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Question Words in Dutch

Watch the video about question words in Dutch and read the explanation below. Here is a list of Dutch question words with an example from the dialogues:

Watch the video about question words in Dutch and read the explanation below.

Question Words in Dutch

Here is a list of Dutch question words with an example from the dialogues

wie who Wie ben jij?
wat what Wat doe je?
waar where Waar ben je?
wanneer when Wanneer zie je hen?
hoe how Hoe gaat het met je cursus?
hoeveel how many Hoeveel woorden ken je nu?
welk, welke which Op welk nummer woon je?

Word order

In questions formed with question words, the word order is as follows:

question word – verb – subject …. and the rest.

Wie ben je? Who are you?
Waar woont jouw zus? Where does your sister live?
Wanneer ga je naar Italië? When do you go to Italy?
Wat studeert je broer? What does your brother study?
Hoe gaat hij naar Berlijn? How does he go to Berlin?

Hoe

Hoe can be used on its own:

Hoe gaat het? How is it going?

But it is often used in combination with a specification:

Hoe oud zijn de kinderen? How old are the children?
Hoe duur is de bus? How much is the bus?
Hoe laat is het nu? What time is it now?
Hoeveel woorden ken je? How many words do you know?

Welk

The use of welk depends on the gender of the noun Welke is used with a de-woord and welk is used with a het-woord.

de cursus welke cursus? which course?
het nummer welk nummer? which number?

 

Yes/No Questions in Dutch

Yes/no questions are questions to which the answer is always “yes” or “no”.

In a yes/no question the word order is as follows:

verb – subject – rest

Woon je in Groningen? Do you live in Groningen?
Wil je koffie? Do you want coffee?
Hebben jullie ook vakantie? Do you also have a holiday?

Practise with Quizlet

Dutch Grammar Practice

Would you like to practice Dutch grammar? Please visit our grammar section on question words on Quizlet (if you prefer Quizlet to open in a separate window, click the CTRL key while clicking the link).

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Introduction to Dutch

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