Breakdown of Het is de hamster die erg ondeugend is.
zijn
to be
erg
very / really
het
it
die
who / that (relative pronoun)
Questions & Answers about Het is de hamster die erg ondeugend is.
Why do we use die for 'that' in this sentence instead of dat?
In this structure, the word for 'that' or 'who' points back to the noun being emphasized. Because hamster is a de-word (de hamster), you must use the relative pronoun die. If we were emphasizing a het-word, like het konijn (the rabbit), we would use dat: Het is het konijn dat erg ondeugend is.
Since hamster is a de-word, why does the sentence start with Het is?
When you are identifying or emphasizing someone or something (like saying 'It is the hamster that...'), Dutch always uses the fixed phrase Het is (or Het zijn for plurals). This acts exactly like the English 'It is...' in this context, ignoring the gender of the noun that follows.
Why does the second is go at the very end of the sentence?
The phrase die erg ondeugend is is a relative clause. Relative clauses follow subordinate word order in Dutch, which means the conjugated verb gets pushed to the very end. That is why it is not die is erg ondeugend.
Does erg just mean 'very' here, or does it mean 'terrible'?