Breakdown of De zware tassen staan hier.
hier
here
de tas
the bag
staan
to stand
zwaar
heavy / severe (of a punishment) / tough, hard
Questions & Answers about De zware tassen staan hier.
Why does the adjective zwaar get an -e at the end to become zware?
When an adjective comes directly before a noun, it usually gets an -e ending. This is called an attributive adjective. Because it describes the noun tassen, the base word zwaar gets this -e.
Why is there only one 'a' in zware when the base word is zwaar?
When we add the -e, we split the word into syllables: zwa-re. In Dutch, a syllable that ends in a single vowel automatically has a long vowel sound. Since the 'a' is already long, the extra 'a' from zwaar is dropped.
Why does the plural noun tassen have two 's' letters when the singular is tas?
This is the opposite of the rule for zware! The word tas has a short 'a' sound. When adding -en to make it plural, we double the 's' to keep the syllable closed (tas-sen). If we didn't double the 's' (ta-sen), the 'a' would incorrectly turn into a long vowel sound.
Can I just say 'De zware tassen zijn hier' instead of using staan?
You would be understood, but it sounds unnatural. Dutch prefers positional verbs like staan (to stand), liggen (to lie), or zitten (to sit) to describe where things are. Because bags have a flat bottom and sit upright, we say they staan.