Breakdown of Al het karton is helemaal recyclebaar.
zijn
to be
het
it
helemaal
completely
het karton
the cardboard
al
all (the)
recyclebaar
recyclable
Questions & Answers about Al het karton is helemaal recyclebaar.
How is the suffix -baar used with an English loanword like recyclen?
The suffix -baar expresses potentiality, similar to "-able" in English. It attaches directly to the verb stem. For the verb recyclen, the stem is recycle, so adding -baar gives us recyclebaar. It works exactly the same as with native Dutch verbs, like turning drinken (to drink) into drinkbaar (drinkable).
Why do we use al het karton instead of alle karton?
To say "all the" followed by a specific noun, Dutch uses al for het words and alle for de words (and all plurals). Because karton is a het word, we say al het karton. If we were talking about boxes (de dozen), it would be alle dozen.
Could I use volledig instead of helemaal in this sentence?
Yes, volledig also means "completely" or "fully" and works perfectly here as volledig recyclebaar. Helemaal is very common in everyday spoken Dutch, whereas volledig sounds slightly more formal, which fits well with technical or environmental contexts.
Does the English pronunciation change when we add the Dutch suffix -baar to make recyclebaar?
Dutch speakers generally keep the English pronunciation for the root word recycle. The suffix -baar is pronounced with standard Dutch sounds, specifically with a long "a". The main stress remains on the English part of the word, just as it does before adding the suffix.
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