Breakdown of Vechten tegen de orkaan is zinloos.
zijn
to be
tegen
against / to (speaking to)
vechten
to fight
de orkaan
the hurricane
zinloos
pointless
Questions & Answers about Vechten tegen de orkaan is zinloos.
How does the suffix -loos work in the word zinloos?
It combines the noun zin (which means sense, meaning, or point) with the suffix -loos (without). It works exactly like the English suffix "-less", making zinloos translate directly to "pointless" or "senseless".
Could I leave out tegen and just say Vechten de orkaan, like "Fighting the hurricane" in English?
No, unlike in English, you cannot directly "fight something" in Dutch without a preposition. The verb vechten requires you to specify the direction of the fight: you fight against an opponent (vechten tegen) or for a cause (vechten voor).
Why is the infinitive verb vechten used as the subject of the sentence?
In Dutch, the full infinitive (vechten) is used to express the general act of doing something, which is the equivalent of the English "-ing" form (the gerund) acting as a noun. Using the actual noun het gevecht (the fight) would sound more static, referring to the event rather than the action of fighting.
Why doesn't zinloos get an -e ending here, and how would its spelling change if it did?
It doesn't get an -e ending because it is placed after the verb is (used predicatively). If you placed it directly before a noun, like "a pointless fight", it would get the -e. You have to apply standard spelling rules: the s becomes a z when sandwiched between vowels, turning it into een zinloze strijd.
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