Word
Waren zij ontevreden over de service?
Meaning
Were they dissatisfied with the service?
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Questions & Answers about Waren zij ontevreden over de service?
If this was a statement starting with the lesson's target word desondanks (nevertheless), what would the word order be?
It would be: Desondanks waren zij ontevreden over de service. Because desondanks is an adverb occupying the first position, it triggers Verb-Second (V2) inversion. The verb (waren) must take the second position, pushing the subject (zij) right behind it into the third position.
Why do we use over instead of met for "with" here?
In Dutch, the adjectives tevreden (satisfied) and ontevreden (dissatisfied) are fixed to the preposition over. Because prepositions often don't translate word-for-word between English and Dutch, it helps to memorize combinations like ontevreden over (dissatisfied with) as a single set phrase.
Why doesn't the adjective ontevreden get an -e at the end here?
Adjectives only get an -e ending when they are placed directly before the noun they describe (for example, de ontevreden gasten). When the adjective comes later in the sentence after a verb like zijn (to be), it always stays in its base form.
Can I use ze instead of zij in this sentence?
Yes, you absolutely can. Zij is the stressed form of "they," used when you want to put emphasis on the group of people ("Were they the ones who were dissatisfied?"). If you are just asking a neutral question, the unstressed form ze is actually more common.