Word
Houd de kinderen in het oog.
Meaning
Keep an eye on the children.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Questions & Answers about Houd de kinderen in het oog.
What is houd here?
Houd is the imperative form of houden, so it means keep, watch, or look after as a command or instruction.
So Houd de kinderen in het oog is telling someone to do that.
A useful comparison:
- Ik houd = I keep
- Houd! = Keep! / Watch!
In informal Dutch, you may also see hou instead of houd.
Why is it de kinderen, not het kinderen?
Because kinderen is plural, and in Dutch all plural nouns take de.
So:
- het kind = the child
- de kinderen = the children
This is very common in Dutch: a singular noun may be a het-word, but its plural still takes de.
Why does Dutch say in het oog with singular eye, not eyes?