Breakdown of Vandaag bewonderen verschillende bezoekers de nieuwe tentoonstelling.
vandaag
today
nieuw
new
verschillende
various, several
de bezoeker
the visitor
Questions & Answers about Vandaag bewonderen verschillende bezoekers de nieuwe tentoonstelling.
Is verschillende an adjective or a present participle here?
Verschillende is the present participle of the verb verschillen (to differ). While it literally means "differing", it is used here as an adjective to mean "several" or "various". Because it is used attributively (placed directly before the plural noun bezoekers), it gets the standard adjective -e ending.
Why is the verb bewonderen placed before the subject verschillende bezoekers?
This is a classic case of inversion. Because the sentence starts with the time indicator Vandaag (today) instead of the subject, the verb must take the second position in the sentence. Therefore, the verb and the subject swap places.
The English translation uses "are admiring", so why doesn't the Dutch sentence use the aan het continuous form?
Dutch frequently uses the simple present tense for ongoing actions where English requires the present continuous. While you could technically use an aan het construction to emphasize that the action is happening right this exact moment, the simple present bewonderen is much more natural and common here.
Why does nieuw get an -e added to it in nieuwe tentoonstelling?