Breakdown of Zij kopen dat dure product niet, want de kwaliteit is slecht.
zijn
to be
niet
not
zij
they
kopen
to buy
Questions & Answers about Zij kopen dat dure product niet, want de kwaliteit is slecht.
Why is there an -e on dure if product is a het word?
Even though product is a het word, the sentence uses the specific pointing word dat. For het words, the adjective only stays in its basic form without the -e when it follows een or no article at all. After het, dit, or dat, it always gets the -e ending.
Why does the adjective duur lose a u when it becomes dure?
When you add the -e ending, the word splits into the syllables du-re. The first syllable now ends in a single vowel, making it an open syllable. In Dutch, a single vowel at the end of a syllable automatically has a long sound, so we drop the extra u. This is different from the comparative form in your current lesson: if you wanted to say more expensive, it becomes duurder. That word keeps the double vowel because the syllable is closed by the r (duur-der).
I learned that verbs go at the end after the word for because. Why does is stay in the middle here?
You are thinking of the word omdat. Both want and omdat mean because, but they affect sentence structure differently. Want is a coordinating conjunction, which means it just connects two normal sentences together. The verb stays in the normal second position (... want de kwaliteit is slecht). If you used omdat, the verb would move to the end (... omdat de kwaliteit slecht is).
Could I use ze instead of at the start of the sentence?