Word
Ik zag het appartement voor de bezichtiging.
Meaning
I saw the apartment before the viewing.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Ik zag het appartement voor de bezichtiging.
ik
I
zien
to see
voor
to (time), before
de bezichtiging
the viewing
Questions & Answers about Ik zag het appartement voor de bezichtiging.
Why is it zag instead of a regular past tense verb ending in -de or -te?
Zag is the simple past tense of zien (to see). Because zien is a strong (irregular) verb, it changes its vowel in the past tense rather than taking a regular ending. If the subject were plural, it would be zagen.
Can voor mean both "for" and "before"?
Yes! While English has separate words, Dutch uses voor for both "for" (e.g., a present for you) and "before" in time (as it is used here: before the viewing). It can also mean "in front of" when talking about physical space.
Bezichtiging is quite a long word. How is it formed?
It comes from the verb bezichtigen, which means to view or inspect a property or exhibition. The -ing suffix turns the action into a noun, exactly like "view" becoming "viewing" in English. Remember that all Dutch nouns ending in -ing are de words!
How would I use the grammar from this lesson to say "The viewing that I came for"?