Breakdown of De beroemde acteur was de moeilijke scène aan het repeteren.
zijn
to be
moeilijk
difficult
aan
on / at (attached to, edge)
beroemd
famous
de scène
the scene
de acteur
the actor
repeteren
to rehearse
Questions & Answers about De beroemde acteur was de moeilijke scène aan het repeteren.
Why is "was rehearsing" split up by "de moeilijke scène" in this sentence?
To say what someone "was doing" in the past, Dutch uses was (or waren) + aan het + the whole verb (repeteren). But unlike English, Dutch separates the helper verb (was) from the action part (aan het repeteren). The object of the action (de moeilijke scène) is placed right in the middle!
Why do the adjectives "beroemd" and "moeilijk" both get an extra "-e" at the end?
In Dutch, an adjective generally gets an -e added to it when it stands directly before a noun. Because both acteur and scène are de words (rather than het words) and are preceded by de, their adjectives beroemde and moeilijke must take that extra -e.
Why does the word "scène" have an accent mark?
Dutch borrowed the word scène directly from French. It keeps its original French spelling, including the grave accent pointing down to the right. The accent tells you to pronounce it with a short "eh" sound, similar to the English word "sen" with a very soft "uh" added at the end.
Why doesn't "repeteren" have double letters for the long "e" sounds?
This is because of the Dutch open syllable rule. When you break repeteren into syllables (re-pe-te-ren), the first three syllables end in a single vowel. A single vowel at the end of a syllable is automatically pronounced long, so you don't need to write a double "e".
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