Question 1

Why does risico's have an apostrophe instead of just ending in -s?

Accepted Answer

In Dutch, when a noun ends in a single vowel that sounds long (like a, i, o, u, or y), we use an apostrophe before the plural -s. This keeps the pronunciation of the vowel long. If we just wrote it as one word, it would break Dutch spelling rules for vowel length. Since risico ends in an open -o, its plural becomes risico's.

Question 2

Why do we use zijn er here instead of is er?

Accepted Answer

Zijn er translates to 'are there'. We use the plural verb zijn because we are talking about multiple risks (risico's). If you wanted to ask about a single risk, you would use the singular: Is er een risico? (Is there a risk?).

Question 3

Why is the word for 'many' veel instead of vele?

Accepted Answer

In everyday Dutch, veel is used for both 'much' (uncountable things) and 'many' (countable things, like plural risks). You might occasionally see vele used with plural words, but it sounds very formal. For standard daily use, veel risico's is exactly right.

Question 4

Why does the sentence start with the verb Zijn?

Accepted Answer

This is a simple yes/no question. Just like in English, you change a normal statement (Er zijn... meaning 'There are...') into a yes/no question by swapping the verb and the subject. That puts the verb at the very front: Zijn er...? ('Are there...?').

Zijn er veel risico's?

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