Word
Verbazen wij ons over de prijs van het huis?
Meaning
Are we surprised about the price of the house?
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Verbazen wij ons over de prijs van het huis?
het huis
the house
wij
we
over
about
van
from (possession, starting point) / made of
Questions & Answers about Verbazen wij ons over de prijs van het huis?
Why do we need the word ons in this sentence?
The verb used here is zich verbazen (to be surprised). In Dutch, this is a reflexive verb, meaning the action reflects back on the subject. Because the subject is wij (we), the matching reflexive pronoun is ons. Literally, the sentence is structured like "Do we amaze ourselves?"
Why are wij and ons placed right next to each other?
Because this is a yes/no question, the verb comes first, followed immediately by the subject (Verbazen wij). The reflexive pronoun (ons) needs to stay as close to the verb as possible. In this question format, that means it must sit directly after the subject.
Why use the preposition over to mean "about" here?
Many reflexive verbs are paired with a fixed preposition that you simply have to memorize. To express being surprised "about", "at", or "by" something, Dutch specifically uses the set combination zich verbazen over.
Why say de prijs van het huis instead of adding an 's to the house?
When talking about inanimate objects or concepts (like a house) rather than people, Dutch almost always uses van (of) to show possession. So de prijs van het huis (the price of the house) is the most natural and grammatically correct way to phrase it.