Breakdown of Het is de hond die aan de deur krabt en het boek verscheurt.
zijn
to be
en
and
het boek
the book
de hond
the dog
het
it
de deur
the door
aan
on / at (attached to, edge)
die
who / that (relative pronoun)
verscheuren
to tear up
krabben
to scratch
Questions & Answers about Het is de hond die aan de deur krabt en het boek verscheurt.
Why do we use die instead of dat in this cleft sentence?
In Het is... die/dat... (It is... that...) sentences, the word for 'that' depends on the noun you are emphasizing. Because hond is a de-word (de hond), you must use die. If you were emphasizing a het-word, you would use dat.
Why are the verbs krabt and verscheurt pushed to the end of their phrases?
The part of the sentence starting with die acts as a relative clause, which requires subclause word order (verbs at the end). Even though there are two actions connected by en (and), both parts follow this rule.
Why is the preposition aan used with krabt here?
When you mean 'to scratch at' or 'to scratch on' a surface like a door, Dutch uses the fixed combination krabben aan.
Why isn't the verb verscheuren split into scheurt ... ver?
The verb verscheuren (to tear up or shred) starts with the prefix ver-. Verbs starting with unstressed prefixes like ver-, be-, ge-, and ont- are inseparable, meaning they never split apart.
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