Breakdown of Laten we tijdens de toespraak vreedzaam blijven.
blijven
to stay
we
we (unstressed form of wij)
laten
to let (laten we ... = let's ...)
tijdens
during
vreedzaam
peaceful
de toespraak
the speech
Questions & Answers about Laten we tijdens de toespraak vreedzaam blijven.
Why is the verb blijven placed at the very end of the sentence?
This happens because of the phrase laten we ("let's"). When you make a suggestion using laten we, it pushes the main action verb—in this case, blijven ("to stay" or "to remain")—to the very end of the clause. It appears as a bare infinitive, meaning the full verb form without any extra words like te.
What is the difference between tijdens and terwijl? Could I use terwijl here?
No, you must use tijdens in this sentence. Tijdens is a preposition meaning "during," and it is always followed by a noun or noun phrase, like de toespraak ("the speech"). Terwijl means "while" and is used to introduce a whole new clause containing its own subject and verb (for example: Let's stay peaceful while he speaks).
How is the word vreedzaam ("peaceful") formed?
It is built from the noun vrede, which means "peace." The Dutch suffix -zaam is used to turn nouns or verbs into adjectives, very much like the English suffixes "-ful" or "-some." When combined, the spelling adjusts slightly to give us vreedzaam.
Toespraak translates to "speech." What are the parts of this compound word?
It is a combination of toe (which often implies a direction, like "towards") and spraak (meaning "speech" or "language," which is related to the verb spreken - "to speak"). A toespraak is literally speech directed towards an audience.
Learn Laten we tijdens de toespraak vreedzaam blijven 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