Breakdown of Waarom is het meisje aan het huilen?
zijn
to be
het meisje
the girl
waarom
why
aan
on / at (attached to, edge)
huilen
to cry
Questions & Answers about Waarom is het meisje aan het huilen?
How is the 'is ... crying' action formed in this sentence?
This sentence uses the Dutch present continuous structure: a form of zijn (to be) + aan het + the whole verb (infinitive). Here, we use is because the subject is het meisje, followed by aan het huilen (crying) at the end of the sentence.
Why is the verb is placed before het meisje?
Because this is a question starting with a question word (Waarom). In Dutch questions, the verb and the subject swap places, so is comes before het meisje. The rest of the action (aan het huilen) stays at the very end.
Why do we use the article het for a girl (het meisje) instead of de?
Because meisje is a diminutive word (meaning it ends in -je to show it is small or cute). In Dutch, all diminutive words automatically use the article het, even if they refer to a person!
Could I just say Waarom huilt het meisje?
Yes, you can! The simple present tense (huilt) can mean both 'cries' and 'is crying'. However, using the zijn aan het structure like in this sentence heavily emphasizes that the action is happening right at this exact moment.
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