Breakdown of De eigenaar wacht op de derde verdieping.
op
on
derde
third (3rd)
de verdieping
the floor (level of a building)
de eigenaar
the owner
Questions & Answers about De eigenaar wacht op de derde verdieping.
I learned that wachten op means "to wait for". Does this mean the owner is waiting for the third floor?
Good catch! While the fixed combination wachten op does mean "to wait for" (as in ik wacht op de trein), here op is just a regular preposition of location. It simply tells us where the owner is waiting: physically on the third floor. You have to rely on context to tell the difference.
How would I use the grammar from this lesson to say "The third floor on which the owner is waiting"?
This is where you use the waar + preposition rule! Because verdieping (floor) is an inanimate object, we cannot say op wie (on whom). Instead, we combine waar and the preposition op to get waarop. The phrase becomes: De derde verdieping waarop de eigenaar wacht.
Why is it derde instead of drie?
Derde means "third", whereas drie means "three". For most Dutch numbers from 1 to 19, you add -de to the number to make it an ordinal number (like vier to vierde). However, 3 is irregular, changing from drie to derde.
Does de derde verdieping refer to the same floor as "the third floor" in American English?