Breakdown of Al het geld helpt tegen armoede.
het geld
the money
helpen
to help
tegen
against / to (speaking to)
al
all (the)
de armoede
the poverty
Questions & Answers about Al het geld helpt tegen armoede.
Why do we use al het here instead of alle?
This is the core of your current lesson! Geld is an uncountable het-word. When we want to say "all the [noun]" for a het-word, we use the separate words al het. You would use alle for plural nouns, like alle munten (all coins) or alle mensen (all people).
Since we are talking about "all" the money, why is the verb helpt singular?
Just like the English word "money", geld is an uncountable noun. Because uncountable nouns cannot be made plural, they are treated as grammatically singular subjects. So, even though al het geld represents a massive amount, the verb must be the singular helpt, not the plural helpen.
Is the word armoede related to the adjective arm (poor)?
Yes, exactly! The word armoede (poverty) is built directly from the adjective arm. The ending -oede is a classic suffix that turns an adjective into a noun describing a state of being.
Could I say tegen de armoede instead of tegen armoede?
Usually, no. Just like in English, Dutch generally drops the "the" (de or het) for abstract concepts when you are talking about them in a broad, general sense. So "against poverty" translates directly and simply to tegen armoede.
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