Breakdown of We zijn nu een beetje bang.
zijn
to be
nu
now
bang
scared
een beetje
a bit
we
we (unstressed form of wij)
Questions & Answers about We zijn nu een beetje bang.
Why doesn't the adjective bang get an -e at the end here?
Because it is a predicative adjective. That means it comes after a verb (like zijn) to describe the subject, instead of sitting directly in front of a noun. In Dutch, adjectives never get an extra -e when used this way.
What does een beetje literally mean?
It translates perfectly to "a bit" or "a little". The word beetje is a diminutive (a "little" version) of beet, which means "bite". So it literally means "a little bite". You can put it in front of almost any adjective to soften it.
Could I leave out een and just say "We zijn nu beetje bang"?
No, you need the word een here. Just like in English you say "a bit scared" rather than "bit scared", the set phrase in Dutch is always een beetje.
Why is the time word nu placed before een beetje bang?
In Dutch, adverbs of time like nu usually come very early in the sentence, right after the main verb. This pushes the adjective phrase een beetje bang to the end.
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