)
- We are eating together in the kitchen (right now) – context decides.

To keep the “normally” idea, you simply keep normaal:

Normaal eten wij samen in de keuken.
→ covers both “Normally we eat together in the kitchen” and “We are normally eating together in the kitchen” depending on context.

If you REALLY need to emphasize “right now” in Dutch, you would add an expression of time, like nu:

Nu eten wij samen in de keuken. = Right now we are eating together in the kitchen.

How do you turn Normaal eten wij samen in de keuken into a yes–no question?

For a yes–no question, you usually:

Put the verb first
Follow it with the subject
Keep the rest of the sentence

So:

Eten wij normaal samen in de keuken?
→ Do we normally eat together in the kitchen?

You can also use we instead of wij:

Eten we normaal samen in de keuken?

Intonation will also rise at the end, just like in English.

Can I say Wij eten samen normaal in de keuken or Wij eten samen in de keuken normaal?

Those versions are grammatically possible, but they sound unnatural or at least unusual in neutral speech.

The most natural options are:

Normaal eten wij samen in de keuken.
Wij eten normaal samen in de keuken.

Putting normaal at the very end (Wij eten samen in de keuken normaal) sounds awkward and marked. Stick to normaal near the start of the sentence for neutral style.

How do you pronounce Normaal eten wij samen in de keuken?

A rough IPA transcription:

Normaal – /nɔrˈmaːl/
eten – /ˈeː.tə(n)/
wij – /ʋɛi̯/ (like English “way” but with a v/w‑like start)
samen – /ˈsaː.mə(n)/
in – /ɪn/
de – /də/
keuken – /ˈkøː.kə(n)/ (the eu is like the vowel in French peu)

Full sentence (connected speech, approximate):
/nɔrˈmaːl ˈeːtə ʋɛi̯ ˈsaːmə ɪn də ˈkøːkə/

Final -n in eten, samen, keuken is often very weak or not clearly pronounced in casual speech.

Is there a more formal or more complete way to say Normaal eten wij samen in de keuken?

Yes, a slightly more formal or explicit variant is:

Normaal gesproken eten wij samen in de keuken.
Literally: “Normally spoken, we eat together in the kitchen.”

Normaal gesproken is a common phrase meaning “normally / as a rule / generally speaking.”

Meaning-wise it is very close to the original sentence; it just sounds a bit more formal or careful.