Breakdown of Bevend wacht de zieke man op de arts.
de man
the man
de arts
the doctor
op
on
wachten
to wait
ziek
sick
beven
to tremble
Questions & Answers about Bevend wacht de zieke man op de arts.
How do we form bevend in this sentence?
Bevend is the present participle (meaning "trembling"). You form it by adding -d to the full infinitive of the verb beven (to tremble). In this sentence, it is used as an adverb to describe how the man is waiting.
Why does the verb wacht come before the subject de zieke man?
Because the sentence starts with bevend. In Dutch, when you put anything other than the subject at the beginning of a sentence, the verb and subject swap places. This is called inversion.
Why does the sentence use op instead of voor to say "for"?
The Dutch verb for "to wait" is wachten. When you want to say "wait for someone or something", you must use the fixed combination wachten op. So, "to wait for the doctor" is always wachten op de arts.
Why does ziek get an -e at the end (de zieke man)?
Ziek (sick) is an adjective describing the noun man. Because man is a de-word and we are using the definite article de ("the"), the adjective must get an extra -e at the end.
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