Breakdown of De buurt is tamelijk levendig, maar het huis is vrij gehorig.
zijn
to be
het huis
the house
maar
but
de buurt
the neighborhood
tamelijk
quite / fairly
levendig
lively
vrij
quite / fairly (degree adverb)
gehorig
poorly soundproofed
Questions & Answers about De buurt is tamelijk levendig, maar het huis is vrij gehorig.
Why use tamelijk in the first half and vrij in the second half? Do they mean different things?
Both tamelijk and vrij are adverbs of moderate degree meaning "fairly", "rather", or "quite". They are virtually interchangeable in this sentence. The speaker most likely used two different words just to avoid repeating themselves.
Does gehorig mean the same thing as "loud"?
Not exactly! While it translates to "noisy" here, gehorig specifically describes a building or room that is poorly soundproofed. If a house is gehorig, it means you can easily hear your neighbors or sounds from other rooms. For a generally loud sound, you would use luid or lawaaiig.
Why doesn't the word order change after maar in the second part of the sentence?
The word maar (but) is a coordinating conjunction. This means it simply links two normal, independent sentences together without altering the word order. Because of this, the second half keeps the standard Subject-Verb order: het huis (subject) followed directly by is (verb).
How is the word levendig formed?
It comes from the verb leven (to live). By adding the common suffix -dig, it turns into an adjective meaning "lively" or "vibrant".
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