Controleer de kast met de waterpas en de rolmaat.

Controleer is the imperative form of controleren, meaning it is used for a command or instruction.

So this sentence is giving an instruction:

• controleer = check

In Dutch, the imperative often looks like the verb stem:

• controleren → controleer

This is very common in instructions, manuals, and recipes.

Because Dutch usually leaves the subject out in an imperative.

So instead of saying:

• Jij controleert de kast...

you simply say:

• Controleer de kast...

That is the normal way to give an instruction.

If you want to sound more polite or formal, Dutch often uses other structures, such as:

• Controleert u de kast...
• Kunt u de kast controleren?

But the sentence you have is the straightforward instruction form.

Because kast is a de-word in Dutch.

You simply have to learn the noun together with its article:

• de kast

This noun can mean things like:

• cabinet
• cupboard
• closet
• wardrobe

A useful extra point: the diminutive becomes het:

• de kast
• het kastje

Kast is a broad Dutch word. Depending on context, it can mean:

• cupboard
• cabinet
• closet
• wardrobe

So the exact English word depends on what kind of furniture or storage unit is meant. Dutch often uses kast where English would choose a more specific word.

Here met means using a tool.

So:

• met de waterpas en de rolmaat = using the spirit level and the tape measure

Dutch uses met very often for instruments, just as English uses with:

• Schrijf met een pen = Write with a pen
• Snijd het met een mes = Cut it with a knife

So in this sentence, met tells you what tools you use to check the cabinet.

Because one preposition can apply to two nouns joined by en.

So:

• met de waterpas en de rolmaat

means:

• with the spirit level and the tape measure

You do not need to repeat met:

• met de waterpas en de rolmaat is the normal version

You could repeat it for extra emphasis, but it would usually sound less natural:

• met de waterpas en met de rolmaat

Because both waterpas and rolmaat are de-words, and in this sentence they are singular countable nouns.

So you say:

• de waterpas
• de rolmaat

The article also suggests specific tools, for example tools that are already known in the situation.

If you meant any spirit level and any tape measure, you could say:

• met een waterpas en een rolmaat

De waterpas means spirit level.

It is the tool used to check whether something is level or straight.

A useful thing for learners: waterpas can also be used as an adjective or adverb meaning level or horizontal in some contexts. But here it is clearly a noun, because it has the article de:

• de waterpas

De rolmaat means tape measure.

It is a compound noun:

• rol = roll
• maat = measure

So it literally suggests something like a rolled measuring device.

In everyday Dutch, rolmaat is a very normal word for a retractable tape measure.

Technically, yes: Dutch allows a structure that could sometimes be interpreted more than one way.

So in theory, de kast met de waterpas en de rolmaat could look like:

• the cabinet with the spirit level and the tape measure

But in normal use, the most natural reading here is that met de waterpas en de rolmaat describes how you check the cabinet, because that fits the verb controleer very well.

If someone wanted to make the tool meaning extra explicit, they could say:

• Controleer de kast met behulp van de waterpas en de rolmaat.

That means:

• Check the cabinet with the help of the spirit level and the tape measure.

This is a very normal Dutch order for an imperative sentence:

• Controleer = verb
• de kast = direct object
• met de waterpas en de rolmaat = prepositional phrase

So the pattern is:

• Verb + object + extra information

You could change the order for emphasis, for example:

• Controleer met de waterpas en de rolmaat de kast

But that sounds more marked. The original version is the most neutral and natural one.