Word
Is er iets aan haar houding wat opvalt?
Meaning
Is there something about her attitude that stands out?
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Is er iets aan haar houding wat opvalt?
zijn
to be
haar
her
er
there (existential)
iets
something
Questions & Answers about Is er iets aan haar houding wat opvalt?
Why do we use wat here instead of dat or die for "that"?
When a relative pronoun refers back to an indefinite word like iets (something), niets (nothing), or alles (everything), Dutch uses wat. Since this clause describes the word iets, we must use wat. If it were referring back to a regular specific noun, you would use die or dat depending on the noun's gender.
Why is aan used here to mean "about"?
The preposition aan is often used to indicate a characteristic attached to a person, object, or concept. While English says "something about her attitude", Dutch conceptualizes it as something noticeable on or attached to it, so aan is the natural choice.
Why is the verb opvalt at the very end of the sentence?
The word wat introduces a relative clause (wat opvalt). Relative clauses are a type of subclause, meaning their verbs are pushed to the end. The verb here is opvallen (to stand out). Although it is a separable verb, the prefix op and the conjugated verb valt stick together as a single word because they are both forced to the end of a subclause.
Can houding mean physical posture as well as mental attitude?
Yes! The noun de houding translates to both "attitude" and "posture" or "stance". Without more context, this sentence could equally mean "Is there something about her physical posture that stands out?"