Breakdown of De student maakte een verslag voor dat vak.
een
a/an
de student
the student
maken
to make
dat
that (het-words)
Questions & Answers about De student maakte een verslag voor dat vak.
How do we know to add -te to form the past tense maakte?
The infinitive is maken (to make). If we remove the -en, we get the root maak. Because maak ends in k, which is one of the voiceless consonants in 't kofschip, we add -te to make the singular simple past.
Why is there a double 'a' in maakte when the infinitive maken only has one?
This is a spelling rule to keep the vowel sound long. In maken (ma-ken), the single a is at the end of an open syllable, so it is naturally long. When we form the root, the syllable becomes closed by the k. If we just wrote mak, the a would sound short. We have to double it to maak before adding -te.
Why do we use dat vak instead of die vak?
Because vak (subject/course) is a het-word (het vak). To say "that" with a het-word, you must use dat. If it were a de-word, like de klas (the class), you would use die (die klas).
Does vak mean the same thing as cursus?