Breakdown of Tijdens de opgraving vonden ze een grote tempel.
een
a/an
groot
big
vinden
to find
ze
they; she (unstressed form of zij) / them (object)
tijdens
during
de tempel
the temple
de opgraving
the excavation
Questions & Answers about Tijdens de opgraving vonden ze een grote tempel.
Why is the verb before the subject here (vonden ze instead of ze vonden)?
Because the sentence starts with the phrase Tijdens de opgraving (During the excavation). In Dutch, whenever a main clause starts with something other than the subject, the verb must come second, pushing the subject to the third position. This is known as inversion.
How would you rewrite this sentence in the past perfect passive ('A large temple had been found') to fit the current lesson?
You would say: Tijdens de opgraving was een grote tempel gevonden. For the past perfect passive, Dutch uses the past tense of zijn (was/waren) plus the past participle (gevonden). While English uses 'had been', Dutch literally says 'was' to mean 'had been' in a passive sentence.
Why does the adjective get an extra letter in grote tempel?
Tempel is a de-word (de tempel). Adjectives placed directly before a noun get an -e ending, unless it is a het-word following een. Since tempel is a de-word, groot gets an -e. Notice that the spelling also changes from groot to grote to keep the vowel sound long.
Is vonden a regular or irregular past tense?
It is irregular (a strong verb). The infinitive is vinden (to find). Instead of adding the typical past tense endings (-de or -te), it changes its vowel. The singular past is vond and the plural form used here with ze is vonden.
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