Breakdown of Dit is de hoogste toren van de wereld.
zijn
to be
dit
this (neuter)
van
from (possession, starting point) / made of
hoog
high / tall
de toren
the tower
de wereld
the world
Questions & Answers about Dit is de hoogste toren van de wereld.
How do we form the superlative hoogste from the basic adjective hoog?
To make the superlative, you normally add -st to the adjective, giving us hoogst. Then, because it is used directly before the noun toren along with the definite article de, we add the standard adjective ending -e. This gives us de hoogste toren.
Why does hoogste have two o's, while the normal adjective in de hoge toren only has one?
This is due to Dutch spelling rules. In ho-ge, the first syllable ends in an open vowel, so one o is enough to make a long sound. In the superlative hoog-ste, the first syllable ends in a consonant. To keep that same long vowel sound in a closed syllable, we must write it with a double oo.
The English translation says 'in the world', but doesn't van mean 'of'?
Yes! In Dutch, when you are talking about the highest, biggest, or best within a certain group or place, you use van (of) rather than in. So 'the highest in the world' literally translates to de hoogste van de wereld.
Toren is a de-word. Why does the sentence start with dit is instead of deze is?
When you introduce or point something out using 'This is...' or 'That is...', Dutch always uses the fixed phrases dit is or dat is, regardless of the noun's gender. You only use deze if you put it directly in front of the noun, like in deze toren is de hoogste (this tower is the highest).
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