Breakdown of Zelfs de slechtste speler kan een medaille winnen in dit toernooi.
een
a/an
in
in
dit
this (neuter)
slecht
bad
kunnen
can
winnen
to win
de speler
the player
zelfs
even
het toernooi
tournament
de medaille
medal
Questions & Answers about Zelfs de slechtste speler kan een medaille winnen in dit toernooi.
How does zelfs affect the word order at the start of this sentence?
Zelfs (even) puts focus on the words immediately following it. Here, it groups together with de slechtste speler to form the complete subject of the sentence. Because this entire block acts as the first idea in the sentence, the verb kan naturally takes the second position. You do not invert the subject and verb here because zelfs is not sitting in the first position all by itself.
How do we get the word slechtste for "worst"?
In Dutch, the superlative form (the "most" or "-est" form) is usually made by adding -ste to the adjective. So, slecht (bad) becomes slechtste (worst). Because it comes right before the noun speler, it gets an -e at the end, just like a regular adjective would.
Why is the phrase in dit toernooi placed after the infinitive verb winnen?
When you use a modal verb like kan, the second verb (winnen) usually goes at the end of the sentence. However, prepositional phrases starting with words like in, op, or met are an exception. They are often allowed to come after the final verb. Saying ... kan een medaille in dit toernooi winnen is also completely correct, but pushing the place or context phrase to the very end sounds relaxed and natural.
Why do we use dit toernooi instead of deze toernooi?
The word toernooi is a neuter noun, which means it is a het-word (het toernooi). When you want to say "this" or "that" with a het-word, you must use dit or dat. You only use deze or die for de-words.
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