Breakdown of Die onzekerheden zijn heel normaal.
zijn
to be
heel
very
die
that / those (de-words and plurals)
normaal
normally / normal
de onzekerheid
the uncertainty
Questions & Answers about Die onzekerheden zijn heel normaal.
Why does the plural of onzekerheid end in -heden instead of just adding -en?
Nouns ending in the abstract suffix -heid (like onzekerheid, meaning uncertainty) have an irregular plural form. You drop the -heid and replace it with -heden, making it onzekerheden. This happens with all words ending in -heid (for example, de mogelijkheid becomes de mogelijkheden).
Since onzekerheden is a plural noun, why doesn't normaal get an -e at the end?
Adjectives only get the -e ending when they are placed directly in front of the noun they describe (as in die normale onzekerheden). Here, normaal is separated from the noun by the verb zijn (are). When an adjective comes after a linking verb like this, it always keeps its basic, uninflected form.
Why do we use die here instead of dat?
Die is the correct word for "those" because onzekerheden is a plural noun. In Dutch, all plural nouns act as de words, which means they use die (those) and deze (these) as demonstrative pronouns. You would only use dat (that) for singular het words.
How is the word onzekerheden built?
The core of the word is zeker, which means "sure" or "certain". Adding the prefix on- makes it the opposite (onzeker, meaning "uncertain"), and adding the suffix -heid turns it into the singular abstract noun onzekerheid (uncertainty). Finally, applying the irregular plural rule changes it to onzekerheden.
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