Breakdown of De lange alinea die ik lees, is in drie delen onderverdeeld.
ik
I
zijn
to be
lezen
to read
drie
three
in
in
lang
long
die
who / that (relative pronoun)
het deel
the part (general portion)
de alinea
the paragraph
onderverdelen
to subdivide
Questions & Answers about De lange alinea die ik lees, is in drie delen onderverdeeld.
Why doesn't the past participle onderverdeeld have a -ge- in the middle?
The verb here is onderverdelen (to subdivide). It has two prefixes: the separable onder- and the inseparable -ver-. Normally, a separable verb gets -ge- between the prefix and the verb. However, because the inseparable prefix -ver- is unstressed, it blocks the -ge-. This makes the past participle simply onderverdeeld instead of ondergeverdeeld.
Why do we use die after alinea?
die is a relative pronoun meaning 'that' or 'which'. We use die because alinea is a de-word (de alinea). If the noun were a het-word, you would use dat instead.
Why does the second part of the sentence start with the verb is?
This is because of the 'verb second' rule in Dutch main clauses. The entire subject is the long phrase De lange alinea die ik lees (The long paragraph that I am reading). That whole phrase occupies the first position in the sentence, so the verb is must immediately follow it in the second position.
Is is ... onderverdeeld the passive voice or the present perfect tense here?
It acts as a description of a state (a static passive). In Dutch, when you describe the result of an action, you use zijn (here: is) with the past participle. The paragraph was divided in the past, and now it is in a subdivided state. If we were describing the action happening right now, we would use wordt onderverdeeld (is being subdivided).
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