Breakdown of De sterkte die de opticien gemeten heeft, is een stuk sterker.
zijn
to be
hebben
to have
sterk
strong
die
who / that (relative pronoun)
meten
to measure
een stuk
a lot (with comparatives)
de opticien
the optician
de sterkte
the prescription / the strength (glasses, lenses)
Questions & Answers about De sterkte die de opticien gemeten heeft, is een stuk sterker.
Why is een stuk used here instead of veel before sterker?
Both een stuk and veel can be used to intensify a comparative adjective. In Dutch, een stuk (literally "a piece") is very common in everyday speech to mean "a lot" or "a good deal" when placed right before a comparative like sterker. You could also say is veel sterker, and the meaning would be exactly the same.
Why do we use die after De sterkte?
Die is a relative pronoun here, meaning "that" or "which". Because sterkte is a de-word (de sterkte), you must use die to refer back to it. If it were a het-word (like het glas), you would use dat.
Why are the verbs gemeten heeft at the end of the middle clause?
The phrase die de opticien gemeten heeft is a relative clause. Relative clauses act like subordinate clauses, meaning they push their verbs to the very end of the clause. This is why the past participle gemeten and the helping verb heeft sit together right before the comma.
Why are there two verbs separated by a comma (heeft, is)?
The entire first part of the sentence (De sterkte die de opticien gemeten heeft) acts as the main subject. In a standard Dutch sentence, the main verb must be in the second position. Because that whole subject block takes up position one, the main verb is must come immediately after it, creating that verb-comma-verb appearance.
Does sterkte really translate to "prescription"?
Literally, sterkte means "strength". However, when talking about glasses, contacts, or an optician (opticien), Dutch speakers say de sterkte to refer to the optical strength of the lenses, which is what we call a "prescription" in English.
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