Breakdown of Dat vegetarische gerecht eet ik liever.
ik
I
eten
to eat
dat
that (het-words)
liever
rather (prefer)
Questions & Answers about Dat vegetarische gerecht eet ik liever.
How does liever translate to 'prefer to' in this sentence?
In English we use a verb to say we prefer something, but in Dutch you usually use the adverb liever (which means 'rather' or 'more gladly') along with an action verb. Instead of 'I prefer to eat', you literally say 'I eat rather' (eet ik liever). Liever is the comparative form of graag.
Why are the subject and verb swapped here (eet ik instead of ik eet)?
The sentence starts with the object, Dat vegetarische gerecht (That vegetarian dish). In Dutch, the verb must always be in the second position. Because the entire object takes up the first position, the verb (eet) comes next, pushing the subject (ik) to the third position. This is called inversion.
Gerecht is a het word. Why does the adjective vegetarische still get an -e at the end?
It is true that adjectives for het words sometimes drop the -e, but only when they follow een, geen, or no article at all. Because this sentence uses the specific word dat (that), the adjective keeps its normal -e ending.
Why is dat used for 'that' instead of die?