Does your coffee need a chair?

Cloggies can be quite funny sometimes. Sometimes they ask: zit er suiker in mijn koffie? This literally means: is there sugar sitting in my coffee?

Well… before you start to look for a chair in your coffee, just remember that it is the Dutch way for asking if there is sugar in the coffee. Sometimes the cloggies like to say zit (sit) instead of is (which would make more sense, right?)

Therefore you can also say: er zitten  letters in het alfabet or er zit een virusprogamma op mijn computer.  Once again, all you need to do is that you recognize it. You do not have to use the word zitten, it is just how the Dutch people sometimes like to say it. If you say: is er suiker in mijn koffie? then it is still great Dutch!

The most important thing is that a sentence with zit should not confuse you.  Yes, sometimes it means that someone is sitting on a chair, but not always…  so now you know what to do with sentences such as: er zit saldo op mijn kaart (there are still credits on my card) & er zit een haar in mijn soep :(  (there is a hair in my soup)

However, next time if a Dutch person says:  zit er suiker in mijn koffie?, you can be more creative and tease him or her a little bit. Just say: geen idee,misschien zwemt de suiker (no idea, the sugar might also be swimming)… Chances are high that they have no idea what you are talking about.

Then you need to explain that they used the word zit. Chances are high that Dutch people will be really surprised. Probably they had never thought about it and you never know… they might even think that your sharp observation is quite intelligent :)