Mission—Team—FAQ—Privacy—Terms—Sponsors—Grammar—Typing Course—Donate

© 2026 Elon Automation B.V.

Learn Hardcore Dutch: De mist was rond de middag voorbij. - The fog was over around noon.

Hardcore Dutch
/Moving into a new home
/De mist was rond de middag voorbij.

De mist was rond de middag voorbij.

De mist was rond de middag voorbij.

The fog was over around noon.

Breakdown of De mist was rond de middag voorbij.

Questions & Answers about De mist was rond de middag voorbij.

Why is it de mist and not het mist?

Because mist is a de-word in Dutch. Noun gender in Dutch is something you usually have to learn together with the noun.

So:

de mist = the fog

There is no special reason visible from the form of the word here; it is just the correct article for this noun.

What does rond de middag mean exactly?

Rond de middag means around noon or around midday.

rond = around
de middag = noon / midday

It gives an approximate time, not an exact one. So the sentence does not mean the fog ended at one precise moment; it means this happened roughly around noon.

Why is it de middag? I thought I had seen het is middag.

Elon.io is an online learning platform

We have an entire course teaching Dutch grammar and vocabulary.

Start learning Dutch now

Good question. Middag as a noun is normally a de-word:

de middag
een warme middag

But Dutch also has fixed time expressions like:

het is middag
het is ochtend
het is avond

In those expressions, het is not the article for the noun in the usual sense. It is part of the fixed pattern het is ... used for times of day or weather-type statements.

So in your sentence, because middag is used as a noun after rond, you say rond de middag.

What kind of word is voorbij here?

Here voorbij is used with was to mean something like over, finished, or gone.

In this sentence, was voorbij means the fog had ended / was gone by then. English often uses different wording, such as:

The fog was gone around noon
The fog had cleared around noon
The fog was over around noon

So voorbij is not literally a motion word here. It describes a state: the fog had passed.

Why does Dutch use was ... voorbij instead of a single verb like disappeared?

Dutch often expresses ideas like this with zijn + adjective/complement.

So:

De mist was voorbij = the fog was over / had passed

That focuses on the resulting state.

If you wanted to focus more on the action of disappearing, Dutch could also use other verbs, for example:

De mist verdween rond de middag = the fog disappeared around noon
De mist trok rond de middag op = the fog lifted around noon

Your sentence is about the situation being finished, not about the action itself.

Why is the word order De mist was rond de middag voorbij?

Because Dutch main clauses normally place the finite verb in the second position.

Here:

De mist = first element
was = finite verb, so it comes second

After that come the other parts:

rond de middag = time expression
voorbij = complement

So the structure is very normal Dutch main-clause word order:

subject + finite verb + other information

Dutch often places items like voorbij toward the end of the clause, which is why this order sounds natural.

Could I also say De mist was voorbij rond de middag?

Yes, Dutch word order is somewhat flexible, and that version is possible. But De mist was rond de middag voorbij is the more natural neutral order for many speakers.

Putting rond de middag before voorbij makes the sentence flow well:

topic: De mist
verb: was
time: rond de middag
final state: voorbij

If you move things around, the meaning stays basically the same, but the emphasis can shift slightly.

Is voorbij the most natural word with mist?

It is understandable and acceptable, but many Dutch speakers might also choose a more specific expression for fog.

Very common alternatives are:

De mist was rond de middag verdwenen = the fog had disappeared around noon
De mist trok rond de middag op = the fog lifted around noon
De mist was rond de middag weg = the fog was gone around noon

So voorbij works, but with mist, forms like verdwenen, weg, or optrekken can sound a bit more idiomatic.

Why use rond de middag and not om de middag?

Because om is usually used for a specific clock time:

om twaalf uur = at twelve o’clock
om half drie = at half past two

But de middag is a broader time period, not a precise clock time. So Dutch normally says:

rond de middag = around noon
tegen de middag = by / toward noon

Om de middag is not the normal way to say this.

Your questions are stored by us to improve Elon.io