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BASIC DUTCH

Basic Dutch: A Grammar and Workbook comprises an accessible reference gram-

mar and related exercises in a single volume. This second edition contains new
chapters on spelling, pronunciation, and indirect speech, as well as revised and
additional exercises with lists of new vocabulary.
This comprehensive book presents 31 individual grammar points in realistic
contexts, taking a grammatical approach that allows students not already familiar
with these structures to become accustomed to their use. Grammar points are fol-
lowed by examples and exercises, allowing students to reinforce and consolidate
their learning.
Key features include:

• a full answer key

• grammar tables for easy reference
• frequent comparative references to English grammar
• appendices of pronunciation, pronouns, and strong verbs
• a list of new vocabulary at the end of each chapter

Suitable for class use or self-study, Basic Dutch is the ideal companion for students
in their first year of study, providing the basic tools needed to communicate in a
variety of situations and an introduction to Dutch culture.

Jenneke A. Oosterhoff is Senior Lecturer in the Department of German, Nordic,

Slavic, and Dutch at the University of Minnesota, USA.
Routledge Grammar Workbooks

Other titles available in the Grammar Workbooks series are:

Basic Arabic

Basic Cantonese, 2nd Edition

Intermediate Cantonese, 2nd Edition

Basic Chinese, 2nd Edition

Intermediate Chinese, 2nd Edition

Basic Dutch, 2nd Edition

Intermediate Dutch

Basic German, 2nd Edition

Intermediate German, 2nd Edition

Basic Irish
Intermediate Irish

Basic Italian

Basic Japanese
Intermediate Japanese

Basic Korean, 2nd Edition

Intermediate Korean, 2nd Edition

Intensive Basic Latin

Intensive Intermediate Latin

Basic Persian, 2nd Edition

Intermediate Persian, 2nd Edition

Basic Polish, 2nd Edition

Intermediate Polish

Basic Portuguese

Basic Russian, 2nd Edition

Intermediate Russian, 2nd Edition

Basic Spanish
Intermediate Spanish

Basic Swedish
Intermediate Swedish

Basic Welsh, 2nd Edition

Intermediate Welsh, 2nd Edition

Basic Yiddish

For more information on the series, please visit: www​.routledge​.com​/Grammar​-Workbooks​/

book​-series​/SE0519
BASIC DUTCH
A Grammar and Workbook
Second edition

Jenneke A. Oosterhoff
Illustrated by Ari Hoptman
Second edition published 2024
by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2024 Jenneke A. Oosterhoff
The right of Jenneke A. Oosterhoff to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in
accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any
form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented,
including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and
are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
First edition published by Routledge 2009
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Oosterhoff, Jenneke A., author.
Title: Basic Dutch: a grammar and workbook / Jenneke A. Oosterhoff.
Description: Second edition. | Abingdon, Oxon; New York: Routledge, 2024. |
Series: Routledge grammar workbooks | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2023034078 (print) | LCCN 2023034079 (ebook) | ISBN
9781032121093 (hardback) | ISBN 9781032113029 (paperback) |
ISBN 9781003223122 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Dutch language–Grammar. | Dutch language–Textbooks for
foreign speakers–English.
Classification: LCC PF112 .O57 2024 (print) | LCC PF112 (ebook) | DDC
439.3182/421–dc23/eng/20231016
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2023034078
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2023034079
ISBN: 978-1-032-12109-3 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-032-11302-9 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-22312-2 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003223122
Typeset in Times New Roman
by Deanta Global Publishing Services, Chennai, India
CONTENTS

Preface vii
1 Spelling in Dutch 1
2 Subject pronouns 5
3 Verb conjugation in the present tense 11
4 Articles and nouns 18
5 Object pronouns 25
6 Numbers and measures 31
7 The plural of nouns 41
8 Questions and question words 48
9 Possessive pronouns 54
10 Modal auxiliary verbs 59
11 Basic word order 66
12 Telling the time 72
13 Negatives I 83
14 Demonstrative pronouns 89
15 Adjective endings 94
16 The adjective in comparison 102
17 Adverbs 108
18 Separable and inseparable verbs 117
19 The imperative 124
20 The present perfect tense 130
21 The simple past tense 137
v
22 Reflexive verbs 144


Contents 23 The diminutive 149
24 The adverb er155
25 Prepositions 161
26 Infinitive constructions 172
27 Word order in subordinated clauses 180
28 Relative clauses 185
29 Indirect speech 190
30 Negatives II 195
31 Punctuation 203

Appendix I: Pronunciation 211

Appendix II: Overview of pronouns 218
Appendix III: Strong and irregular verbs 220
Key to Exercises 226
Index247

vi
PREFACE

This book is a basic Dutch reference grammar with exercises for absolute beginners
or learners who want to refine their knowledge of grammatical structures. Each unit
presents a grammatical topic with an introduction and where necessary an overview
in a table, followed by clear and concise explanations in English and ending with a
series of contextualized exercises. The explanations are illustrated by examples in
Dutch, and some images are included to provide a humorous context.
This basic grammar workbook is suitable for independent learning as well as
for classroom use. Its contents cover the materials typical for first-year curriculum
Dutch as a foreign language taught at university level. Using vocabulary associated
with topics featured in typical first-year Dutch language textbooks, it can accom-
pany any such textbook used in classroom language instruction.
Spelling is very important in Dutch grammar. This edition therefore includes
a separate chapter on spelling rules as well as an appendix on pronunciation. It
also provides clear explanations of grammatical terms, contrasted with examples in
English. The second appendix gives an overview of pronouns, and the third appen-
dix contains strong verbs organized according to their vowel changes in past tense.
Language is best learned and practiced in context. Sample sentences and exer-
cises in traditional grammar books often lack such context. Most examples and
exercises in this book, however, are written in context, using an imaginary Dutch
family of four and their circle of friends and neighbors to provide a situational
context. The exercises teach the learner to first recognize the grammar structure
and then apply it in more complex forms. For classroom purposes, some speaking
exercises suitable for group work are also included. For immediate feedback, a key
to the exercises is provided at the back of this book.
For help in writing this grammar workbook, I have consulted many excel-
lent reference grammars and other Dutch grammar workbooks, first and fore-
most the Algemene Nederlandse Spraakkunst (Martinus Nijhoff, 1997), but also
works such as Dutch: An Essential Grammar (Routledge, 2002), De Regels van
het Nederlands (Wolters Noordhoff, 1994) and Nederlandse Grammatica voor
Anderstaligen (Utrecht, 1985). I thank my colleagues and students for providing
helpful feedback for this new edition.

Jenneke A. Oosterhoff vii

St. Paul, June 2023


Preface Further Reading
A. Florijn, J. Lalleman, H. Maureau (1994) De Regels van het Nederlands. Groningen:
Wolters-Noordhoff.
A. M. Fontein, A. Pescher-ter Meer (1985) Nederlandse Grammatica voor Anderstaligen.
Utrecht: Nederlands Centrum Buitenlanders.
W. Hasereyn, K. Romijn, G. Geerts, J. de Rooij, M. C. van den Toorn (1997) Algemene
Nederlandse Spraakkunst. Groningen: Martinus Nijhoff.
W. Z. Shetter, I. van der Cruysse-Van Antwerpen (2002) Dutch: An Essential Grammar.
London and New York: Routledge.

viii
UNIT ONE
Spelling in Dutch

Introduction
Incorrect spelling of a word can lead to misunderstandings. The presence or absence
of even one vowel or consonant can change the meaning of a word. It is therefore
important to begin with a few basic spelling rules that learners of Dutch need to
know specifically for verb conjugation, adjective formation, the plural of nouns, the
diminutive, and other grammatical forms.1

Syllables
Spelling is determined largely by the way words are divided into syllables, and
whether syllables are open or closed. A syllable is a unit of organization for a
sequence of sounds made up of at least one vowel and surrounded by (optional)
consonants. Syllables help us separate words at the end of a line, for instance, and
they can help learners of a language understand the conventions of the spelling of
that language. For the purposes of this book, it is important to understand the dif-
ference between an open and a closed syllable. In Dutch, an open syllable ends in
a long vowel or a diphthong: lo-pen (walk), za-den (seeds), roe-pen (call), bui-ten
(outside). A closed syllable ends in a consonant: tan-den (teeth), kaas (cheese), kip-
pen (chickens), buurt (neighborhood).

Vowels
In a closed syllable, the vowels a, o, e, and u are doubled when they are long. Making
a mistake with this would change the meaning of the word. For example, in the word
kaas (cheese), the vowel is long, while in the word kas (cash box, greenhouse), it is
short. Similarly, boot (boat) is written with a double o, while bot (bone) has only
one single o. Note also the difference between veel (much, many) and vel (skin) and
between fuut (crested grebe) and fut (spunk).
In an open syllable, however, long a, o, e, and u are written single. Consider the
difference between the closed syllable taal (language) and the open syllable ta-len
(languages). Similarly, the long vowel u in the closed syllable huur (rent) is written 1
double, but the long vowel u in hu-ren (to rent) is single. Examples with the other

DOI: 10.4324/9781003223122-1
1 vowels are deel (part) and de-len (parts, divide) and boot (boat) versus bo-ten
Spelling in (boats). Note that I have used the dashes only for clarity.
Dutch These spelling rules are important to know for verb conjugation. A long vowel
in the stem of the verb is written single in the infinitive and the plural, but double in
singular: ik huur (I rent), wij huren (we rent). In the plural forms of nouns, we see
the same rule at work: het raam (the window), de ramen (the windows). Also, the
adjective ending -e opens the syllable and makes the double vowel single: een duur
boek (an expensive book), but een dure jurk (an expensive dress).

The vowels i and ie

When it is long, the Dutch vowel i as in kip (chicken), zitten (to sit), dik (fat), is
written as ie or i. This depends on the position of the vowel in the word, and on
whether the syllable is open or closed.
The long ie appears

• in closed syllables: niet (not), fietsen (bike), bier (beer), liefde (love)
• at the end of a word: politie (police), balie (reception desk), industrie (industry)
• in stressed open syllables: dieren (animals), vliegen (fly), spiegel (mirror).

The long i appears

• in unstressed open syllables: figuur (figure), dimensie (dimension), ritueel

(ritual)
• in the suffix -isch: romantisch (romantic) Note: -isch is pronounced -ies.
• in many loan words: taxi, bikini, alibi.

Consonants
Closed syllables can end in more than one consonant, but they never end in two
identical consonants. So you can have words and syllables that end in -rts, -sch,
-rfst, -ngst such as nerts (mink), tragisch (tragic), herfst (autumn), and angst
(fear), but never in -tt or -ff or -pp, for instance. Also, after a short vowel, a single
consonant is doubled when it is followed by another unstressed syllable. This is par-
ticularly important in verb conjugation, adjective endings, and the plural of nouns.
In verb conjugation, a double consonant after a short vowel is reduced to a single
consonant when the verb is conjugated in singular. For example, the double t in the
infinitive zitten (to sit) becomes single in ik zit (I sit), jij/u zit (you sit), hij/zij zit
(he/she sits), but in the plural forms, the t is double again: wij/jullie/zij zitten (we/
you/they sit). A double consonant occurs between vowels, but never at the end of a
word or before another consonant.
In the formation of the plural of nouns, it is important to remember to double
the consonant in words and syllables with a short vowel before a single consonant,
2 such as kip (chicken)–kippen (chickens), zak (bag)–zakken (bags), and pan (pan)–
pannen (pans). If one wrote only one consonant, the meaning of the word would
change. For example, writing zakken with only one k as zaken changes the mean- 1
ing of the word to business(es), not bags. Spelling in
This rule also applies to adjective endings. With the ending -e added to it, an adjec- Dutch
tive with a short vowel followed by one consonant must have a double consonant. For
example, the adjective wit (white) before wijn (wine) becomes witte wijn (white wine).
Similarly, zwak (weak) with schakel (link) becomes zwakke schakel (weak link).

Devoicing
At the end of a word or syllable and when positioned before another voiceless con-
sonant, voiced consonants such as v and z are written as f and s. This happens, for
instance, in verb infinitives with v and z in the stem such as geven (give), lezen
(read), blijven (stay), and grazen (graze). When conjugated in singular, v changes
to f, and z changes to s. And so the singular forms of geven are ik geef (I give), jij/u
geeft (you give), hij/zij geeft (he/she gives), and the singular forms of lezen are ik
lees (I read), jij/u leest (you read), hij/zij leest (he/she reads).

Voicing
In a voiced environment, however, the hard consonants f and s become soft. For
example, a voiceless consonant at the end of a word or syllable becomes voiced
between vowels. This happens in the plural of nouns, for instance. In the word
druif (grape), the f at the end turns into v to make the plural form druiven (grapes).
Similarly, huis (house) becomes huizen (houses) in plural. The same rule applies
to adjectives ending in f or s. The adjective doof (deaf) combined with man (man)
turns into een dove man (a deaf man). The adjective grijs (gray) with jurk (dress)
becomes een grijze jurk (a gray dress).
These are some basic spelling rules that one needs to know for many of the gram-
mar structures in this book. As they appear in the following units, brief reminders
on spelling are added for clarity.

Exercise 1.1
Divide the words into syllables. Example: boekenkast ⇒ boe-ken-kast

1 regenjas _______________ 6 theekopje _______________

2 woonkamer _______________ 7 eenentwintig _______________
3 lokomotief _______________ 8 telefoneren _______________
4 banketbakker _______________ 9 fantastisch _______________
5 herfstweer _______________ 10 eenvoudig _______________

Exercise 1.2
3
In the following words, the plural ending is always -en. Just based on what you already
know about Dutch spelling rules, can you form the plural of the following nouns?
1 1 bal _______________ 6 boom _______________
Spelling in 2 naam _______________ 7 les _______________
Dutch
3 bed _______________ 8 schuur _______________
4 doos _______________ 9 raaf _______________
5 pak _______________ 10 bom _______________

Exercise 1.3
Based on what you know about Dutch spelling rules, can you now form the first
person singular and the first person plural of the following verbs?

1 spelen ik _______________ wij _______________

2 schrijven ik _______________ wij _______________
3 vallen ik _______________ wij _______________
4 zeggen ik _______________ wij _______________
5 lezen ik _______________ wij _______________
6 zetten ik _______________ wij _______________
7 raden ik _______________ wij _______________
8 lopen ik _______________ wij _______________
9 bakken ik _______________ wij _______________
10 nemen ik _______________ wij _______________

Glossary of new words

bakken to bake herfstweer, het fall schrijven to write
bal, de ball weather schuur, de shed, barn
banketbakker, de ­ les, de lesson spelen to play
pastry chef lezen to read telefoneren to phone
bed, het bed lokomotief, de engine theekopje, het tea cup
bom, de bomb lopen to walk vallen to fall
boom, de tree naam, de name woonkamer, de living
doos, de box nemen to take room
eenentwintig twenty- pak, het suit, package zeggen to say
one raaf raven zetten to put, set
eenvoudig simple raden to guess
fantastisch fantastic regenjas, de rain coat

Note
1. For this introduction to spelling, I have consulted the guidelines of the Taalunie as
published on their website woordenlijst​.or​g.

4
UNIT TWO
Subject pronouns

Introduction
Two basic elements of a grammatical sentence are a subject and a verb: Ik ga ‘I go’,
Jij eet ‘You eat’, Peter werkt ‘Peter works’, We spelen ‘We play’. And because
many sentences begin with a subject in the form of a personal pronoun, this chapter
is an introduction to the subject forms of the personal pronoun. This pronoun can
refer to people as well as things.

Subject forms of the personal pronoun: overview

Singular
1st person ik I
2nd person jij/je (informal), u (formal) you
3rd person hij (masculine), zij/ze (feminine), het (neuter) he, she, it

Plural
1st person wij/we we
2nd person jullie (informal), u (formal, verb in singular) you
3rd person zij/ze they

Notes and examples

1 Personal pronouns refer to both persons and things. A person might be intro-
duced by his or her name, and further statements about that person begin with
the personal pronoun that corresponds in gender and number. See the following
examples:

Henk woont in Zeist. Hij werkt in Utrecht.

Henk lives in Zeist. He works in Utrecht.
5
Maria is lerares. Ze werkt part-time.
Maria is a teacher. She works part-time.
DOI: 10.4324/9781003223122-2
2 In reference to objects, the subject pronoun het is used for nouns in the singular
Subject that are neuter (het-words), hij is used for nouns in the singular that are mas-
pronouns culine and feminine (de-words), and zij, ze is used for nouns in the plural. The
Dutch almost never refer to an object using the feminine personal pronoun zij,
ze, as is sometimes done in English. Commonly, in Dutch, we use the subject
pronoun hij or het where English would use ‘it’. Examples:

Waar is het boek? Het zit in mijn tas.

Where is the book? It’s in my bag.

Hoe oud is je huis? Het is 80 jaar oud.

How old is your house? It is 80 years old.

Hoe vind je de vis? Hij smaakt lekker.

How do you like the fish? It tastes good.

Wat kosten de noten? Ze kosten een euro.

How much are the nuts? They’re one euro.
2 Some of the pronouns have stressed and unstressed forms, such as jij versus
je in the second person singular, and zij versus ze in the third person singular
feminine and in the third person plural, and wij versus we in the first person
plural. Whether you use the stressed or the unstressed form depends on where
you place the emphasis in the (spoken) sentence. Examples:
a Ik woon in Olst. Waar woon jij? I live in Olst. Where do you live?
b Woon je ook in Olst? Do you also live in Olst?
c Hoe heet zij? What is her name?
d En waar woont ze? And where does she live?
In example a, the emphasis is on jij in order to distinguish from ik. In b, the
second person has been introduced, and the emphasis can be placed on some-
thing else, in this case ook. The same principle is at work in examples c and d.
The subject is introduced with emphasis in c, and in d, it is not the subject but
the verb that is stressed.
3 In Dutch, we distinguish between the informal form for the second person sin-
gular, jij or je, and the formal u. In the second person plural, we use informal
jullie versus formal u. While the informal jij, je, and jullie are becoming more
and more commonplace in everyday speech, the formal u is still widely used as
a polite form in interactions among people from different generations (although
parents and children, and even grandparents and grandchildren, often use jij, je,
and jullie), people who don’t know each other such as store or office personnel
and customers, and people in different hierarchical positions or ranks. Address-
ing someone as meneer or mevrouw or with a formal title, one must use u. In
formal correspondence, one must always use u. Examples:
Mag ik u iets vragen? May I ask you something?
Kan ik u helpen? Can I help you?
Zegt u het maar. What will it be? (literally “Please say it”).
6 Komt u maar even binnen. Please come inside for a moment.
 4 In spoken Dutch in Flanders, the forms gij and ge are commonly used as equiva- 2
lents for jij and je, although the preference for gij and ge versus jij and je may Subject
depend on region and dialect. In writing, jij and je are consistently used. Formal pronouns
u is associated with distance, respect, and unfamiliarity with the person who is
addressed. Examples:
Hebt ge dit weekend uw dochter gezien? Did you see your daughter this
weekend?
Hebt gij honger? Are you hungry?
Ge gaat dat tof vinden. You’re going to love it.
5 There are reduced forms of ik, hij, and het: ’k for ik, ie or tie for hij, and ’t for
het. You will hear them in speech or see them in written (often literary) texts.
Examples:
a ’k heb geen tijd. (= Ik heb geen tijd.) I have no time.
b Wat zegt-ie? (= Wat zegt hij?) What is he saying?
c Waar is tie? (= Waar is hij?) Where is he?
d ’t Is een goed boek. (= Het is een goed boek.) It’s a good book.
6 While they are not (yet) official, the gender neutral subject pronouns hen and
die have become widely accepted by persons of non-binary gender identities.
Waar is Ingrid? Hen heeft een afspraak bij de tandarts.
Where is Ingrid? They have an appointment with the dentist.

Exercise 2.1
Put the correct personal pronoun under each image. The neck tie indicates a formal
situation.

a ____________ b ____________ c ____________

d ____________ e ____________ f ____________

          7
g ____________            h ____________
2 Exercise 2.2
Subject
pronouns Enter the correct form of the subject pronoun.
Situation: Karin introduces herself, her family, her best friend.
Hoi, _____ (1) ben Karin Groeneveld. Mijn vader heet Erik, ______ (2) is advocaat,
______ (3) werkt voor een bank. Mijn moeder heet Sanne, _____ (4) is lerares en_____
(5) werkt parttime op een basisschool. Ik heb een broer,_____ (6) heet Peter._____
(7) wonen in Haarlem. Opa en oma Groeneveld komen uit Groningen, maar _____
(8) wonen nu in Den Helder. Dan heb ik nog opa en oma Hulst. _____ (9) wonen in
Leiden. Mijn beste vriendin heet Aysha._____ (10) doen alles samen. Aysha’s broer
heet Hakim. _____ (11) studeert in Amsterdam. Willen_____ (12) een paar foto’s zien?

Exercise 2.3
Enter the correct form of the subject pronoun. The dialogue is informal.
Situation: Karin meets a new friend at school.

1 Ina: Hoi, hoe heet __________?

2 Karin: __________ heet Karin. En __________?
3 Ina: __________ ben Ina. Woon __________ in Haarlem?
4 Karin: Ja. __________ kom met de fiets naar school.
5 Ina: Heb __________ broers en zussen?
6 Karin: Ja, een broer, Peter. ________ zit in 5 HAVO. En ________?
7 Ina: ________ heb een zus. ________ zit nog op de basisschool.
8 Karin: Kom, ________ gaan naar binnen.

Exercise 2.4
Enter the correct form of the subject pronoun. Parts of the dialogue are formal.
Situation: In the classroom. After class, the students go to the school canteen.

1 Karin: Meneer Kampen, kunt __________ me even helpen?

2 Oscar: Meneer Kampen, moeten __________ oefening 8 ook doen?
3 Hans: Hé Oscar, weet __________ het huiswerk voor morgen?
4 Joris: Meneer Kampen, heeft __________ de proefwerken van gisteren?
5 Oscar: Jongens, __________ gaan koffie drinken. Gaan __________ mee?
6 Aysha: Wacht even. Karin is naar de wc. __________ komt zo.
7 Karin: Hier ben __________ .Waar zijn de anderen?
8 Aysha: __________ zijn al in de kantine. Kom __________?
9 Karin: Ina, ga __________ mee naar de kantine?
8 10 Ina: Nee, __________ ga even naar de bibliotheek.
Exercise 2.5 2
Subject
In the following dialogues, enter the correct subject pronoun as it refers to both pronouns
persons and objects.

Erik
1 Is de krant er al?
2 Waar liggen m’n sleutels?
Karin
3 Mam, waar ben je?
4 Ik zoek m’n biologieboek.
Karin
5 Hoe was de film gisteren?
6 Waar is Ina?
Erik
7 Wat doen jij en Patrick vanavond? ____ gaan voetballen.
8 Hoe is die nieuwe trainer?
Sanne
9 Hoe laat is er eten?
10 Zal ik een fles wijn openen?
Sanne
_____ ligt op de tafel.
Zitten _____ niet in je jaszak?
Sanne
____ ben in de kamer.
____ ligt op de keukentafel.
Aysha
____ was heel goed, echt!
____ praat met Joris.
Peter
____ is goed. En heel aardig.
Erik
____ is over 5 minuten klaar.
Graag! ____ staat al op tafel.

Exercise 2.6
In the following exercise, decide for each sentence which sentence is a logical fol-
low-up sentence: a or b.

1 Wij hebben een dochter en een zoon.

a: We gaan naar de middelbare school.
b: Ze gaan naar de middelbare school.
2 Heeft u het nieuwe boek van Stephen King?
a: Ja, het ligt daar.
b: Ja, hij ligt daar.
3 Hoe vind je de soep?
a: Het is erg lekker.
b: Hij is erg lekker.
4 Hoe heet Mia’s kat?
a: Ze heet Cleo.
b: Het heet Cleo.
5 Wat een mooie racefiets! 9
a: Ja, hij rijdt fantastisch!
b: Ja, het rijdt fantastisch.
2 Glossary of new words
Subject
pronouns aardig nice, friendly kat, de cat sleutel, de key
advocaat, de lawyer keuken, de kitchen soep, de soup
al already klaar ready staan to stand
binnen inside komen to come studeren to study
broer, de brother krant, de newspaper tafel, de table
daar there kunnen to be able vader, de father
doen to do laat late vanavond tonight
echt really lekker tasty vinden to find
eten food, to eat liggen to lie voor for
even for a bit moeder, de mother vriendin, de (girl)
fiets, de bike moeten must, to have to friend
fles, de bottle mooi beautiful weten to know
gaan to go morgen tomorrow wijn, de wine
gisteren yesterday naar to willen to want
goed good niet not zien to see
graag yes, please nieuw new zoeken to look for
heel very nog still, yet zoon, de son
huiswerk, het praten to talk zullen shall
homework rijden to ride, drive zus, de sister
jaszak, de coat pocket samen together

10
UNIT THREE
Verb conjugation in the present tense

Introduction
The verb is the part in the sentence that indicates what the subject does, how it
changes, what condition or (mental) state it is in, what happens to it, where it goes,
etc. Examples:

Erik woont in Haarlem. Hij werkt voor een bank. Hij is advocaat. Hij is
getrouwd. Hij heeft twee kinderen. Ze heten Peter en Karin. Peter en Karin
gaan naar de middelbare school.
Erik lives in Haarlem. He works for a bank. He is a lawyer. He is married. He
has two children. Their names are Peter and Karin. Peter and Karin go to high
school.

The verb corresponds with its subject in person and number. In the sentence Erik
woont in Haarlem, the subject (Erik) is third person singular. In the sentence Peter
en Karin gaan naar de middelbare school, the subject (Peter en Karin) is third
person plural. Subject–verb agreement is accomplished with verb endings.

Examples and notes

werken1
Singular Plural
ik werk wij/we werken
jij/je werkt / werk je2 jullie werken
u werkt u werkt 3
hij, zij/ze, het werkt zij/ze werken

1 Werken is the infinitive, the non-conjugated form of the verb, as it appears in

the dictionary. In English, the infinitive begins with ‘to’: to work, to live, to play.
In most verbs, the infinitive consists of a stem (werk-) and the ending -en. When
conjugated in a sentence, the stem loses the ending -en, which is replaced by the 11

DOI: 10.4324/9781003223122-3
3 appropriate verb ending (in italics in the table). The verb form for ik is the same
Verb conjuga- as the verb stem.
tion in the 2 When jij or je follow the verb, the ending -t is dropped. This happens, for in-
present tense stance, in questions or when something other than the subject takes the first
place in the sentence.
Werk je in een restaurant? Do you work in a restaurant?
Maak jij nu je huiswerk? Are you doing your homework now?

3 The verb ending for formal u is always -t, whether it is singular or plural.

The verbs hebben (to have) and zijn (to be)

hebben zijn
ik heb ik ben
jij/je hebt (heb je/jij) jij/je bent (ben je/jij)
u hebt/heeft u bent
hij, zij/ze, het heeft hij, zij/ze, het is
wij/we hebben wij/we zijn
jullie hebben jullie zijn
zij/ze hebben zij/ze zijn

Verbs with stems that end in -t or -d

Some verb stems end in -t or -d. In verbs with a stem ending in -t, we do not add
the verb ending -t in the second and third person singular. In verbs with a stem
ending in -d, we do add a -t to the second and third person singular. In the inverted
form in the second person singular, some of these verbs drop the -d. See examples
in singular:

zetten put weten know houden hold raden guess

ik zet weet houd raad
jij/je zet/zet je weet/weet je houdt/hou(d) je raadt/raad je
u zet weet houdt raadt
hij, zij/ze, het zet weet houdt raadt

Some unusual infinitives

In some frequently used, one-syllable verbs, the stem ends in -n instead of -en. The
table below shows how they are conjugated in singular and plural.
12
 gaan go zien see doen do 3
Verb conjuga-
Singular ik ga zie doe tion in the
jij/je, u gaat/ga je ziet/zie je doet/doe je present tense
hij, zij/ze, het gaat ziet doet
Plural wij/we, jullie, zij/ze gaan zien doen

Note: slaan ‘hit’ and staan ‘stand’ follow the same pattern as gaan.

Spelling in verb conjugation

Note the difference between the verbs spelen ‘to play’ and spellen ‘to spell’ in con-
jugation in singular and plural. For simplification, the personal pronouns have been
omitted from these (and the following) examples.

spelen spellen
speel1
spelen spel2
spellen
speelt (speel je) spelen spelt (spel je) spellen
spelt spelen spelt spellen

1 As we have seen in Unit 1, spelling is determined largely by the way words

are divided into syllables, and whether syllables are open or closed. The verb
spelen is divided as follows: spe-len; the word is split after the vowel and before
the single consonant. The syllable spe- is open. The verb spellen is divided
as follows: spel-len; the word is split between the double consonant. The syl-
lable spel- is closed. An open syllable ends in a vowel; a closed syllable ends
in a consonant. A single vowel in an open syllable (spe-) is pronounced long;
a single vowel in a closed syllable (spel-) is pronounced short. In order to keep
the vowel in spelen long within a closed syllable (speel), we have to double it.
Here, proper pronunciation and spelling of a word is very important. If spelled
or pronounced incorrectly, the meaning of the word can change. If we didn’t
double the vowel of spelen in first, second, and third person singular, it would
be pronounced the same as in the verb spellen. Note: the verb komen (ik kom)
is an exception to this rule.
2 Closed syllables in Dutch (spel-) never end in two identical consonants. Fur-
thermore, two identical consonants are never followed by a single consonant.
Therefore, the double consonant in spellen is reduced to one in the first, second,
and third person singular. In the plural, surrounded by vowels, it is once again
double. See more examples of these basic spelling rules in the following table.
Each time, a verb with a long vowel is contrasted with a verb with a short vowel.
Only the infinitive and first person singular and plural are given. The verbs are
wonen ‘to live’, winnen ‘to win’, spreken ‘to speak’, trekken ‘to pull’, laten
‘to let’, zitten ‘to sit’.
13
3 wonen winnen spreken trekken laten zitten
Verb conjuga-
tion in the
ik woon ik win ik spreek ik trek ik laat ik zit
present tense wij wonen wij winnen wij spreken wij trekken wij laten wij zitten

In Dutch, v and z cannot be at the end of a syllable and are ‘hardened’ (voiceless) in
front of another hard consonant. Therefore, in first, second, and third person singu-
lar, v turns into f and z turns into s. Note the differences in spelling in singular and
plural in the verbs geven ‘to give’ and wijzen ‘to point’.

geven wijzen
geef geven wijs wijzen
geeft (geef je) geven wijst (wijs je) wijzen
geeft geven wijst wijzen

Exercise 3.1
To practice correct spelling, enter the first person singular and the first person plural
in the table.

1 vragen 2 zeggen 3 nemen 4 zwemmen 5 leven

ik ik ik ik ik
wij wij wij wij wij

6 reizen 7 hebben 8 lopen 9 zitten 10 laten

ik ik ik ik ik
wij wij wij wij wij

Exercise 3.2
Enter the correct verb forms into the table.

1 kopen 2 passen 3 eten 4 schrijven 5 lezen

ik
jij/je, u
je je je je je
hij, zij/ze, het
wij/we
jullie
zij/ze
14
Exercise 3.3 3
Verb conjuga-
Jij ook? In the following exercise, enter the correct verb form in second person tion in the
present tense
singular.

1 Ik ga naar Amsterdam. __________ je mee?

2 Ik koop in Amsterdam een souvenir. __________ je ook een souvenir?
3 Ik drink op een terras een kopje koffie. __________ je ook een kopje?
4 Ik bezoek het Rijksmuseum. __________ je het museum ook?
5 Ik eet ’s avonds op het Leidseplein een pizza. __________ je ook een pizza?

Exercise 3.4
Enter the correct forms of hebben and zijn.
Situation: Peter talks about his family.
Hoi, ik _________ (1) Peter, en dit _________ (2) mijn familie. Ik _________ (3)
geen broers, maar wel een zus, Karin. Mijn vader _________ (4) advocaat, mijn
moeder _________ (5) lerares. Karin en ik _________ (6) vier grootouders, opa en
oma Groeneveld en opa en oma Hulst. Mijn vader _________ (7) geen broers en
zussen, maar ik _________ (8) wel tantes en ooms van mijn moeders kant, want zij
_________ (9) een grote familie. Een keer per jaar _________ (10) we met de hele
familie bij opa en oma Hulst voor de grote jaarlijkse reünie. Dat _________ (11)
altijd heel leuk. En jij? _________ (12) je een grote familie?

Exercise 3.5
For each blank, choose the right verb and enter the correct form. Select from:
wonen, werken, komen, zijn, heten, spellen, gaan, studeren.
Situation: Meet Hanife!
Dag! Mijn naam _________ (1) Hanife. Dat _________ (2) je H-A-N-I-F-E.
Ik _________ (3) uit Turkije, maar ik _________ (4) in Nederland. Ik _________ (5)
aan de Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam. Ik _________ (6) op vrijdag- en zaterdag-
avond in een restaurant. Mijn beste vriendin _________ (7) Linda. Zij _________
(8) ook in dat restaurant. Maar zij _________ (9) in Alkmaar. Ze _________ (10)
elke dag met de trein naar Amsterdam. Volgende week _________ (11) we samen op
vakantie naar Spanje. En wie _________ (12) jij? _________ (13) je uit Nederland?
Waar _________ (14) je? Wat _________ (15) je van beroep? Of _________ (16) je
student?

15
3 Exercise 3.6
Verb conjuga-
tion in the Conjugate the verbs correctly in the third person singular.
present tense
Situation: Erik is at the market.
Erik (zijn) _________ (1) op de markt. Hij (kopen) _________ (2) een kilo appels. Hij
(vragen) _________ (3): “Wat kosten de bananen?” Hij (nemen) _________ (4) twee kilo
bananen. Hij (betalen) _________ (5) met 100 euro. Hij (hebben) _________ (6) geen
kleingeld. Erik (gaan) _________ (7) ook naar de kaaskraam. Hij (zeggen) _________
(8): “Een stuk oude kaas, graag.” De verkoper (wegen) _________ (9) een groot stuk
kaas. Erik (vinden) _________ (10) het stuk te groot. De verkoper (snijden) _________
(11) een kleiner stuk. “Dat (zijn) _________ (12) goed.”

Exercise 3.7
What is the question with the answer? Conjugate the verb correctly. Some questions
are formal.
Situation: The first day of class. The teacher, mevrouw Vos, talks to the students.

1 Aysha, ______________?
Aysha: Ja, ik heb het boek.

2 Julie, ______________?
Julie: Nee, ik kom niet uit Brussel, maar uit Gent.

3 Jos, ______________?
Jos: Ja, ik ben de broer van Alex.

4 Mevrouw Vos, ______________?

Mevrouw Vos: Ja, ik woon in Haarlem.

5 Mevrouw Vos, ______________?

Mevrouw Vos: Ja, ik heb een hond. Hij heet Loki.

6 Mevrouw Vos, ______________?

Mevrouw Vos: Nee, ha ha, die blauwe BMW is niet van mij. Ik fiets.

7 Kimberly, ______________?
Kimberly: Nee, ik speel geen hockey. Ik speel korfbal.

8 Karin en Aysha, ______________?

Karin: Ja, wij gaan naar de kantine.

16
   9 Joke en Emma, ______________? 3
Joke: Ja, we zijn klaar. Verb conjuga-
tion in the
10 Mevrouw Vos, ______________? present tense
Mevrouw Vos: Ja, jullie krijgen huiswerk.

Glossary of new words

beroep, het profession klein small tante, de aunt
betalen to pay kopen to buy terras, het terrace,
bezoeken to visit kraam, de stand patio
blauw blue krijgen to get, receive uit out, from
elk(e) each leven to live volgend(e) next
geld, het money ook also vragen to ask
groot big oom, de uncle week, de week
hond, de dog oud old wegen to weigh
jaar, het year passen to fit zeggen to say
kaas, de cheese reizen to travel zwemmen to swim
kant, de side snijden to cut
keer, de time, occasion stuk, het piece

17
 UNIT FOUR
Articles and nouns

Introduction
This chapter discusses definite and indefinite articles and nouns. It also offers a brief
introduction to compound nouns.

Articles
In Dutch, we have the definite articles de and het ‘the’ and the indefinite article een
‘a’. The article de is for masculine and feminine (or common) nouns, the article het
is for neuter nouns, while een is indefinite for all nouns. Examples are de auto ‘the
car’, het huis ‘the house’, een straat ‘a street’. It is impossible to give exact rules for
why nouns are common or neuter; however, the number of de-words is about twice
as large as the number of het-words. For learning purposes, it is best to memorize
words with their articles. Nevertheless, to help you along, here is a brief overview of
typical het-words and typical de-words.1
The form or the meaning of a word can determine the gender. Here are some
groups that are (almost!) always het-words:

1 All diminutives: het kopje small cup, het balletje small ball, het boompje
small tree, het glaasje small glass
2 Nouns from Latin ending in -um: het museum, het gymnasium, het album
(but de datum date)
3 Nouns (cognates) ending in -asme, -isme: het pleonasme, het protestantisme
4 Nouns ending in -aat (except for persons): het dictaat dictation, het pastoraat
pastoral care (but de advocaat lawyer)
5 Nouns ending in -sel (often derived from verbs): het voedsel food, het raadsel
riddle, het weefsel tissue
6 Nouns (cognates) ending in -ment: het instrument, het testament
7 Nouns beginning with be-, ge-, ont-, ver- (often derived from verbs): het begin be-
ginning, het gevoel feeling, het ontwerp design, het verband connection, bandage
8 Verb infinitives and (some) adjectives used as nouns: het eten food, het denken
18 thinking, het wit white, het vet fat, het donker darkness

DOI: 10.4324/9781003223122-4
 9 Names of wind directions: het oosten east, het westen west, het zuiden south, 4
het noorden north Articles and
10 Names of metals: het goud gold, het zilver silver, het ijzer iron, het staal steel nouns
11 Names of languages: het Nederlands Dutch, het Spaans Spanish, het Frans
French, het Duits German
The number of de-words is much larger. As with het-words, the form as well as the mean-
ing of the word can determine the gender. Here are common categories of de-words:
1 Nouns derived from verb stems, often ending in -st: de hulp help, de breuk
fracture, de groei growth, de komst arrival, de winst profit
2 Nouns ending in -heid, -iteit: de waarheid truth, de identiteit identity
3 Nouns ending in -ose, -yse: de psychose psychosis, de analyse analysis
4 Nouns ending in -ij or -ie: de bakkerij bakery, de traditie tradition
5 Nouns ending in -ine or -ing: de cabine cabin, de regering government, de
verdeling distribution
6 Nouns ending in -nis, -sis: de begrafenis funeral, de basis base
7 Nouns ending in -theek: de bibliotheek library, de apotheek pharmacy
8 Names for people (family, professions, nationalities): de broer brother, de makelaar
real estate agent, de Nederlander Dutchman (but het kind child, het meisje girl)
9 Names for most animals: de leeuw lion, de kat cat, de koe cow, de hond dog
(but het paard horse, het varken pig, het schaap sheep, het dier animal)
10 Names for seasons: de lente spring, de zomer summer, de herfst autumn, de
winter winter (but het voorjaar spring, het najaar autumn)
11 Names for flowers, trees, fruits: de tulp tulip, de eik oak, de banaan banana
(but het fruit fruit)
12 Names for numbers and letters: de 2, de A/a
13 Names for most musical instruments: de piano piano, de viool violin, de trom-
pet trumpet (but het orgel organ, het spinet spinet)

Countable or uncountable?
All nouns, countable or uncountable, can appear with a definite article. In the plural,
all nouns have the definite article de. The indefinite article een, however, can appear
with countable nouns only in the singular. If the noun is uncountable (for example
suiker, water, koffie, thee), it appears without an article. Indefinite countable nouns
in the plural do not have an article. For clarification, here is an overview:

Definite Indefinite
Countable Uncountable Countable Uncountable
Singular de straat het ijs een straat ijs
Plural de straten — - straten —
Singular het huis de koffie een huis koffie
Plural de huizen — - huizen —
19
4 Examples in context
Articles and
nouns 1 Erik bestelt koffie. De koffie is lekker.
Erik orders coffee. The coffee tastes good.

2 Ik heb een klein huis. Het huis van mijn buurman is veel groter.
I have a small house. My neighbor’s house is much bigger.

3 De straten zijn nat van de regen.

The streets are wet from the rain.

4 Er ligt ijs op het water. Het ijs is dun.

There is ice on the water. The ice is thin.

An indefinite noun such as koffie in example 1 and een huis in example 2 is used
to either first introduce a subject or object about which the listener doesn’t know
anything yet, or to make a very general statement about it. A definite noun such as
de koffie in example 1 and het huis in example 2 is used when the listener already
knows the subject or object or when the speaker gives it particular qualities or char-
acteristics. The translations demonstrate that it works the exact same way in English.

The indefinite article with an affiliation

In English, when one talks about what a person does for work, we say, for example,
‘Peter is a teacher’. In Dutch, however, we do not use the indefinite article in this
case. Instead we say: ‘Peter is leraar’ or ‘Peter is leraar van beroep’. The same
happens when we talk about our affiliation with a country, a city, a religion: ‘Peter
is Nederlander’, ‘Peter is Amsterdammer’, ‘Peter is christen’. However, when an
adjective or any other qualifying notion is added, these affiliations appear with the
indefinite article een.

Peter is een uitstekende leraar.

Peter is an outstanding teacher.
Peter is een leraar met veel ervaring.
Peter is a teacher with much experience.
Peter is een 24-jarige Nederlander.
Peter is a 24-year-old Dutchman.
Peter is een echte Amsterdammer.
Peter is a real Amsterdammer.

Also, when talking about affiliations in a general sense, we use the indefinite article.
In the plural, of course, we do not have an article. Note that it is the same in English.

Een leraar heeft veel werk te doen.

20 A teacher has a lot of work to do.
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
The Project Gutenberg eBook of Boy meets
dyevitza
This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States
and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no
restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it
under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this
ebook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the
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Title: Boy meets dyevitza

Author: Robert F. Young

Illustrator: Lloyd Birmingham

Release date: November 28, 2023 [eBook #72248]

Language: English

Original publication: New York, NY: Ziff-Davis Publishing Company,

1962

Credits: Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed

Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BOY MEETS

DYEVITZA ***
 Boy Meets Dyevitza

By ROBERT F. YOUNG

Illustrated by BIRMINGHAM

For the incurable romantics among us, the power of love

to conquer everything cannot be overestimated. And so let
us read this gentle, pleasant, warm-hearted tale, knowing
as we do that the story it tells is very likely impossible,
but yet hoping, perhaps, that it could all end this way.

[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from

Amazing Stories October 1962.
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
A thrilling news bulletin, dated September 11, 1996, was recently
handed to me by an assistant who is too young to remember the star
over Moscow, and it is toward him and others like him that the
following history is directed. If it resembles fiction more than it does
fact, the similarity is wholly intentional, for it is only through fiction that
the past can be brought back to life.

When Gordon Andrews first saw the girl, he took it for granted that
she was a Venusian—a natural enough assumption in view of the fact
that he was on Venus. She was kneeling beside a small brook,
humming a little tune and washing out a pair of stockings, and so
intent was she on her tune and her task that she did not hear him
when he stepped out of the forest behind her. Her bobbed hair was
the color of horse chestnuts, and her clothing consisted of gray
culottes, a gray blouse, black leather boots and a small gray kepi.
The tune she was humming was a passage from Tchaikovsky's Swan
Lake.
Thus far, Gordon had taken Venus pretty much in his stride. The data
supplied by the Venus probes during the early 60's, while obscure
with regard to her cloud-cover, had conclusively disproved former
theories to the effect that she lacked a breathable atmosphere and
possessed a surface temperature of more than 100 degrees
Centigrade, and had prepared him for what he had found—an
atmosphere richer in oxygen content than Earth's, a comfortable
climate, and a planet-wide sea, unbroken as yet save for an
equatorial land mass no larger than a modest island. The data, by its
very nature, had also prepared him for the possibility of human life. It
had not prepared him, however, for a Venusian maiden on humming
terms with Swan Lake. Small wonder, then, that he gasped.
The girl dropped her stockings and shot to her feet so fast that she
would have toppled into the brook if he hadn't leaped forward and
caught her arm. She had a heart-shaped face, and her eyes were the
hue of harebells. At the moment they were filled with alarm. Presently,
however, the alarm went away and recognition took its place. "Oh, it's
you," she said, freeing her arm.

He took an involuntary step backward. "Me?" he said.

"Yes. Captain Gordon Andrews, of the United States Space Force, is
it not? You look quite a lot like your photograph."
He could only stare at her. "I do?"
"Yes. I saw it in one of your materialistic capitalistic magazines." She
stood up a little straighter—an act that brought her harebell-blue eyes
on a level with the topmost button of his fatigue-alls. "I am Major
Sonya Mikhailovna, of the Soviet Space Force, and my ship is in the
next valley. I arrived here yesterday."
He got the picture then, and he felt sick. He should have known from
her too-correct, slightly stilted English, from the military cut of her
clothing. He should have known in the first place, for that matter. It
was the same old humiliating story. The manned Venus shot had
been publicized for months before the actual launching, and he had
been written up in every newspaper and magazine in the country.
Articles had paid homage to his suburban upbringing, saluted his
record at the Shepard Space Academy, praised his career as an
orbital pilot, romanticized his bachelorhood, described how he liked
his eggs, and inferred what a good catch he would be. Meanwhile,
the Russians had gone quietly and systematically about their
business, and at the precise psychological moment had pulled their
usual unexpected coup. First it had been Laika, then Zrezdochka,
then Gagarin, then Dymov, the first "Man in the Moon". Now it was
Major Sonya Mikhailovna.
But why a woman? And why one so seemingly delicate that you
marvelled at her ability to withstand the acceleration of take-off?
Suddenly he got the whole picture, and he really felt sick. He could
see the humiliating headlines—or rather, their English counterparts—
in Pravda: SOVIET SPACE GIRL BEATS CAPITALIST COSMONAUT
TO VENUS! USSR TRIUMPH AGAIN!
"I suppose you picked up my ship on your radar while I was coming
in, and fixed the time and location of my landing," he said bitterly.
Sonya Mikhailovna nodded. "My own arrival-time has already been
officially recorded, but the announcement of my success had to be
withheld until I could establish your arrival-time and the exact time-
difference could be computed. Soon now, the news of our glorious
new victory will be released to the world."

She bent down, retrieved her stockings from the brook and wrung
them out. Straightening, she hung them on a low-hanging branch of a
nearby tree. They were cotton, he noticed, and there was a hole in
one of the toes.
Suddenly she gave a start. Following the direction of her gaze, he
gave one too. So did the man and the woman who had just emerged
from the forest.
Since his arrival four hours ago, Gordon had been wondering—
among a host of other things—whether the ultra-violet rays of the sun
could penetrate the planet's thick cloud-cover. He saw now that they
not only could, but did. The man and the woman were unquestionably
members of a white-skinned race, and both possessed suntans so
deep and golden that in contrast their dark blue eyes seemed even
darker and their bright blond hair even brighter. Their white knee-
length tunics augmented the effect, and in co-operation with their
handsome faces, supplied them with a god- and goddess-like aspect.
Unfortunately this aspect was somewhat marred by their one
concession to personal adornment—gleaming neckbands forged from
a copper-like metal.
As neither native appeared to be armed, Gordon saw no cause for
alarm, and after his initial surprise, he regarded them quite calmly. So
did Sonya Mikhailovna. This time, however, the two Venusians did not
reciprocate. Their eyes had grown wide, and now an unmistakable
expression of disbelief settled upon their handsome faces. At length
the man touched his own neck and then the woman's; then he
pointed, almost accusingly, it seemed, toward Gordon and Sonya,
and demanded something in an unintelligible tongue.
Gordon proceeded to touch his own neck. Next he touched Sonya's
ever so lightly of course. "Gordon," he said. "Sonya."
He was rewarded for his perspicacity by two horrified stares and a
pair of hoarse gasps. Then before he could utter another word, the
two Venusians turned and vanished into the forest.
He stared after them. So did Sonya Mikhailovna. "Did you know," he
asked presently, "that Venus was inhabited?"
"Our scientists suspected that it might be." She shrugged. "Anyway,
what does it matter now? By your stupid action you destroyed
whatever chance we had of establishing friendly relations."
Gordon felt his face grow hot. "When you meet aliens, the first thing
you always do is exchange names with them," he said. "Everybody
knows that!"
"Everybody who reads your stereotyped science fiction knows it, you
mean. And after you find out their names, you say, 'Take me to your
leader,' and their leader turns out to be a big beautiful blond who is
stacked. Well, I think I will be getting back to my ship."
"I don't see anybody stopping you," Gordon said.
She gave him a long look. In the roseate radiance of the Venusian
afternoon, her face had a pink-cheeked little girl aspect. "In
imperialistic idiom, that means, I suppose, that it is a matter of
complete indifference to you what I do."
"It sure does," Gordon said. "Well, I'll be seeing you."
Leaving her standing by the brook, he re-entered the forest and
struck out over the little hills that rolled back from the littoral like green
inland waves to break riotously against the high ridge that
encompassed the island's interior. In his initial enthusiasm, he had
wandered farther from his ship than he had meant to, and he had
been about to turn back when he had seen the girl. Now he had
another reason for returning: a dark cloud was due to arrive over
Washington in the very near future, and it was up to him to send out a
bad-weather warning.
Multicolored flowers carpeted virtually every square inch of the forest
floor; finch-like birds of rainbow hues darted overhead, leaving
exquisite wakes of song; squirrel-like mammals spiraled tree trunks
so swiftly that they were barely visible. Venus had turned out to be
the Venus of the romantics, rather than the Venus of the scientists,
and Gordon, who, for all his scientific training, was a romantic
himself, found the eventuality exhilarating, even in his present
doldrums. Perhaps when man reached Mars, he would find blue
canals after all, no matter what the scientists said to the contrary, and
fragile glass cities tinkling in cinnamon-scented winds.
The day was nearly done when he reached the cove, near the shore
of which his spaceship stood, and darkness was upon him by the
time he climbed the metal Jacob's ladder and stepped through the
lock. (In blithe disregard of learned opinion, Venus's rotation period
approximated Earth's; however, her cloud-cover brought about an
abrupt and early departure of daylight.) In his haste, he did not bother
to close the lock, but headed straight for the radio alcove and
beamed the news of his historic meeting with Major Sonya
Mikhailovna across the immensities to Space Force headquarters at
New Canaveral, appending it with the information that the peoples of
Earth could no longer consider themselves the sole inheritors of the
solar system.
Owing to the distance involved, over five minutes elapsed before he
received a reply. He was informed that the USSR had already
released the news of the new space victory and that the Soviet
premier had declared a national holiday in honor of the occasion.
New Canaveral also provided him with an unsolicited thumbnail-
biography of Major Sonya Mikhailovna. Her father Pëtr, was a famous
Russian pianist, she was twenty-three years of age, unmarried, spoke
six languages fluently, had a nodding acquaintance with eleven more,
held a doctor's degree in anthropology, was an accomplished
ballerina, and in the last Olympic games had won the gold medal in
the gymnastics competition. She had been chosen for the Venus shot
from a group of one hundred trained women volunteers, and the rank
of major had been bestowed upon her in honor of her service to her
country. Also—
Gordon heard the footsteps then, and whirled around. But the three
Venusians who had crowded into the little control room were upon
him before he could draw his pistol. They relieved him of it quickly
and tossed it to one side; then two of them held him while the third
covered his nose and mouth with a wet cloth that reeked of a cloying
perfume. He blacked out in a matter of seconds.

A new day was dawning when he climbed out of the deep well of
drug-induced unconsciousness and opened his eyes. His wrists and
ankles were bound, and he was lying on a stretcher fashioned of
lashed-together saplings. It was being carried by two gold-skinned
Venusians, one of whom was the male member of the couple who
had come upon him and Sonya the previous afternoon.
He raised his head. Apparently the perfume he had inhaled
possessed only part of the properties of chloroform—in any event, he
felt no ill effects. Turning his head, he discovered that his captors
consisted of about two dozen natives, all told, and that every one of
them wore a metal collar. Half of them were women, and one of the
women was the one he and Sonya had seen the day before.
There was another stretcher just behind his own. Sonya
Mikhailovna's face was hidden, but he could see her horse-chestnut
colored hair. "Are you all right?" he called.
She did not answer. Clearly their captors had used the same drug on
her that they had used on him, and she was still under its influence. A
number of other things were also clear: the two original Venusians
had been part of a larger group—an excursion party, perhaps—and
after vanishing into the forest, they had rejoined the main body and
reported his and Sonya's presence. The decision to capture them
must have been made shortly afterward.
The trees thinned out on Gordon's right, providing him with a glimpse
of distant blue-misted hills and gray-blue sea and bringing home the
realization that he was being borne along the lofty inland ridge that
circled the island's interior. For the first time since he had opened his
eyes, fear touched him. In less than two months, Venus would
approach to within thirty million miles of Earth—the distance which
the Space Force technicians had used in computing his return
trajectory and in estimating the amount of fuel he would need. In all
probability, Sonya's return trajectory and fuel-supply had been
similarly computed and estimated, and if so, she was in the same
boat he was. If they were kept captive for any length of time, they
might not be able to return to Earth for another year, and while it was
conceivable that they might be able to live off the land after their
supplies gave out, it was far from likely.
Maybe, though, eating wouldn't be a problem. Dead people are as
unable to eat as they are unable to tell tales.

The trees thinned out again—on his left, this time—and he saw a
bowl-shaped valley far below. There were green fields and blue lakes,
and scattered clusters of white buildings. Villages, no doubt. They
weren't large enough to have registered on his viewscope during his
orbit, but they were large enough to register on his retina now.
The faint trail which the Venusians had been following began
zigzagging down the side of the ridge, and the going became more
difficult. They kept glancing uneasily at the sky as though they
momentarily expected it to fall down upon them. Gordon could
discern no cause for their concern; as far as he could see, the sky
was the same hazy pink it had been yesterday—but then, he was not
a Venusian and consequently knew nothing about such matters.
At the foot of the ridge, the procession was joined by other natives,
indicating that a courier had been sent ahead to herald its approach.
All of the new-comers wore metal collars, and all of them looked at
Gordon and Sonya briefly, then quickly glanced away. Sonya, Gordon
saw, turning his head, had awakened, and was regarding her
surroundings with eyes that seemed to have even more harebell-blue
in them than before. "Are you all right?" he called again.
"Yes," she said, after a pause. "I am all right."
One of the nearer villages proved to be their captors' destination, and
after passing between several neatly laid-out fields, the principal crop
of which appeared to be a Venusian form of sweetcorn, the
procession started down a narrow thoroughfare in the direction of a
large circular stone building surmounted by a steeple-like chimney
from which smoke arose in a tenuous blue-white column. The
buildings on either side of the street were plain to the point of
bleakness, the façades featureless save for oval windows and narrow
doorways. Villagers were everywhere, and all of them, men and
women alike, sported metal collars. Children, however, were
noticeably absent, though once Gordon caught sight of a round, wide-
eyed face in one of the oval windows. He had to look fast to see it,
though, because an instant later a woman appeared and yanked the
child back out of sight.
He was more bewildered than ever. Obviously, judging from their
reactions, the Venusians considered him and Sonya to be guilty of
some manner of immoral crime; but the only crime they had
committed that he could think of was trespassing—and certainly
trespassing couldn't be construed as immoral. What in the world had
they done then?
The procession had reached the large circular structure and was filing
through its vaulted entrance. Terraced tiers of stone benches
encircled a small, flagstone-paved arena in the center of which were
two altar-like stone blocks, placed about five feet apart. Just behind
the blocks stood a primitive forge, and beside the forge stood an even
more primitive anvil. A gold-skinned blacksmith was busily operating
a pair of crude bellows.
Gordon and Sonya were placed on the blocks and strapped down by
means of leather thongs. The tiers of benches filled rapidly, and an air
of expectation rapidly permeated the smoky atmosphere. Gordon
began to sweat—a reaction due partly, but not wholly, to the heat
thrown off by the forge. Sonya's face was white. He tried to think of
something reassuring to say to her, but for the life of him he couldn't.
Quite by accident, his eyes met hers, and to his consternation her
cheeks changed from white to pink, and she turned abruptly away.

The audience began to chant, and presently a man of noble mien

appeared, bearing two strips of copper-like metal. He handed them to
the blacksmith and then stepped back and took up a position
equidistant from each block, after which he proceeded to look sternly
down first into Gordon's face and then into Sonya's. Gordon couldn't
see what the blacksmith was doing in the meantime, but judging from
the sounds the man was making, he was busily occupied. Bellows
wheezed and coals crackled, and metal clanged on metal as though
a Venusian tarnhelm was in the works. Gordon knew perfectly well,
however, that one wasn't and he wasn't particularly surprised when, a
little while later, a water-soaked cloth was wrapped around his neck
and was followed by one of the two metal strips. Steam rose from the
wet cloth as the blacksmith held the two ends of the strip together
until they fused, and even more steam arose when he tempered the
resultant seam with a container of water. The job completed to his
satisfaction, he removed the cloth and let the still-warm collar settle
against Gordon's neck.
The other strip was similarly fused around Sonya's neck, after which
the man of noble mein went into action. Raising his hand in a signal
for the audience to cease its chanting, he launched a long sonorous
speech, part of which he directed at Gordon and part of which he
directed at Sonya. After a ringing peroration, during which he seemed
to threaten each of them, he produced a pinch of white powder and
sprinkled some of it over each of their heads. Finally he drew a long
double-edge knife.
Well this is it, Gordon thought. But it wasn't. The man of noble mein
merely used the knife to cut their bonds; then, after untying the
thongs that secured them to the stone blocks, he raised both arms in
a gesture for them to stand up. Gordon massaged his legs before
putting his weight on them, and Sonya followed the same precaution.
He could hardly believe that they were still alive, but seemingly they
were. And healthy too—if the pinkness of Soyna's cheeks was an
accurate criterion.
The man of noble mein nodded his noble head in the direction of the
entrance, and they accompanied him outside. Gordon did a
doubletake when they stepped into the street. It was strewn with
freshly picked flowers of every hue and description and lined by little
children waving green twigs that resembled olive branches. He came
to a staring stop. "Won't someone please tell me what's coming off?"
he said.
Sonya stopped beside him. "Don't you really know?" she asked, her
eyes fixed on a flower at her feet that was almost as red as her face
had become.
"I know we're the focal point of some kind of ceremony—but what
kind of a ceremony is it?"
Slowly Sonya raised her eyes. "It's a wedding ceremony," she said.
"They—they married us."

The flower-carpet stretched all the way to the outskirts of the village,
and so did the two lines of little children. Gordon stumbled along at
Sonya's side, hopeful that he would wake up any second in the
bachelor's barracks at New Canaveral. But the street stubbornly
refused to dissipate, and so did the little children and the man of
noble mein. As for Sonya, much less than dissipating, she took on
added detail, and the metal collar around her neck seemed to throw
off flame after lambent flame, and each one was brighter than its
predecessor.
The man of noble mein escorted them outside the village, then turned
his back on them as though they no longer existed and returned the
way he had come. After his passage, the little children broke ranks
and began playing in the flowers. Gordon faced Sonya. "Now maybe
you'll tell me why they married us," he said.
"I will tell you on the way back to our ships."
She did not speak again till they reached the top of the ridge. Then,
after she got her breath back, she said. "They married us because,
underneath their demigod exteriors, they are nothing more than
bronze-age puritans. Yesterday, when the man and woman saw us
standing together by the brook, they were bewildered because
neither of us was wearing what to them is a universal symbol of
marriage—a metal collar—and when you touched me they were
shocked. You see, in their society, no man and woman can be alone
together unless they are married, and it is unthinkable for a man to
touch a woman unless she is his wife, or some immediate member of
his family."
"We could have been brother and sister," Gordon pointed out.
"Do I look like your sister?"
He had to admit that she didn't.
"Anyway," Sonya went on, "their trailing us to different houses must
have convinced them and the rest of their party that we are not. In the
eyes of the Venusians, you see, our spaceships are just that. Houses.
Odd one, perhaps, by their architectural standards, but houses just
the same. How else could a simple bronze-age culture interpret
them?"

Gordon ducked beneath a blossom-laden bough. "How did you know

they're puritans?"
"I didn't—at first. I merely assumed, from their reactions to us, that
they must be. And then I got to thinking about how neither the sun nor
the moon can be seen through the cloud-cover, and it occurred to me
that their concept of one god must have come much earlier in their
civilization than would have been the case on earth, owing to the fact
that there could have been no intermediate phase of sun- or moon-
worship. Perhaps, somewhere along the line, they had a Christ
whose teachings they misinterpreted, and no doubt they have a
version of Genesis similar to the Judaeo-Christian one—except that
in theirs, the problem of creating the sun and the moon and the stars
never arose. Anyway, now that they have married us, they are no
longer interested in us. All that concerned them was our moral
welfare.... It seems to be growing dark."
"It can't be," Gordon said. "It's only a little past noon. Which reminds
me—I skipped breakfast, and supper too." He pulled two
concentrated food biscuits out of his fatigue-all pockets. "I suggest
that we stop for lunch."
They sat down side by side beneath a tree with blue blossoms
shaped like Dutchman's-breeches hanging from its boughs. They
were halfway down the opposite slope of the ridge now, but Sonya's
ship was still many hours away, and his was an hour farther yet. They
ate silently for a while. Then, "There is one thing that puzzles me,"
Sonya said.
"Yes?"
"Why did they marry us so soon? Why was there such a need for
haste?"
"You made it clear enough. They misinterpreted our behavior and
were shocked out of their self-righteous puritanical skins."
She shook her head. "Shocked, yes—but not enough to have rushed
us through a ceremony that under ordinary circumstances would
have required days of preparation. There must have been another
reason." Suddenly she glanced up through the foliage at the sky. "It is
growing dark."
There was no longer any denying the fact. The roseate radiance of
the youthful afternoon had transmuted to a sort of gray murk;
moreover, the air had grown appreciably colder. Gordon stood up. "I
think we'd better be on our way," he said. "It's going to rain."

A good three hours passed, however, before he felt the first drop. He
and Sonya were in the hills now, and the ridge was far behind them.
The rain was gentle, but it was persistent too, and both of them were
soaked before another hour had gone by. "We will go to my ship,"
Sonya said, brushing back a rain-wet strand of horse-chestnut
colored hair from her forehead. "It is much closer than yours."
Somehow her offering him shelter in a Soviet ship did not strike him
as being in the least incongruous. And when, a moment later, he
slipped his arm around her waist, that didn't seem incongruous either.
And when she permitted it to remain there, even that didn't seem
incongruous. For some crazy mixed-up reason life seemed singularly
devoid of incongruities all of a sudden. And amazingly forthright and
simple.
The rain was extremely penetrating—so penetrating, in fact, that it
penetrated his skin as well as his clothing. And it had a curious lulling
effect. No, that wasn't the word. A curious soporific effect. No, that
wasn't the word, either. Well what word was it, then?
He couldn't call it to mind till after they reached Sonya's ship and
were standing at the base of the Jacob's ladder. By then it was too
late. By then he was gazing softly down into her eyes and she was
gazing softly up into his, and the world was well on its way toward
being well lost.
He tried to force himself to step back and regard the situation with the
cold and objective eye of a scientist, to evaluate this strange and
wondrous quality that fell in the form of rain and to tie it in with the
Venusians' motivation in marrying him and Sonya posthaste. In vain.
All he could think of was the tune she had been humming by the
brook and the hole he had seen in one of her cheap cotton stockings.
And then she was in his arms and he was kissing her rain-wet lips,
and Washington and Moscow were forgotten place-names on a map
that had no more meaning than the paper it was printed on.
The rain continued to fall. Softly; gently. Insistently. It sang soft songs
in the leaves. It murmured; it whispered. It laughed.

It did not cease till morning. After starting back to his ship, Gordon
mentally rehearsed the report which he and Sonya had agreed to
send to their respective headquarters. It described briefly how they
had been captured and released, but discreetly made no reference
either to the wedding ceremony or to the rain. They had unanimously
agreed that the situation was complicated enough without
complicating it further.
He had gone less than half a mile when his collar began to press
against his throat. Thereafter the pressure increased with every step
he took, till finally he came to a semi-strangled stop. It was as though
he had reached the end of an invisible leash.
The pressure lessened after he backed up a few paces, went away
altogether after he backed up a dozen more. There was only one
explanation. The metal from which his and Sonya's collars—as well
as those of the Venusians—had been forged, possessed magnetic
properties unknown to terrestrial metals, and the attraction between
objects fashioned from it grew progressively stronger as the square of
the distance between them increased. Either the Venusians had
disciplined this attraction so that it was limited to objects fashioned
from the same stock, or the ore from which the metal was processed
was naturally subdivided into small magnetically independent veins.
Gordon did not know which was the case, but there was one thing he
did know; when the Venusians married you, they meant business.
He began retracing his steps back to Sonya's ship. Halfway there, he
saw her running toward him. Her white face told him that her collar
had been giving her a hard time too, and that she had arrived at a
conclusion similar to his own. "Gordon, what are we going to do?"
she gasped when she came up to him.

"We'll get them off someway," he reassured her. "Come on—I've got
the necessary tools in my ship."
He tried all morning before he gave up. The collars were impervious
to his best shears, and his hardest file failed to scratch their surface.
Using his acetylene torch was out of the question.