Breakdown of Het lijkt alsof deze simulatie de werkelijkheid is.
zijn
to be
deze
this / these
het
it
lijken
to seem
de simulatie
the simulation
alsof
as if
de werkelijkheid
the reality
Questions & Answers about Het lijkt alsof deze simulatie de werkelijkheid is.
Why is the verb is at the very end of the sentence?
The word alsof (as if) is a subordinating conjunction. This means it introduces a subclause and pushes the verb (is) to the very end. So, instead of standard word order, the verb waits until after de werkelijkheid.
Could I use realiteit instead of werkelijkheid?
Yes, de realiteit and de werkelijkheid mean exactly the same thing here and are interchangeable. Werkelijkheid is just the native Dutch word (based on werkelijk, meaning real or actual), while realiteit comes from French and Latin.
Does lijkt mean "looks" or "seems" here?
Here, het lijkt translates best to "it seems" or "it appears". The verb lijken is used for general or abstract impressions. If you wanted to say something physically looks a certain way, you would use the verb eruitzien instead.
Why do we use deze for "this simulation" instead of dit?
Simulatie is a de-word. A helpful trick to remember is that almost all Dutch nouns ending in -tie (like informatie or situatie) take de. Because it is a de-word, "this" translates to deze, whereas dit is strictly reserved for het-words.
Learn Het lijkt alsof deze simulatie de werkelijkheid is and more in Dutch
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free