Breakdown of Wat schitterend! De leeuw jaagt.
wat
what
de leeuw
the lion
schitterend
magnificent
jagen
to hunt
Questions & Answers about Wat schitterend! De leeuw jaagt.
Why is it Wat schitterend! instead of Wat een schitterend!?
In this sentence, schitterend is a stand-alone adjective. We only use wat een when there is a singular countable noun following it (like Wat een schitterende leeuw!). When making an exclamation with just an adjective, a plural noun, or an uncountable noun, we use wat by itself.
Why doesn't schitterend get an -e at the end here?
We only add the -e ending when the adjective comes directly in front of a noun (like de schitterende leeuw). Because schitterend stands completely on its own in this exclamation, it stays in its basic dictionary form.
The translation says "is hunting", so why does the Dutch sentence just use the simple present tense jaagt?
Dutch doesn't use a continuous tense form ("is doing") nearly as often as English does. The simple present tense jaagt perfectly translates to both "hunts" and "is hunting". While you could say De leeuw is aan het jagen, the simple present jaagt is very natural and common here.
What is the literal meaning of schitterend?
It literally means "shining" or "sparkling", coming from the verb schitteren (to shine or sparkle). However, in everyday Dutch it is a very common exclamation used to mean "magnificent", "gorgeous", or "brilliant".
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