Word
Het huiswerk van de tiener zal wel slordig zijn.
Meaning
The teenager's homework is probably sloppy.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Het huiswerk van de tiener zal wel slordig zijn.
zijn
to be
het huiswerk
the homework
zullen
shall / will
van
from (possession, starting point) / made of
Questions & Answers about Het huiswerk van de tiener zal wel slordig zijn.
Why does this sentence use zal if it translates to 'is probably' instead of the future tense 'will be'?
What is the purpose of the word wel in this sentence?
Why is the verb zijn placed at the very end of the sentence?
Because this sentence uses a modal verb (zal). In Dutch main clauses, the conjugated modal verb takes the second position, and the main action verb (the infinitive zijn) gets pushed to the very end of the sentence.
Why does the sentence use van de tiener instead of something like 'de tieners huiswerk'?
Although adding an 's' to form a possessive does exist in Dutch (often for names like 'Anna's huiswerk'), using van (meaning 'of') is much more common and sounds more natural for regular nouns. Saying 'the homework of the teenager' is the standard way to express 'the teenager's homework'.