Word
Ik vind het jammer dat de toon matig klinkt.
Meaning
I find it a pity that the tone sounds mediocre.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Ik vind het jammer dat de toon matig klinkt.
ik
I
het
it
dat
that (conjunction)
vinden
to think / consider (hold an opinion)
Questions & Answers about Ik vind het jammer dat de toon matig klinkt.
Why do we need the word het in Ik vind het jammer?
In this sentence, het acts as a placeholder (a provisional object). The actual thing you find a pity is the whole clause dat de toon matig klinkt. Because the real object is a long clause, Dutch places het next to the verb vind to hold its spot, moving the heavy dat clause to the end.
Could I drop het and just say Ik vind jammer dat...?
No, Dutch strictly requires het in this structure. When you use a verb like vinden (to find/consider) followed by an adjective like jammer (a pity) or leuk (nice) to describe a following dat clause, the het is mandatory.
Why is the verb klinkt at the very end of the sentence?
The word dat (that) introduces a subordinate clause. In Dutch subordinate clauses, the conjugated verb is always pushed to the end. That is why we say dat de toon matig klinkt instead of dat de toon klinkt matig.
What does matig mean in this context?
matig translates to mediocre, moderate, or average. In this context, saying the tone sounds matig means it is uninspiring or just barely acceptable, similar to saying 'so-so' in English.