Breakdown of De experts staan op verschillende podia tijdens het congres.
op
on
staan
to stand
het podium
the stage
tijdens
during
Questions & Answers about De experts staan op verschillende podia tijdens het congres.
Why is the plural of podium written as podia here?
Podium is a classical loanword from Latin. Words ending in -um often take a traditional plural ending in -a, just like museum becomes musea and centrum becomes centra. In modern Dutch, the regular -s plural (podiums) is also completely correct, but podia is widely used and sounds a bit more formal.
Why does expert take an -s to make the plural experts?
Many modern loanwords, especially those borrowed from English and French, take an -s plural in Dutch instead of the standard -en. Since expert is a loanword, it naturally becomes experts.
Why does verschillend (different) get an -e ending in verschillende podia?
Adjectives placed before a plural noun always get an -e ending. Even though the singular noun is a het word (het podium), the plural form podia still triggers that -e ending on the adjective.
Could I use zijn (are) instead of staan (stand) in this sentence?