LESSON NOTES

Learn Dutch in Three Minutes #22

Asking "Where" in Dutch

CONTENTS
2 Grammar

# 22
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GRAMMAR

The focus of this lesson is asking "Where" in Dutch

Topic 1: How to use the question word "where"

Sentence from the lesson:

Waar ben je?
"Where are you?"

1. Let's break down this question:

Waar, which is the translation of "Where" in Dutch.
ben, which is "are," the present tense form of the verb zijn which we have already
studied.
je, which is the word for "you."

2. In Dutch, "Where" is translated as waar.

For example:
Waar woon je?
"Where do you live?"
Like English, the interrogative word is placed in the first position here, then the verb,
and then the subject. Like wat, meaning "what," from our previous lesson, waar is just
as easy, short, and practical. It shouldn't be complicated at all to ask questions with
waar. Just remember that it is the first word in the sentence.

3. So let's look at some questions that feature waar.

Say you want to ask where you are going with your friends. It's as easy as saying,
Waar gaan we heen? You might remember gaan from one of our previous lessons.
You can also ask where someone is from by saying, Waar kom je vandaan? Which
means "Where do you come from?"

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4. Let's look at one more usage for waar. Let's say you are lost somewhere in the
Netherlands, and you want to know where the train is. To ask a stranger, simply stop
them by saying Pardon "Excuse me." Then ask Waar is het treinstation? ("Where is
the train station?")
Of course, you can substitute het treinstation with any other place like "the cinema,"
de bioscoop. The sentence wouldn't change at all: Waar is de bioscoop?

Language Tip

If they've forgotten where they left something, Dutch people tend to ask themselves where
they left it. Say your friend forgot where she left her keys. She would say, Waar heb ik mijn
sleutels gelaten?"Where did I leave my keys?" It's funny to hear them mumbling to
themselves, but the sentence itself can also be turned into a practical question. If you switch
the pronoun, you can ask others where they left something. Say you want to know where your
friend left a book. Just ask, Waar heb je het boek gelaten? ("Where did you leave the book"?)

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