Breakdown of Ik zag een enge muis op de vloer.
ik
I
een
a/an
zien
to see
op
on
de muis
the mouse
eng
scary / creepy
de vloer
the floor
Questions & Answers about Ik zag een enge muis op de vloer.
What verb does zag come from, and how does it work in the plural?
Zag is the simple past tense of the irregular verb zien (to see). Instead of adding -te or -de, strong verbs change their vowels in the simple past. For plural subjects (like we or they), you add -en to the end, making it zagen (for example, wij zagen een muis).
Why is the adjective eng (scary) written as enge here?
We add the -e because muis is a de-word (de muis). Even when you use the indefinite article een (a), adjectives placed in front of de-words always get an -e at the end. If it were a het-word, like het monster, it would not get the extra -e (een eng monster).
I've also learned the word verdieping for floor. Why are we using vloer in this sentence?
De vloer means the physical surface you walk on inside a room, like a hardwood or tiled floor. De verdieping means a level or story of a building (like the first floor of an apartment block). Since the mouse is scurrying across the physical ground of the room, we use vloer.
Would a Dutch speaker normally use zag here, or the present perfect (heb gezien)?
Both are completely correct, but they have slightly different vibes. The simple past (zag) is often used when setting the scene for a story. If you are just suddenly announcing a recent event to a friend, the present perfect is very common in everyday spoken Dutch: Ik heb een enge muis gezien.
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