Breakdown of Zij is net zo knap en aardig als haar moeder.
zijn
to be
zij
she
en
and
de moeder
the mother
haar
her
zo
so (to such a degree)
knap
handsome / pretty
als
as (like / conjunction)
aardig
nice / kind (friendly person)
net
just / exactly (time / similarity)
Questions & Answers about Zij is net zo knap en aardig als haar moeder.
Could I use even ... als in this sentence instead of net zo ... als?
Yes! You can say Zij is even knap en aardig als haar moeder. Both net zo ... als and even ... als mean "as ... as" or "just as ... as". They are completely interchangeable for equality comparisons, so you can use whichever you prefer.
I thought knap meant "smart". Does it mean "pretty" here?
It can mean both! Knap is a very common word for "pretty" or "handsome" when talking about people's looks. When talking about intelligence or a clever achievement, it means "smart" or "clever". Here, paired with aardig (nice) and compared to her mother, it usually means "pretty", but it could technically mean "smart" depending on the context.
Do I need to repeat net zo before the second adjective, aardig?
No, you don't need to repeat it. The phrase net zo applies to both adjectives because they are grouped together with en (and). Just like in English, saying "just as" once at the beginning covers everything before the word als.
Is there a difference between zij and ze at the start of this sentence?
Zij puts a little more emphasis on "she" than the unstressed word ze. In a comparison like this, it is very common to use the emphasized zij to make it clear exactly who you are comparing to the mother, but ze would also be grammatically correct.
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