Breakdown of De antieke tafel is zeldzaam, maar de staat is slecht.
zijn
to be
maar
but
de tafel
the table
slecht
bad
antiek
antique
zeldzaam
rare
de staat
the condition/state
Questions & Answers about De antieke tafel is zeldzaam, maar de staat is slecht.
Why does antieke get an -e ending, but zeldzaam and slecht do not?
Because antieke is placed directly in front of the noun it describes (tafel). When an adjective comes after a linking verb like is—which is the case for zeldzaam and slecht—it doesn't get the -e ending. Grammatically, these are called predicative adjectives.
Does staat mean the same thing here as in De Verenigde Staten (The United States)?
They are the same noun, but used with different meanings. While de staat often means a nation or political state, in this sentence it means 'the condition' or 'the state of repair' of the table. You can also easily tell it's a noun here and not the verb staat (stands) because it has the article de in front of it.
Why is the word order in the second half of the sentence normal (de staat is slecht) instead of having the verb at the end?
Because maar (but) is a coordinating conjunction. Words like en, maar, of, and want simply connect two main clauses; they do not push the verb to the end of the sentence like omdat or dat would. The second clause just starts over with normal Subject-Verb word order.
What does the suffix -zaam do in the word zeldzaam?
The suffix -zaam is often used in Dutch to form adjectives, similar to '-some' or '-able' in English. The root of zeldzaam comes from an old word meaning 'seldom'. You'll also recognize this suffix in other common adjectives like langzaam (slow), eenzaam (lonely), or gehoorzaam (obedient).
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