Breakdown of Ik voel me vandaag heel blij.
ik
I
blij
happy
vandaag
today
heel
very
zich
oneself
zich voelen
to feel
Questions & Answers about Ik voel me vandaag heel blij.
Why do we need the word me in this sentence?
In English, you just say "I feel happy". But in Dutch, the verb for feeling an emotion is zich voelen, which is a reflexive verb. This means it always needs an extra pronoun that reflects back to the subject. Because the subject is Ik, we use me.
If I want to say "He feels very happy today," how does the reflexive pronoun change?
The reflexive pronoun has to match the new subject. For hij (he), zij/ze (she), and het (it), the reflexive pronoun is zich. So the sentence becomes: Hij voelt zich vandaag heel blij.
Why is vandaag placed before heel blij?
Dutch generally places time words before descriptive words. Vandaag (today) tells us when, so it comes right after the verb and pronoun, before the feeling heel blij (very happy).
Could I use erg instead of heel to say "very happy"?
Yes! In Dutch, both heel and erg are commonly used to mean "very" before an adjective. Saying Ik voel me vandaag erg blij means exactly the same thing.
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