Breakdown of De nieuwe infrastructuur maakt de stad steeds bereikbaarder.
de stad
the city
maken
to make
nieuw
new
steeds
again and again, constantly / still (in 'nog steeds')
Questions & Answers about De nieuwe infrastructuur maakt de stad steeds bereikbaarder.
How does steeds bereikbaarder translate to "increasingly accessible"?
In Dutch, combining steeds with a comparative adjective (like bereikbaarder) indicates a continuous, progressive change. While steeds often means "always" or "continually" on its own, adding it to a comparative literally means "continually more accessible", which we naturally express in English as "increasingly accessible" or "more and more accessible".
Why does Dutch use bereikbaarder instead of meer bereikbaar?
Unlike English, which switches to using "more" for longer adjectives (like "more accessible"), Dutch almost always builds the comparative by adding a suffix to the end of the word, regardless of how long the adjective is. You will rarely use meer to compare adjectives in Dutch.
Why does the comparative form end in -der instead of just -er?
The base adjective is bereikbaar (accessible/reachable). In Dutch, when an adjective ends in the letter r, you must add a d before the comparative -er ending to make it easier to pronounce. So, bereikbaar becomes bereikbaarder (just like duur becomes duurder).
How is the word bereikbaar built?