Breakdown of Hij is de woonkamer aan het vergroten.
zijn
to be
hij
he / it (referring to a 'de'-word)
de woonkamer
the living room
vergroten
to enlarge
Questions & Answers about Hij is de woonkamer aan het vergroten.
How does the prefix ver- work in the verb vergroten?
The prefix ver- is often attached to adjectives to create a verb meaning "to make or become [adjective]". Here, it's added to the adjective groot (big/large) to form vergroten, meaning "to make bigger" or "to enlarge".
Why is vergroten spelled with a single 'o' when the root adjective is groot?
This is a classic open syllable spelling rule. When you add the verbal ending, the word breaks into syllables as ver-gro-ten. Since the -gro- syllable ends in a vowel, it is "open", meaning a single 'o' already makes the long "oh" sound. Therefore, the double 'oo' of groot is reduced to one.
If vergroten means "to make bigger" here, can it also mean "to get bigger" on its own?
Yes! Many ver- verbs of state change can be both transitive (somebody changes an object, as in this sentence) and intransitive (the subject changes state by itself). For example, De problemen vergroten means "The problems are getting bigger" or "increasing".
Why does de woonkamer interrupt the continuous phrase is aan het?
In the Dutch continuous construction (zijn aan het + infinitive), the direct object almost always comes between the conjugated verb and the aan het block. The conjugated verb (is) stays in the standard second position, while the direct object (de woonkamer) pushes the remaining verbal part (aan het vergroten) to the end of the clause.
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