Breakdown of De vrouw is zo verward en geschokt dat ze stil blijft.
zijn
to be
de vrouw
the woman
en
and
blijven
to stay
stil
quiet
ze
they; she (unstressed form of zij) / them (object)
zo
so (to such a degree)
dat
that (conjunction)
verward
confused
geschokt
shocked
Questions & Answers about De vrouw is zo verward en geschokt dat ze stil blijft.
Why is the verb blijft placed at the very end of the sentence?
This happens because dat (that) is a subordinating conjunction. In Dutch, a subordinate clause pushes the conjugated verb (here, blijft) to the very end of its clause. The structure zo ... dat (so ... that) always triggers this verb-final word order in the second part of the sentence.
The words verward and geschokt describe the woman. Why don't they get an -e ending here?
You only add the -e ending when the adjective comes directly before the noun it describes (attributive use, like de verwarde vrouw). Because they come after the verb is in this sentence (predicative use), they stay in their base form without an -e.
Can stil mean both "still" (not moving) and "quiet" (not making noise)?
Yes! In Dutch, stil can mean either "quiet/silent" or "still/motionless", depending on the context. In this sentence, stil blijft translates best to "stays quiet", but remaining motionless also fits the context of being shocked.
Why does geschokt end in a -t while verward ends in a -d?
Both are past participles being used as adjectives. To know whether a participle ends in -d or -t, we use the "'t kofschip" rule. The stem of schokken (to shock) ends in k, which is in "'t kofschip", so it gets a -t. The stem of verwarren (to confuse) ends in r, which is not in "'t kofschip", so it gets a -d.
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