Breakdown of Die snelheden zijn gevaarlijk op deze weg.
zijn
to be
op
on
deze
this / these
die
that / those (de-words and plurals)
gevaarlijk
dangerous
de weg
the road
de snelheid
the speed
Questions & Answers about Die snelheden zijn gevaarlijk op deze weg.
What is the singular form of snelheden and why does its spelling change so much in the plural?
The singular is snelheid (speed). As you are learning in this lesson, nouns ending in the suffix -heid have an irregular plural: the suffix changes entirely to -heden. So, snelheid becomes snelheden. You will see this pattern with many abstract nouns, like mogelijkheid becoming mogelijkheden.
Why doesn't gevaarlijk get an -e ending here, since it describes the plural noun snelheden?
Because gevaarlijk comes after the verb zijn (are) to describe the subject, rather than sitting directly in front of a noun. When an adjective is used independently like this (as a predicate adjective), it never gets the -e ending, regardless of whether the noun it refers to is plural or singular.
Why do we use deze for weg instead of dit?
Weg is a de-word (de weg). When pointing out a singular de-word close to you (meaning "this"), you always use deze. If it were a het-word, you would use dit.
Could I use dat instead of die at the beginning of the sentence to mean "those"?
No, you must use die because snelheden is plural. In Dutch, all plural nouns take the same demonstrative pronouns as de-words. Therefore, "those" is always die (and "these" is deze), no matter what gender the singular version of the noun had.
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