Breakdown of Het is heel zakelijk dat zij het compromis accepteren.
zijn
to be
zij
they
heel
very
het
it
accepteren
to accept
dat
that (conjunction)
zakelijk
professional
het compromis
the compromise
Questions & Answers about Het is heel zakelijk dat zij het compromis accepteren.
Why is the verb accepteren at the very end of the sentence?
Because dat zij het compromis accepteren is a subordinate clause. The word dat (that) acts as a subordinating conjunction, which forces the conjugated verb (accepteren) all the way to the end of its clause.
Why is zakelijk translated as "professional" instead of "business-like"?
Zakelijk comes from de zaak (the business/case) and literally means "business-like", "objective", or "matter-of-fact". In this context, describing people acting practically and not letting emotions stall an agreement, the most natural English translation is "professional".
Could I use ze instead of zij here?
Yes, you can. Zij is the stressed form, which emphasizes exactly who is doing the action (it is they who accept the compromise). If you just want to state the fact without putting special emphasis on the pronoun, the unstressed ze sounds completely natural.
How do we know whether to use de or het for compromis?
It is a set rule that it is het compromis (a neuter noun). Knowing this is important when you add adjectives. For example, if you wanted to say "a good compromise," it would be een goed compromis (without the extra -e on the adjective because it's a het word preceded by een).
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