Breakdown of Ik weet dat de astroloog mijn sterrenbeeld heeft bepaald.
ik
I
hebben
to have
mijn
my
weten
to know (a fact)
dat
that (conjunction)
bepalen
to determine / to decide (to establish, fix)
de astroloog
the astrologer
het sterrenbeeld
the zodiac sign
Questions & Answers about Ik weet dat de astroloog mijn sterrenbeeld heeft bepaald.
Can I swap the order of the verbs at the end and say bepaald heeft instead of heeft bepaald?
Yes, absolutely! Because this is a subordinate clause starting with dat, the verbs go to the end and form a verb cluster. You can choose to put the helping verb heeft before the past participle bepaald (this is called the red word order), or you can put the past participle first (the green word order). Both are entirely correct and mean exactly the same thing.
Why are the verbs heeft bepaald pushed all the way to the end of the sentence?
This happens because dat (that) introduces a subordinate clause. As you might remember from earlier lessons, subordinating conjunctions like dat, omdat, and als always kick the verbs to the very end of their clause.
Why doesn't the past participle bepaald have a ge- at the beginning, like gewerkt or gedaan?
The infinitive of the verb is bepalen (to determine), which already starts with the unstressed prefix be-. In Dutch, verbs that begin with prefixes like be-, ver-, ont-, or her- never get an extra ge- added when forming the past participle.
What is the literal translation of the word sterrenbeeld?
It literally translates to star image or star picture. It is a compound word made of sterren (stars) and beeld (image, statue, or picture). It is the standard Dutch word for a zodiac sign, as well as a constellation in the night sky.
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