Ik zie Tom naar de envelop kijken, maar hij kan het adres van de ontvanger nog steeds niet lezen.

Because after a verb of perception like zien (to see), Dutch often uses an object + infinitive construction.

So:

• Ik zie Tom kijken = I see Tom looking
• Ik hoor haar zingen = I hear her singing

In your sentence:

• Ik zie Tom ... kijken = I see Tom looking ...

Dutch does not use a finite verb like kijkt here, because Tom is not the subject of a new main clause. He is the object of zie, and kijken stays in the infinitive.

Because kijken usually means to look, and when you say what someone is looking at, Dutch normally uses naar.

• kijken naar iets = to look at something

So:

• Tom kijkt naar de envelop = Tom is looking at the envelope

This is different from English, where look at uses two words, but in Dutch the fixed combination is kijken naar.

Compare:

• zien = to see
• kijken naar = to look at

So Ik zie Tom naar de envelop kijken literally follows the Dutch pattern: I see Tom at the envelope look.

Because in this construction, the infinitive often comes at the end of the clause.

The first clause is:

• Ik zie Tom naar de envelop kijken

The structure is roughly:

• Ik = subject
• zie = finite verb
• Tom = object
• naar de envelop = prepositional phrase
• kijken = infinitive at the end

Dutch often pushes infinitives to the end, especially in verb clusters or constructions like see/hear/watch someone do something.

They describe two different actions:

• zie = I see
• kijken = to look

So the speaker is doing the seeing, and Tom is doing the looking.

In other words:

• Ik zie Tom ... kijken = I see Tom looking ...

This is a very common pattern in Dutch:

• Ik zie hem lopen = I see him walking
• Ik hoor haar lachen = I hear her laughing

Because Dutch nouns have two grammatical article types:

• de words
• het words

In this sentence:

• de envelop = the envelope
• het adres = the address
• de ontvanger = the recipient

Unfortunately, the article usually has to be learned with each noun.

A useful thing to remember:

• singular de envelop
• singular het adres
• singular de ontvanger

And in the plural, all of them take de:

• de enveloppen
• de adressen
• de ontvangers

Dutch often expresses possession with van, especially in neutral, standard phrasing.

So:

• het adres van de ontvanger = the address of the recipient / the recipient’s address

This is very natural Dutch.

You can sometimes use an -s possessive in Dutch, but it is more limited than English 's and is not always the default choice. With a phrase like de ontvanger, van is the safest and most natural option.

So for learners, it is best to think:

• X van Y = Y’s X / the X of Y

Nog steeds niet means still not.

In this sentence:

• maar hij kan het adres van de ontvanger nog steeds niet lezen
• but he still cannot read the recipient’s address

The parts are:

• nog = still / yet
• steeds = continually / still
• together nog steeds = still
• niet = not

So nog steeds niet emphasizes that the situation continues to be negative.

Compare:

• Hij kan het niet lezen = He cannot read it
• Hij kan het nog steeds niet lezen = He still cannot read it

Because in Dutch, niet often comes before the infinitive or the part of the sentence it negates.

Here:

• kan ... niet lezen = cannot read

The finite verb is kan, and the infinitive lezen goes to the end. The negation niet appears before that final infinitive.

So the pattern is very common:

• Ik kan niet komen = I cannot come
• Zij wil dat niet doen = She does not want to do that
• Hij kan het nog steeds niet lezen = He still cannot read it

Because kunnen is a modal verb, and modal verbs in Dutch usually work with another verb in the infinitive.

So:

• kan = finite form of kunnen
• lezen = infinitive

In a main clause, the finite verb goes to the second position, and the infinitive usually goes to the end.

That gives:

• hij kan ... lezen

Examples:

• Ik kan zwemmen = I can swim
• Zij kan het boek lezen = She can read the book
• Hij kan het adres nog steeds niet lezen = He still cannot read the address

In normal reading, hij will usually be understood as Tom, because Tom is the most obvious masculine singular person mentioned earlier.

So:

• Ik zie Tom ... , maar hij kan ... niet lezen
• usually means: I see Tom ..., but he cannot ... read

However, strictly speaking, pronouns can sometimes be ambiguous if the context allows another male person. In this isolated sentence, most learners and native speakers would naturally interpret hij as Tom.

Maar means but.

It connects two clauses that contrast with each other:

1. Ik zie Tom naar de envelop kijken
2. maar hij kan het adres van de ontvanger nog steeds niet lezen

The contrast is:

• Tom is looking at the envelope,
• but he still cannot read the address.

So maar works just like English but in this sentence.

Because Dutch normally uses a comma before coordinating conjunctions like maar when they link two full clauses.

Here both sides are complete clauses:

• Ik zie Tom naar de envelop kijken
• hij kan het adres van de ontvanger nog steeds niet lezen

So the comma is standard and helps show the division clearly.

Yes, and that is perfectly natural.

The idea is:

• Tom is looking at the envelope
• but he still cannot read the address on it

Dutch uses:

• kijken naar = to look at
• lezen = to read

So the sentence describes two related actions:

1. he is looking at the envelope,
2. but the writing/address is still not readable for him.

That matches normal English usage very closely.

Normally, in this sentence, naar de envelop kijken is the standard order.

So you would say:

• Ik zie Tom naar de envelop kijken

That is the natural Dutch structure. Since kijken naar belongs together as a verb + preposition combination, keeping naar de envelop before the infinitive kijken works well in this kind of clause-final infinitive construction.

Learners should treat naar de envelop kijken as a unit meaning to look at the envelope.

Not exactly. Dutch does not use the same progressive system as English.

Ik zie Tom naar de envelop kijken simply means:

• I see Tom looking at the envelope

It naturally implies an ongoing action because kijken is an action in progress, but Dutch does not need a separate am ... -ing form here the way English often does.

So the Dutch sentence is simpler in form, even though the meaning is very similar.

No, modern Dutch does not normally mark nouns like Tom with visible case endings.

In this sentence:

• Ik is the subject
• Tom is the object of zie

But Tom itself does not change form.

So unlike German, you do not get a special accusative form of the name. Word order and pronouns usually show the grammatical role instead.

Compare with pronouns:

• Ik zie hem = I see him
• Ik zie Tom = I see Tom

The name stays the same.

Sometimes yes, but the meaning and tone can shift slightly.

• nog niet = not yet
• nog steeds niet = still not

In many contexts, nog steeds niet more clearly emphasizes that the situation continues unchanged.

So:

• Hij kan het nog niet lezen = He cannot read it yet
• Hij kan het nog steeds niet lezen = He still cannot read it

In your sentence, nog steeds niet highlights the continuing difficulty more strongly.

Yes, ontvanger is a normal word meaning recipient or receiver.

It comes from the verb:

• ontvangen = to receive

So:

• de ontvanger = the one who receives

In the context of mail, de ontvanger is the person the letter or package is meant for.

So het adres van de ontvanger is literally:

• the address of the receiver/recipient

which in natural English is the recipient’s address.