Breakdown of De man antwoordde dat het werk meeviel.
de man
the man
het werk
the work
dat
that (conjunction)
antwoorden
to answer
meevallen
to turn out better than expected
Questions & Answers about De man antwoordde dat het werk meeviel.
What were the man's exact words before they were shifted into the past tense?
His original direct quote was in the present tense: Het werk valt mee (The work is not too bad). Because this is reported speech and the main reporting verb antwoordde (answered) is in the past tense, the reported quote also shifts back one tense. This turns the present tense valt mee into the simple past meeviel.
What is the dictionary form of meeviel and what does it literally mean?
The infinitive is meevallen. It is a very common Dutch separable verb that means something turns out better than expected, or isn't as bad as you feared. It is the exact opposite of tegenvallen (to disappoint or turn out worse than expected).
If the direct quote is "Het werk valt mee", why didn't it become "dat het werk viel mee"?
Because dat (that) introduces a subordinate clause, which pushes the conjugated verb to the very end of the sentence. When a separable verb like meevallen is pushed to the end of a clause, its separated prefix (mee) and the verb itself (viel) are forced back together into a single word: meeviel.
Why does antwoordde have a double 'd' in this sentence?
The verb is antwoorden (to answer). To find the stem, we remove the -en, leaving antwoord, which already ends in a 'd'. To form the simple past, we must add -de to the stem. This results in the double 'd' spelling: antwoordde.
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