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Het studeren na het werk is soms vermoeiend.

Het studeren na het werk is soms vermoeiend.
Studying after work is sometimes tiring.

Breakdown of Het studeren na het werk is soms vermoeiend.

zijn
to be
het werk
the work
na
after
vermoeiend
tiring
soms
sometimes
het studeren
the studying
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Questions & Answers about Het studeren na het werk is soms vermoeiend.

Why does the sentence say Het studeren na het werk and not just Studeren na het werk?

Both are grammatically correct; the difference is nuance and style.

  • Studeren na het werk is soms vermoeiend.
    This is the most neutral and common way to say it. The infinitive studeren is used directly as the subject, like English “Studying after work is sometimes tiring.”

  • Het studeren na het werk is soms vermoeiend.
    Here het studeren turns the verb more clearly into a thing / activity, almost like English “the studying after work …”. It can sound a bit more specific or formal, as if you’re talking about a particular block or type of studying.

In many everyday contexts, a native speaker would naturally drop het and just say Studeren na het werk … or Na het werk studeren …

Why is it het studeren and not de studeren?

In Dutch, when you turn a verb into a noun by using its infinitive (like studeren, werken, roken, leren):

  • It becomes a het-word (neuter noun) by default.
  • So you always use het, never de.

Examples:

  • Het studeren is zwaar. – Studying is hard.
  • Het roken is verboden. – Smoking is forbidden.
  • Het werken tot laat is vervelend. – Working late is annoying.

Using *de studeren is simply ungrammatical.

What exactly is the function of het in het werk? Could you also say just na werk?

Het in het werk is just the regular definite article “the”:

  • na het werk ≈ “after (the) work / after work (today/at your job)”

You can say na werk, but:

  • na het werk is more common and sounds more natural in standard Dutch.
  • na werk feels a bit more abstract or casual: “after work (in general)”, and you’ll hear it more in spoken language.

So:

  • Het studeren na het werk is soms vermoeiend. – Very natural.
  • Het studeren na werk is soms vermoeiend. – Understandable, a bit more informal/abstract.
Why is it na het werk and not na het werken?

Here’s the difference:

  • werk = the noun “work” (your job, your shift, your tasks).

    • na het werk = after (your) work is finished.

  • werken = the verb “to work”, used as a noun: het werken = “the act of working”.

    • na het werken = after the activity of working.

You can say:

  • Na het werken ben ik altijd moe. – After working I’m always tired.

But in the sentence given, we are talking about the daily situation “after work” in a job-related sense, and na het werk is the most idiomatic choice. Na het werken would sound a bit more unusual in this context and shifts focus more to the process of working itself.

What is the difference between vermoeiend and vermoeid?

They look similar but mean different things:

  • vermoeiend = tiring, causing tiredness.
    It describes something that makes you tired.

    • Het studeren na het werk is soms vermoeiend.
      Studying after work is sometimes tiring.

  • vermoeid = tired, in a state of fatigue.
    It describes the person (or animal, etc.) that is tired.

    • Ik ben na het werk altijd vermoeid.
      I am always tired after work.

So:

  • Het studeren is vermoeiend. – The activity causes tiredness.
  • Ik ben vermoeid door het studeren. – I am tired because of the studying.
Can soms go in other positions, like in English “Sometimes studying after work is tiring”?

Yes. Common options:

  1. Het studeren na het werk is soms vermoeiend.
    (Your original sentence; very natural.)

  2. Soms is het studeren na het werk vermoeiend.
    = “Sometimes, studying after work is tiring.”
    This puts extra emphasis on “sometimes”.

  3. Na het werk studeren is soms vermoeiend.
    Word order change, meaning stays the same.

What you normally don’t say is:

  • *Het studeren na het werk is vermoeiend soms. – This sounds wrong in standard Dutch; soms doesn’t usually go at the very end like that.
Is het studeren in Dutch basically the same as English “the studying”?

Pretty much, yes:

  • studeren alone can work like English “studying” used as a noun:

    • Studeren is moeilijk. – Studying is hard.

  • het studeren is closer to “the studying”, marking it more as a specific or clearly defined activity:

    • Het studeren na het werk is soms vermoeiend.
      ≈ “The studying you do after work is sometimes tiring.”

In everyday speech, Dutch speakers often drop het unless they want to sound a bit more formal or to emphasize the activity as a distinct “thing”.

Can the word order of het studeren and na het werk be changed?

Yes. Both of these are correct and natural:

  • Het studeren na het werk is soms vermoeiend.
  • Na het werk studeren is soms vermoeiend.

The meaning is the same. The difference is focus:

  • Starting with Het studeren … focuses first on studying.
  • Starting with Na het werk … focuses first on the time frame “after work”.

In many contexts, Na het werk studeren is soms vermoeiend sounds slightly more natural, because Dutch often puts time expressions (like na het werk) early in the sentence.