"De melk is achter de kaas."
Translation:The milk is behind the cheese.
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The way the speaker says "Kaas" sounds too much like "Kat" and it gets me every single time.
It clearly sounds like kaas to me (native Dutch speaker), not like kat at all. Just keep on listening, with practice you'll get better at hearing the different sounds.
And to me (not a native speaker). The vowel sound is quite different, as well as t/s.
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Being a displaced Irishman I heard "cat" too - a very southern Irish pronunciation approximates [cash] with a very light touch on the sh sound - just like Dutch kaas, in fact.
After half a dozen tries, however, I did hear "kaas".
Keep listening, fishystikky! It will happen!
This was my first encounter with 'achter'. I thought it couldn't possibly mean behind. What sort of heathen would organise their fridge with such recklessness. I need help.
This sentence could also be directions in the supermarket, like if there is a cheese stand, and the milk stand is behind it.
My first thought on seeing this sentence was that milk is the source of cheese, because "behind" meaning "the cause of" is a thing in English. :)
It's valid to use the word for that purpose too, although we'd use another verb with it.
Wie is het brein achter de overval? (Who's the brain behind the robbery?) De clown zit achter het kwade plan. (The clown's behind the evil plan.)
Litterally your fantasy would be: Wie is de schuld van al deze kaas? (Who is to blame for all this cheese?) De melk zit achter de kaas. (zitten = to sit)
It's valid to use the word for that purpose too, although we'd use another verb with it.
Wie is het brein achter de overval? (Who's the brain behind the robbery?) De clown zit achter het kwade plan. (The clown's behind the evil plan.)
Litterally your fantasy would be: Wie is de schuld van al deze kaas? (Who is to blame for all this cheese?) De melk zit achter de kaas. (zitten = to sit)
- 1270
I do not remember - and maybe never really knew, but I would surmise that it is because the sentence is making an assertion about the the relative positions of the milk and the cheese, and this is somehow different from saying that the milk is on the table (in which case staat would be used) or in the fridge (in which case zit would be used).
If the mik would be upright in the fridge it would still be "staat". "Zitten" is only used by default when there's no appropriate verb.
I think, if it use your approach, it must be 'de glas melk staat achter de kaas' .. But, idk for sure, just assuming.
"Het glas", as "glas" is neuter. "Het glas melk staat achter de kaas." (The glas of milk is standing behind the cheese.) Provided there's room, that would be a fine sentence. But it doesn't depend on the refrigerator, but on whether the milk can be described as standing.
It is, but for some reason nowadays all these location verbs have become Anglicisms, using "be" instead of e.g. "staat". It's almost as if someone intentionally changed these exercises to make sure pupils won't learn this.
Why couldn't it mean "The milk is after the cheese" as if it comes after it? (During a meal for example)
Achter comes from the Old Dutch after. One can see the close connection between "after" and "behind".
This is impossible the first couple of times because he does not speak clear. I am 99% sure that he says kat. We shouldn't have to KNOW the sentence to get it right. We should be able to understand the speaker. My wife is Dutch and she said kat.
No, you should be able to understand the speaker eventually. To know beforehand what will be set is not really all that much of a help.
Learn as soon as possible how to ask speakers to repeat their words. It's nice to have a small vocabulary that you are certain of, but being able to eventually figure out what a speaker says will help you faster and further.
Currently I have a female speaker, who clearly says "kaas".