zouden question by scottmcll 28. Feb 2013
One of my practice sentences is "We zouden elkaar voor de lunch treffen." And the translation given is "We had arranged to meet for lunch." I don't see how that is past tense. I would read that as "We should arrange to have lunch together." Can anyone clarify?
Cheers, Scott |
seinok 3. Mar 2013
I'm only a beginner myself but as far as I know zouden can also mean "was supposed to" so in that sense it's probably correct. http://www.dutchgrammar.com/en/?n=Verbs.Re22 |
oliver  13. Mar 2013
My translator sends you this message:
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We zouden elkaar voor de lunch treffen.
We had arranged to meet for lunch.
Alternative translation could be: We hadden afgesproken elkaar voor de lunch
te treffen. (which is also past tense)
Had arranged is past tense and so is 'zouden'. Zouden is past tense of
zullen (infinitive).
'We should arrange to have lunch together' translates into Dutch as: We
moeten eens voor de lunch afspreken, indicating that their is not an
arrangement as such yet, but an intention to make an arrangement. |
