Breakdown of Vanwege de droogte jaagt de leeuw 's nachts. Wat slecht nieuws!
wat
what
slecht
bad
het nieuws
the news
's nachts
at night
vanwege
because of / due to (reason)
de droogte
the drought
de leeuw
the lion
jagen
to hunt
Questions & Answers about Vanwege de droogte jaagt de leeuw 's nachts. Wat slecht nieuws!
Why do we use wat here instead of wat een for 'What bad news'?
In Dutch exclamations, you use wat een for singular, countable nouns (like wat een hond). Because nieuws (news) is an uncountable noun, we drop the een and just use wat.
Why is the adjective slecht and not slechte?
Nieuws is a neuter noun (het nieuws). When a neuter noun is used without an article (like een or het), the adjective before it doesn't get an -e ending. The exclamatory wat doesn't count as an article that triggers the -e, so it remains slecht nieuws.
Why does the verb jaagt come before the subject de leeuw?
The sentence starts with the phrase Vanwege de droogte (Due to the drought). Whenever a main clause starts with something other than the subject, Dutch uses inversion: the verb must be in the second position, so the subject de leeuw moves right after the verb jaagt.
What does the 's in 's nachts mean?
It is an abbreviation of the old Dutch word des (meaning 'of the'). While 's nachts historically meant 'of the night,' today it is just the standard fixed expression for 'at night.' You will also see this in 's morgens (in the morning) and 's avonds (in the evening).
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