Word
Nee, we hebben het nieuwe behang zelf gekozen.
Meaning
No, we chose the new wallpaper ourselves.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Nee, we hebben het nieuwe behang zelf gekozen.
hebben
to have
kiezen
to choose
nieuw
new
we
we (unstressed form of wij)
Questions & Answers about Nee, we hebben het nieuwe behang zelf gekozen.
Why do we use zelf here instead of alleen?
Zelf emphasizes that the subjects did the action personally, rather than having someone else (like a decorator) do it. If you used alleen, it would mean you chose the wallpaper "alone" (without anyone else in the room). Because the focus is on doing it "ourselves," zelf is the right choice.
The translation says "ourselves". Why don't we use a plural pronoun like onszelf?
When emphasizing who did an action, Dutch just uses the basic word zelf, no matter who the subject is (I, you, we, they). Words like onszelf or mezelf are only used when the action is truly reflexive, for example: "we injured ourselves" (we hebben onszelf bezeerd).
Why does nieuwe get an -e added to it, since behang is a het word?
You only drop the -e from an adjective before a het word if you are using the indefinite article een (a/an) or no article at all. Because this sentence uses the definite article het (the), the adjective gets the standard -e ending: het nieuwe behang.
Why does zelf come after het nieuwe behang?