Breakdown of Zelfs de bediening was onbeleefd tegen ons.
zijn
to be
ons
us (object)
onbeleefd
impolite
tegen
against / to (speaking to)
zelfs
even
de bediening
the service (waitstaff)
Questions & Answers about Zelfs de bediening was onbeleefd tegen ons.
The Dutch word even also exists. Why is the English "even" translated as zelfs here?
In Dutch, even usually means "briefly" or "for a moment" (as in Wacht even - wait a minute). When you mean "even" in the sense of something surprising or extreme (like "Even the service..."), you must use zelfs.
Does de bediening mean the abstract idea of service, or the actual waiters?
It can mean both, but in a restaurant or café context, de bediening is very commonly used to refer collectively to the waitstaff. So "the service" here practically means "the waiters and waitresses".
Why is it tegen ons ("against us") rather than using aan or naar to mean "to us"?
In Dutch, when you describe how someone behaves towards another person, you almost always use the preposition tegen. You are aardig tegen (nice to), boos op/tegen (angry at), or onbeleefd tegen (rude to) someone.
I recognize the negative prefix on- in onbeleefd. What does the root word mean?
The root word is beleefd, which means "polite". Just like in English, adding the prefix reverses the meaning, giving you onbeleefd (impolite or rude).
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