Wij lopen de berg op.

we

Breakdown of Wij lopen de berg op.

• lopen: to walk
• de berg: the mountain
• op: up

Questions & Answers about Wij lopen de berg op.

Why is op at the end of the sentence?

Because Dutch often uses a postposition with movement expressions. In English, we say up the mountain. In Dutch, that idea is commonly expressed as de berg op — literally the mountain up.

So in Wij lopen de berg op, the words de berg op belong together and express the direction of movement.

What exactly does de berg op mean?

It means up the mountain or up the hill.

A useful way to see it is:

• de berg = the mountain / hill
• op = up / onto

But in Dutch, the natural order here is de berg op, not op de berg, when the meaning is movement upward.

Why isn’t it Wij lopen op de berg?

Because op de berg usually describes location, not direction.

• Wij lopen op de berg = we are walking on the mountain
• Wij lopen de berg op = we are walking up the mountain

So the sentence you have is about going upward, not just being on the mountain.

Why not use naar: Wij lopen naar de berg?