Breakdown of Fluisterend vertelt het meisje het verhaal.
het meisje
the girl
het verhaal
the story
vertellen
to tell
fluisteren
to whisper
Questions & Answers about Fluisterend vertelt het meisje het verhaal.
How is the word fluisterend formed?
It is the present participle, which translates to the English '-ing' form (whispering). To make it, you take the full infinitive verb fluisteren (to whisper) and simply add a -d to the end.
Why doesn't fluisterend have an -e added to the end?
In this sentence, fluisterend is used as an adverb. It describes how the girl is doing the action (telling). When a present participle is used as an adverb of manner, it keeps its basic form and does not get an extra -e.
Why is the verb vertelt placed before the subject het meisje?
This happens because of the Dutch 'verb second' rule. Since the sentence starts with the adverb fluisterend, the verb vertelt must immediately follow it to stay in the second position. The subject het meisje is then pushed to the third spot.
Since a girl is female, why do we use the neuter article het for het meisje?
Because meisje is a diminutive (a 'little' version of a word, ending in -je). In Dutch, all diminutive words automatically take het, even if they refer to a person.
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