Activities as nouns
To talk about an ongoing activity, like "the drilling" or "the renovating," use the full verb (the bare infinitive) and treat it as a neuter noun. These verbs-turned-nouns always take the definite article het.
| The neighbor's drilling is annoying. | Het boren van de buurman is vervelend. |
| The banging is caused by the renovating. | Het bonken komt door het verbouwen. |
Describing the activity
Because these infinitives act as neuter het nouns, they follow standard adjective rules. An adjective between het and the verb-noun gets an -e ending.
| The constant shouting is terrible. | Het voortdurende schreeuwen is verschrikkelijk. |
| The constant renovating drives us crazy. | Het voortdurende verbouwen maakt ons gek. |
Pointing to the noise
To point out a specific activity (like "that stomping"), use the neuter demonstrative pronouns dat (instead of die) or dit (instead of deze).
| That stomping irritates me, stop it! | Dat stampen irriteert me, stop ermee! |
Enduring the nuisance
Living with noisy neighbors can cause quite a nuisance (de overlast). Notice again how the adjective hard takes an -e ending when paired with the verb-noun zingen in the following example:
| Without earplugs I cannot tolerate the loud singing. | Zonder oordopjes kan ik het harde zingen niet verdragen. |
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