Question Words
Question Words
Dutch question words trigger the same verb-second inversion as any fronted word, while English instead relies on a helper verb ('do') to form most of its questions.
Grammar Comparison
Grammar Comparison
Question word, then verb, then subject
Wat eet je? (What do you eat? — wat is slot 1, eet is slot 2, je comes after)
What do you eat?
English needs the helper verb 'do' to ask most questions ('What do you eat?', not 'What eat you?'). Dutch has no such helper: it puts the question word in slot one and the real verb immediately after in slot two, with the subject coming next — Wat eet je?, literally 'What eat you?' Resist reaching for a Dutch equivalent of 'do' — it doesn't exist.
Yes/no questions invert without any helper word
Eet je rijst? (Do you eat rice? — eet simply moves before je)
Do you eat rice?
Just as with question words, Dutch yes/no questions skip the 'do' entirely and simply swap the subject and verb: je eet → eet je?. English's 'do you eat' actually preserves an old pattern that most other Germanic languages, Dutch included, never developed — so this is one of the clearest structural differences between the two languages, not a shortcut you already know.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
| Dutch | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| wat | vaht | what |
| wie | vee | who |
| waar | vahr | where |
| wanneer | vah-NAYR | when |
| hoe | hoo | how |
| waarom | vahr-OM | why |
| hoeveel | HOO-vayl | how much / many |
| welke | VEL-keh | which |