Breakdown of De zanger heeft niet alleen een mooie stem, maar het lied is ook indrukwekkend.
zijn
to be
een
a/an
ook
also / -ever (concessive particle)
niet
not
maar
but
hebben
to have
mooi
beautiful
het lied
the song
alleen
alone; only
de zanger
the singer
de stem
the voice
indrukwekkend
impressive
Questions & Answers about De zanger heeft niet alleen een mooie stem, maar het lied is ook indrukwekkend.
Why are maar and ook separated in the second half of the sentence?
In Dutch, maar (but) is a coordinating conjunction that connects the two main clauses. ook (also) acts as an adverb inside that second clause. Just like in English ("but the song is also..."), ook generally doesn't sit right next to maar; instead, it comes after the subject (het lied) and the verb (is).
Does the word maar change the word order in the second clause?
No, it doesn't. maar is a coordinating conjunction, meaning it links two main clauses without messing with their internal structure. If you cross out maar, you are left with a perfectly normal main clause: het lied is ook indrukwekkend (Subject + Verb + Adverb + Adjective).
Why is niet alleen placed after the verb heeft in the first clause?
Because of the Dutch "V2 rule", the conjugated verb must be the second piece of information in a main clause. Since the subject De zanger takes up the first position, the verb heeft must come exactly second. Therefore, niet alleen (not only) has to wait until after the verb.
The word indrukwekkend looks quite long. How is it built?
It is made up of parts you might already recognize! indruk means "impression", and the verb wekken means "to generate" or "to awaken". The -end at the end turns it into an adjective (just like adding "-ing" in English). So, it literally means "impression-generating", which translates to "impressive".
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