Breakdown of Zij zijn de reservering aan het bevestigen.
zijn
to be
zij
they
aan
on / at (attached to, edge)
de reservering
the reservation
bevestigen
to confirm
Questions & Answers about Zij zijn de reservering aan het bevestigen.
Why is de reservering placed before aan het bevestigen?
In Dutch, when you use the continuous form zijn aan het (to be doing something), the direct object (de reservering) goes between the conjugated verb (zijn) and the aan het + infinitive part. The Dutch word order is literally "They are the reservation at the confirming."
This lesson is about zouden (would). How would I change this to say "They would confirm the reservation"?
To use the hypothetical form, you drop the aan het structure entirely. You use zouden as your conjugated verb and put the infinitive (the full verb, bevestigen) at the end of the sentence: Zij zouden de reservering bevestigen.
Is it possible to say "Zij zijn aan het bevestigen de reservering" just like the English word order?
No, that word order is incorrect in Dutch. The aan het + infinitive phrase acts as a solid block that belongs at the end of the clause. Objects and other details almost always have to come before it.
Could I just say Zij bevestigen de reservering to mean the same thing?
Yes! Dutch uses the simple present tense (zij bevestigen) to mean both "they confirm" and "they are confirming". You only need to use the zijn aan het structure when you really want to emphasize that they are right in the middle of doing it at this exact moment.
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