Word
Het volume van het drumstel is al anderhalf uur te zacht.
Meaning
The volume of the drum kit has been too soft for one and a half hours.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Het volume van het drumstel is al anderhalf uur te zacht.
zijn
to be
te
too
het uur
the hour / o'clock
al
already
Questions & Answers about Het volume van het drumstel is al anderhalf uur te zacht.
Why is it anderhalf uur instead of anderhalve uur?
The word uur (hour) is a het word (het uur). The Dutch word for "one and a half" drops the -e ending before het words, becoming anderhalf. If it were a de word, like maand (month), you would use anderhalve (for example, anderhalve maand).
Why is uur in the singular form when the English translation says "hours" in the plural?
In Dutch, the quantifier anderhalf or anderhalve is always followed by a singular noun. While English says "one and a half hours", Dutch literally says "one and a half hour".
The translation says "has been", but the Dutch sentence uses the present tense is. Why?
When a situation started in the past and is still ongoing, Dutch typically uses the present tense combined with the word al (already). English uses the present perfect ("has been") for this. Here, the volume was too soft an hour and a half ago, and it still is now.
Can zacht really mean "quiet"? I thought it meant "soft".
Yes, it means both! When talking about physical touch, zacht means "soft". But when talking about sound or volume, it means "quiet" or "low". So te zacht means the drum kit is not loud enough.