Tutorial
In Course: Dutch A2

Describing What You Are Doing in Dutch

Learn how to use Dutch posture verbs with te and an infinitive to describe what you are busy doing while sitting, standing, lying, or walking.

A candid photograph of a young Dutch woman sitting comfortably in a sunlit canal-side café in Amsterdam, completely engrossed in reading a book, with a steaming cup of coffee beside her. The scene should convey a sense of peaceful activity and typical Dutch `gezelligheid`, composed for a 3:2 landscape frame.
en-GB → nl-NL

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Deck Contents

35 Cards
Lesson#1
In Dutch, when you want to say what you are busy doing, you often describe your physical posture instead of using a generic continuous tense. By pairing verbs like 'zitten', 'staan', 'liggen', or 'lopen' with 'te' and an infinitive, you express both your ongoing activity and your physical position in one natural sentence.
Lesson#2
To describe an activity you are doing while seated, put the conjugated form of 'zitten' in second position, followed by middle field details, and place 'te' before the infinitive right at the end of the clause. For example, 'Hij zit een boek te lezen' means 'He is sitting reading a book'.
Quiz#3
Translate into Dutch: 'He is sitting reading a book.'

Hij zit een boek te lezen

Quiz#4
Translate into Dutch: 'I am sitting at the table working.'

Ik zit aan tafel te werken

Quiz#5
Translate into Dutch: 'They are sitting drinking coffee in the café.'

Zij zitten koffie te drinken in het café

Quiz#6
Speaking to a friend, translate into Dutch: 'What are you sitting there doing?'

Wat zit je daar te doen?

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