Word
De man die de broek inneemt, werkt snel.
Meaning
The man who takes in the trousers works fast.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of De man die de broek inneemt, werkt snel.
de man
the man
werken
to work
snel
fast
de broek
the pants / the trousers
Questions & Answers about De man die de broek inneemt, werkt snel.
Why is broek singular here when the English translation says "trousers"?
In Dutch, a single pair of pants or trousers is a singular noun (de broek). You only use the plural form (de broeken) if you are talking about multiple pairs of pants.
Why do we use die here instead of dat?
Die is the relative pronoun used to point back to de words (like de man), as well as all plural nouns. If the noun were a het word, you would use dat.
Why is inneemt written as one word? Isn't innemen a separable verb?
Innemen is indeed a separable verb. However, die de broek inneemt is a relative clause, which functions like a subclause. In Dutch subclauses, verbs are pushed to the end, which forces the separated prefix and verb back together into a single word.
Why does werkt come immediately after the comma?
In a main clause, the conjugated verb must sit in the second position. Here, the entire phrase De man die de broek inneemt acts as the subject and takes up the entire first position. Therefore, the main verb werkt must immediately follow it to take position two.