Breakdown of De beroemde actrice was het script aan het lezen.
zijn
to be
lezen
to read
aan
on / at (attached to, edge)
beroemd
famous
het script
the script
de actrice
the actress
Questions & Answers about De beroemde actrice was het script aan het lezen.
How does the past continuous work in this sentence with was and aan het?
To say someone 'was doing' something, Dutch uses the past tense of zijn (to be) plus aan het and the whole verb (the infinitive). Here, was pairs with aan het lezen to mean 'was reading'.
Why is het script placed in the middle of the verb structure?
In Dutch, the direct object (het script) comes between the conjugated verb (was) and the rest of the verb phrase (aan het lezen). You cannot put the object at the end like in the English 'was reading the script'.
Why does the adjective beroemde end in an -e?
The base adjective is beroemd (famous). We add an -e here because it comes right before a de word (de actrice). This is a standard rule for adjectives placed in front of de nouns.
Is script exactly the same word as in English?
Yes, it is an English loanword! In Dutch, it is a neuter word, which is why it uses the article het.
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