Die muziek herinnert mij aan het feest.

That music reminds me of the party.

Breakdown of Die muziek herinnert mij aan het feest.

• die: that
• de muziek: the music
• mij: me
• het feest: the party
• herinneren aan: to remind of

Questions & Answers about Die muziek herinnert mij aan het feest.

Why is it die muziek and not dat muziek?

In Dutch, the choice between die and dat depends on the gender/number of the noun:

• die is used with de-words and all plurals
• dat is used with het-words (singular)

muziek is a de-word: de muziek.
Therefore the correct demonstrative is die muziek (that music), not dat muziek.
If the noun were an het-word, for example het huis, you would say dat huis.

Why is the verb in second position: Die muziek herinnert mij…?

Dutch main clauses follow the verb-second (V2) rule:

1. First position: one full element (subject, time phrase, object, etc.)
2. Second position: the conjugated verb
3. Rest of the sentence: other elements

In this sentence:

• Die muziek = first position (subject)
• herinnert = second position (verb)
• mij aan het feest = the rest

You cannot say Die muziek mij herinnert aan het feest in a main clause; that breaks the V2 rule.

Why is it herinnert mij aan and not something like “reminds me of” word-for-word?

The Dutch verb herinneren works differently from English to remind:

• Pattern: iemand aan iets herinneren
  → to remind someone of something

So:

• herinnert = reminds
• mij = me
• aan het feest = of the party

A literal word-for-word English pattern (reminds me of → herinnert mij van) would be wrong in Dutch. You must use aan with herinneren in this structure.

Can I say Die muziek herinnert mij het feest without aan?

No, that is not correct in Dutch.

With this meaning, herinneren needs the preposition aan:

• ✅ Die muziek herinnert mij aan het feest.
• ❌ Die muziek herinnert mij het feest.

Without aan, it sounds incomplete or like a different structure that Dutch speakers would not use in this way. Keep the pattern iemand aan iets herinneren.

Why is it mij and not me? Are both correct?

Both are grammatically correct, but there is a nuance:

• mij = stressed form (used for emphasis or in careful/neutral speech)
• me = unstressed form (very common in everyday spoken Dutch)

In this sentence:

• Die muziek herinnert mij aan het feest.
  → Slight emphasis on me (for example, it reminds *me (and not someone else)*)
• Die muziek herinnert me aan het feest.
  → Completely natural, everyday version

In normal conversation, you will most often hear me here.

Is herinneren always reflexive, like zich herinneren?

No. Herinneren can be used in two main ways:

1. Reflexive – remembering something yourself

   • Ik herinner me het feest. = I remember the party.
   • Hij herinnert zich niets. = He remembers nothing.

2. Causative – something reminds someone of something

   • Die muziek herinnert mij aan het feest.
     = That music reminds me of the party.
   • Kun je me eraan herinneren?
     = Can you remind me of it?

In your sentence, the music (subject) is causing the remembering in me, so it is not reflexive.

Why is it het feest and not de feest?

Dutch nouns are either de-words or het-words.
feest happens to be an het-word:

• het feest = the party / the celebration

This is mostly a matter of vocabulary that must be memorized; there is no reliable rule to predict the article for every noun. So you say:

• het feest, een feest
  not de feest.

Why is the prepositional phrase aan het feest at the end and not earlier in the sentence?

The “neutral” word order for a simple Dutch main clause is:

Subject – Verb – (pronoun objects) – other information

So:

• Die muziek (subject)
• herinnert (verb)
• mij (object pronoun)
• aan het feest (prepositional phrase)

You could, for emphasis, move aan het feest to the front:

• Aan het feest herinnert die muziek mij.
  (Very emphatic/poetic, not everyday speech.)

But you would not say things like:

• ❌ Die muziek herinnert aan het feest mij.
• ❌ Die muziek aan het feest herinnert mij.

Those sound wrong to native speakers in this context.

Can I leave out mij and just say Die muziek herinnert aan het feest?

Yes, that is possible, but the meaning shifts slightly.

• Die muziek herinnert mij aan het feest.
  → That music reminds me of the party. (personal)

• Die muziek herinnert aan het feest.
  → That music is reminiscent of the party / evokes the party.
  (more general; not tied to a specific person)

So you can drop mij, but then it becomes a more impersonal, general statement.

What is the difference between Die muziek herinnert mij aan het feest and Die muziek doet me aan het feest denken?

Both can mean That music reminds me of the party, but:

• herinneren aan is a bit more direct and straightforward.
• doet me denken aan (from doen denken aan) is slightly more informal and very common in speech.

Examples:

• Die geur herinnert me aan vroeger.
• Die geur doet me aan vroeger denken.

Both are natural, and in many contexts you can use either without much difference in meaning.

How is herinnert conjugated, and how would I say this in the past tense?

The infinitive is herinneren.

Present tense:

• ik herinner
• jij/u herinnert
• hij/zij/het herinnert
• wij/jullie/zij herinneren

In your sentence, the subject is die muziek (3rd person singular), so you use herinnert.

Simple past:

• ik/jij/hij/zij/het herinnerde
• wij/jullie/zij herinnerden

So the past tense version would be:

• Die muziek herinnerde mij aan het feest.
  = That music reminded me of the party.

Could I use partij instead of feest, like in English “party”?

Normally, no. In this sense, Dutch uses feest, not partij.

• het feest = the party / celebration (social event)
• de partij can mean a political party, a batch/lot of goods, or a sports match, depending on context.

For a social event with music, food, people, etc., you say een feest.
So the natural phrase is:

• Die muziek herinnert mij aan het feest.
  not
• ❌ …aan de partij.