Word
Mijn broer ergert zich altijd aan het verkeer.
Meaning
My brother is always annoyed by the traffic.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Mijn broer ergert zich altijd aan het verkeer.
de broer
the brother
altijd
always
mijn
my
aan
on / at (attached to, edge)
Questions & Answers about Mijn broer ergert zich altijd aan het verkeer.
Why does the sentence use zich?
Mijn broer (my brother) is a third-person subject ('he'). In Dutch, the reflexive pronoun for 'he', 'she', 'it', and 'they' is always zich. It is a required part of the verb zich ergeren (to be annoyed).
In English we say 'is annoyed'. Why does Dutch use ergert zich?
While English uses the verb 'to be' to describe this feeling, Dutch uses a reflexive verb: zich ergeren (which literally means 'to annoy oneself'). So instead of saying he 'is' annoyed, Dutch grammar phrases it as he 'annoys himself'.
Why is the preposition aan used here for 'by'?
Many Dutch verbs have fixed prepositions that you simply have to memorize together. The verb zich ergeren always pairs with aan to indicate what is causing the annoyance. It helps to think of zich ergeren aan as a single package.
Why does zich come before altijd?
Reflexive pronouns like zich are very closely tied to the verb and like to stick right next to it. Adverbs of time, such as altijd (always), usually come after the reflexive pronoun.