Breakdown of Zij rust op de bank.
rusten
to rest (lie still)
Questions & Answers about Zij rust op de bank.
How do we know Zij means "she" and not "they" in this sentence?
We look at the verb! If Zij meant "they", the verb would take the plural form: Zij rusten. Because we see the singular form rust (the verb stem plus -t), we know Zij must mean "she" here.
Why does bank mean "sofa" here? Doesn't it mean a place for money?
Just like in English, bank has two common meanings! It can be a financial institution, but it also means a sofa, couch, or bench. The context of someone resting tells us it means "sofa" in this sentence.
I recently learned the separable verb uitrusten for "to rest". Why is it just rust here?
Both rusten and uitrusten mean "to rest". Uitrusten emphasizes recovering your energy (resting up or relaxing), while rusten simply describes the physical act of resting. If you used the separable verb here, the sentence would be: Zij rust uit op de bank.
How would the word order change if I added a modal verb like wil (wants to)?
When you add a modal verb, it takes the second position in the sentence, and the main verb gets pushed to the very end in its full dictionary form. The sentence would become: Zij wil op de bank rusten.
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