Breakdown of De docent gaf een heel duidelijke definitie van het woord.
een
a/an
de docent
the teacher
het woord
the word
heel
very
geven
to give
van
from (possession, starting point) / made of
duidelijk
clear (obvious, comprehensible)
de definitie
the definition
Questions & Answers about De docent gaf een heel duidelijke definitie van het woord.
How do I know that definitie is a de word?
You can tell by its suffix! Nouns ending in -ie are almost always de words. These are often words borrowed from Latin or French, like de politie, de informatie, and de definitie.
Is there a similar suffix rule that tells us docent uses de?
Yes! Nouns ending in -ent that refer to people are always de words. You likely already know examples like de student and de patiënt; de docent follows the exact same pattern.
Why does duidelijke get an -e ending here, even though it comes after een?
Because definitie is a de word. Adjectives placed directly in front of a noun get an -e added to them. The only time you leave the -e off is when you have a het word preceded by een (or no article). Since we know it is de definitie, the adjective must be duidelijke.
Why doesn't heel get an -e ending like duidelijke does?
In this sentence, heel acts as an adverb meaning "very" (it modifies the adjective "clear"), rather than an adjective modifying the noun itself. Adverbs do not get an -e ending. If you wrote een hele duidelijke definitie, it would technically mean a "whole, clear definition" instead of a "very clear" one.
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