Breakdown of De actrice was haar make-up aan het zoeken.
zijn
to be
zoeken
to look for
haar
her
aan
on / at (attached to, edge)
de actrice
the actress
de make-up
the makeup
Questions & Answers about De actrice was haar make-up aan het zoeken.
Why is haar make-up placed in the middle of the verbs instead of at the end?
In the Dutch continuous tense, the structure was/waren aan het + infinitive (the full dictionary verb) gets split up. The conjugated verb (was) takes the normal second position in the sentence, while aan het zoeken gets pushed to the very end. The object she is looking for (haar make-up) gets sandwiched in between them.
Why do we use zoeken here instead of kijken for 'looking'?
In Dutch, zoeken specifically means 'to look for' or 'to search'. You would use kijken naar if you meant 'to look at' or 'to watch' something. Because the actress is actively searching for her makeup, zoeken is the correct verb.
If there were multiple actresses, what happens to the aan het zoeken part?
It stays exactly the same! Only the main verb changes to match the plural subject. You would change was to waren, making the sentence: De actrices waren hun make-up aan het zoeken (The actresses were looking for their makeup).
Does Dutch really just use the English word make-up?
Yes, Dutch borrows many words from English, especially for beauty, technology, and business. It is pronounced almost exactly like the English word. Like most English loanwords in Dutch, it is a 'de' word (de make-up).
Learn De actrice was haar make-up aan het zoeken and more in Dutch
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free