Breakdown of Het incident was onvoorzien en gevaarlijk.
zijn
to be
en
and
gevaarlijk
dangerous
het incident
the incident
Questions & Answers about Het incident was onvoorzien en gevaarlijk.
How is the word onvoorzien built, and does it work exactly like its English translation?
Yes, it translates almost perfectly! It combines the prefix on- (un-), voor (fore/before), and the verb zien (to see). Just like in English, it functions as an adjective here, but it comes from the past participle of the verb voorzien (to foresee).
Is there a rule for why it is het incident instead of de incident?
Yes, there is a helpful pattern. Non-living things and abstract concepts that end in '-ent' almost always take het (for example, het moment, het talent). However, if a word ending in '-ent' refers to a person, it takes de (like de student or de docent).
What does the suffix -lijk do in the word gevaarlijk?
It turns the noun gevaar (danger) into an adjective meaning 'dangerous'. The suffix -lijk is very common in Dutch and often translates to '-ous', '-able', or '-ly' in English. Remember that the 'ij' in -lijk is pronounced as a short, unstressed 'uh' sound, so it sounds like 'luk'.
Since we are currently learning about wegens (due to) and tijdens (during), how could I use one of those with this vocabulary?