Word
Zij bouwen een tempel voor de godin.
Meaning
They are building a temple for the goddess.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Questions & Answers about Zij bouwen een tempel voor de godin.
How is the feminine word godin formed from the masculine god?
It uses the feminine suffix -in. You might expect it to be spelled with a double 'd' (goddin) to keep the short 'o' sound from god. However, just like its plural form goden, the vowel sound in godin becomes long, so it is spelled with a single d.
What is the plural of godin?
The plural is godinnen. When a feminine noun ends in the suffix -in, you always double the final n before adding -en. This keeps the 'i' sound short.
How do we know Zij means 'they' and not 'she' in this sentence?
We can tell by looking at the verb. The pronoun Zij can mean either 'she' or 'they'. Here, the verb bouwen (to build) is in the plural form. If the sentence were about a single woman ('She is building'), it would use the singular verb form: Zij bouwt.
What is the plural of tempel?
The plural is tempels. Dutch nouns ending in an unstressed -el almost always take an -s to form the plural, just like tafel (tafels) or sleutel (sleutels).