Breakdown of De man las de geschreven beschrijving en zette zijn handtekening.
de man
the man
en
and
lezen
to read
zijn
his
schrijven
to write
zetten
to make (coffee/tea) / to put
de beschrijving
the description
de handtekening
the signature
Questions & Answers about De man las de geschreven beschrijving en zette zijn handtekening.
Why is the adjective form geschreven and not geschrevene?
Geschreven is the past participle of the strong verb schrijven (to write). When a strong past participle (one that already ends in -en) is used as an adjective in front of a noun, it does not get an extra -e ending. Therefore, it stays de geschreven beschrijving.
Is zette zijn handtekening the usual way to say "signed"?
Yes! While you can use the verb ondertekenen (to sign), the expression een handtekening zetten (literally "to set a signature") is an extremely common and natural Dutch way to talk about placing your signature on a document.
How are the words geschreven and beschrijving related in this sentence?
They share the same root word! Schrijven means "to write". Adding the prefix be- creates beschrijven (to describe). Finally, adding the suffix -ing turns the verb into a noun, making beschrijving (description).
Why is the verb las instead of leeste?
Las is the simple past tense of the irregular (strong) verb lezen (to read). Because it is irregular, it doesn't follow the standard -te or -de rules, and changes its vowel from e to a in the singular past tense.
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