Breakdown of De man is hier, maar de vrouw is daar.
zijn
to be
de man
the man
de vrouw
the woman
hier
here
maar
but
daar
there
Questions & Answers about De man is hier, maar de vrouw is daar.
Why do both man and vrouw use the article de instead of het?
In Dutch, nouns that refer to people (like man and vrouw) are almost always de words. You don't have to guess the gender for most people!
Is there any exception to the rule that words for people get de?
Yes! The most common exception you will see at this level is het meisje (the girl). This is because it ends in -je (a diminutive, which means a 'little' version of something). All diminutive words use het, even if they are people.
Does the word maar (but) change the word order of the second part of the sentence?
No, maar just links two normal sentences together. You can see this because the second half (de vrouw is daar) keeps the exact same Subject-Verb order as the first half (De man is hier).
Are hier and daar related to English?
Yes, they are very close cousins to the English words 'here' and 'there'. You use them exactly the same way to contrast something close to you (hier) with something further away (daar).
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