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中文Daily story · De zwarte kat · A1 · Chapter 1 of 20
De kat voor de deur The cat at the door
Before you read
Lotte has just moved to a new town to study. It is her first morning in her new room. Look at the title: someone is at the door.
Touch a word for its meaning; tap a sentence for its translation.
Ik ben Lotte. I'm Lotte.
Ik ben student. I'm a student.
In de ochtend eet ik brood. In the morning I eat bread.
Ik drink ook koffie. I drink coffee too.
Voor de deur staat een kat. There's a cat in front of the door.
Het is een zwarte kat. It's a black cat.
“Hallo. Wie ben jij?” "Hello. Who are you?"
De kat zegt niets. The cat says nothing.
De kat heeft een papiertje. The cat has a little piece of paper.
Op het papiertje staat: “drie”. On the paper it says "three".
“Drie? Wat is dat?” "Three? What is that?"
De kat gaat weg. The cat goes away.
The words glossed, the English for each sentence, the notes and the questions.
New words in this chapter
- student de student, studenten — student
- ochtend de ochtend, ochtenden — morning
- eten — to eat
- brood het brood — bread
- drinken — to drink
- koffie de koffie — coffee
- deur de deur, deuren — door
- staan — to stand; to be (somewhere); to be written
- kat de kat, katten — cat
- zwart — black
- papier het papier — paper (papiertje: a little piece of paper)
- weggaan — to go away
Grammar notes
In de ochtend eet ik brood — in the morning I eat bread
Verb second: the verb is always the second part of the sentence. When in de ochtend comes first, ik moves after the verb: eet ik, not ik eet.
Voor de deur staat een kat — there's a cat in front of the door
Dutch often says where something is with staan (stand), zitten (sit) or liggen (lie) where English says 'is'.
De kat gaat weg — the cat goes away
Weggaan is a separable verb: in a sentence the verb moves to second place and weg goes to the end: de kat gaat weg.
Questions
Read the story, then try these.
Summary (try reading it in Dutch first)
On Lotte's first morning a black cat sits at her door with a little piece of paper. On it is the number three. Then the cat walks away.
Make a free account and the next chapter comes each morning, at your level and your pace.