De nieuwe woorden zijn gemakkelijk te begrijpen.

Because woorden is a plural noun here.

In Dutch:

• de is used for all plural nouns
• het is only used for singular neuter nouns

So:

• singular: het woord = the word
• plural: de woorden = the words

That is why the sentence starts with de nieuwe woorden.

Because adjectives usually take -e when they come before the noun.

Here, nieuw describes woorden, so it becomes:

• nieuw woord
• nieuwe woorden

In this sentence, the adjective is before a plural noun, so -e is required:

• de nieuwe woorden

This is very common in Dutch.

Because the subject is plural: de nieuwe woorden = the new words.

The verb zijn means to be, and its present-tense forms include:

• ik ben
• jij bent
• hij/zij/het is
• wij/jullie/zij zijn

Since woorden is plural, Dutch uses zijn:

• De nieuwe woorden zijn ...

This is a very common Dutch structure:

• gemakkelijk = easy
• te begrijpen = to understand

Together, gemakkelijk te begrijpen means something like:

• easy to understand

The pattern is:

adjective + te + infinitive

Examples:

• moeilijk te lezen = difficult to read
• leuk om te zien = nice to see
• gemakkelijk te begrijpen = easy to understand

So Dutch expresses this idea in a very compact way.

In Dutch, te often appears before an infinitive in structures like:

• makkelijk te doen = easy to do
• goed te zien = easy/good to see
• moeilijk te begrijpen = difficult to understand

Here, te works a bit like to in English, but you should not expect it to match English perfectly in every sentence. It is simply the standard Dutch pattern after adjectives like gemakkelijk, moeilijk, lastig, and similar words.

So:

• begrijpen = understand
• te begrijpen = to understand

Because Dutch often puts the infinitive at the end in these kinds of constructions.

The basic structure here is:

subject + verb + adjective + te + infinitive

So:

• De nieuwe woorden = subject
• zijn = finite verb
• gemakkelijk = adjective
• te begrijpen = infinitive phrase

That gives: De nieuwe woorden zijn gemakkelijk te begrijpen.

For English speakers, this final infinitive often feels natural after some practice, because Dutch regularly pushes verbal material toward the end.

Yes. Makkelijk and gemakkelijk both mean easy and are often interchangeable.

So you can say:

• De nieuwe woorden zijn gemakkelijk te begrijpen.
• De nieuwe woorden zijn makkelijk te begrijpen.

A few notes:

• makkelijk is very common in everyday speech
• gemakkelijk can sound a little more formal or neutral in some contexts

Both are correct.

Not exactly, but it has a meaning that can feel a bit passive in English.

Literally, gemakkelijk te begrijpen is easy to understand. The words themselves are the thing being understood.

So the sentence means:

• the new words are easy for someone to understand

Dutch uses this structure without needing an explicit passive form like worden begrepen. It is just the normal adjective + te + infinitive pattern.

Yes, but it is a different structure and often sounds heavier or more formal.

For example:

• De nieuwe woorden kunnen gemakkelijk begrepen worden.

That means:

• The new words can easily be understood.

Compared with:

• De nieuwe woorden zijn gemakkelijk te begrijpen.

The original sentence is more natural if you simply want to say that the words are easy to understand. The passive version is grammatically correct, but it sounds less simple and less direct.

Because gemakkelijk is not before a noun here. It comes after zijn and functions as a predicate adjective.

Compare:

Before a noun:

• de gemakkelijke woorden = the easy words

After zijn:

• de woorden zijn gemakkelijk = the words are easy

Predicate adjectives in Dutch usually do not take -e. That is why the sentence has:

• zijn gemakkelijk not
• zijn gemakkelijke

Yes, absolutely.

Nieuwe just adds the meaning new. Without it, the sentence still works perfectly:

• De woorden zijn gemakkelijk te begrijpen. = The words are easy to understand.

So the structure of the sentence stays the same:

• De woorden = subject
• zijn = are
• gemakkelijk te begrijpen = easy to understand

The normal main-clause order is:

De nieuwe woorden zijn gemakkelijk te begrijpen.

That is the most neutral order.

You can move something to the front for emphasis, but then the verb must still stay in the second position in a main clause. For example:

• Gemakkelijk te begrijpen zijn de nieuwe woorden.

This is possible, but it sounds marked or literary. For everyday Dutch, the original order is best.

So for learners, the safest version is: De nieuwe woorden zijn gemakkelijk te begrijpen.

A simple learner-friendly pronunciation guide is:

duh NUH-yuh WOUR-duh zayn guh-MAK-uh-lik tuh buh-GRAY-puhn

A few helpful notes:

• de sounds like a weak duh
• nieuwe has two syllable-like parts, roughly NUH-yuh
• woorden sounds roughly like WOUR-duh
• zijn sounds close to zayn
• begrijpen has the ij sound, often approximated as ay in English-style spelling

The exact pronunciation depends on accent, but this will help you recognize and say the sentence.