Breakdown of De man dweilt de vloer grondig.
de man
the man
de vloer
the floor
grondig
thoroughly
dweilen
to mop
Questions & Answers about De man dweilt de vloer grondig.
Why is the adverb grondig placed after de vloer?
This is due to Dutch word order rules for the "middle field" of the sentence. A definite direct object—like de vloer (the floor)—must come before adverbs. Because it is a specific floor, it is placed before the adverb grondig.
What happens to the word order if he is mopping "a floor" (een vloer) instead of "the floor" (de vloer)?
If the direct object is indefinite (using een instead of de), it moves after the adverb. The sentence would then become: De man dweilt grondig een vloer.
I recognize the word grond inside grondig. Does it literally mean "ground-ly"?
Yes! Grond means "ground" or "bottom". Adding the suffix -ig turns it into an adjective or adverb. Doing a task "down to the ground" or "to the bottom" is how Dutch expresses doing something "thoroughly".
The verb dweilt means "mops". Is there a related noun for the tool itself?
Yes, de dweil is the noun for "the mop" or "the floor cloth". Dutch frequently creates verbs directly from nouns for tools, so dweilen simply means "to use a mop".
Learn De man dweilt de vloer grondig and more in Dutch
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free