Breakdown of Ik vond de wiskunde vreselijk moeilijk.
vinden
to think / consider (hold an opinion)
de wiskunde
the mathematics
vreselijk
awful, dreadful
Questions & Answers about Ik vond de wiskunde vreselijk moeilijk.
Why do we say de wiskunde instead of just wiskunde?
In Dutch, academic subjects and fields of study (like wiskunde or geschiedenis) often take a definite article (de or het) even when you are talking about them in a general sense. English usually leaves the article out.
Why does vreselijk not have an -e at the end here?
Here, vreselijk is acting as an adverb that modifies the adjective moeilijk. In Dutch, when a word is used as an adverb to describe another descriptive word, it stays in its basic dictionary form and does not get an extra -e.
Is vreselijk related to fear, or does it just mean 'very' here?
Originally it means 'terrible' or 'dreadful' (related to vrezen, to fear). But just like 'terribly' in English, it is very commonly used as a strong intensifier to mean 'extremely', as in vreselijk moeilijk (dreadfully difficult).
Could I use dacht instead of vond since I could say 'I thought the maths was difficult' in English?
No, you must use vinden (past tense: vond) when expressing a personal opinion or your direct experience of something. You use denken (past tense: dacht) for the literal act of thinking in your head, not for giving your opinion.
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