Breakdown of De plot van deze roman is heel boeiend.
zijn
to be
heel
very
deze
this / these
van
from (possession, starting point) / made of
Questions & Answers about De plot van deze roman is heel boeiend.
Wait, 'roman' means novel? What if I want to talk about the Romans from ancient history?
Yes, roman is a classic false friend meaning 'novel' (a fictional book). If you want to refer to a person from the Roman Empire, you use the noun Romein. For the adjective 'Roman', you use Romeins.
Why does the English loanword 'plot' take 'de' instead of 'het'?
The vast majority of English loanwords in Dutch automatically become de words. They usually only become het words if the closest Dutch equivalent is a het word, or if they refer to activities (like het raften).
Boeiend looks like a verb form. How is it working in this sentence?
It is the present participle of the verb boeien (to fascinate or captivate). Just like in English, Dutch present participles (which end in -end) are very commonly used as adjectives. Here, it translates perfectly to 'fascinating'.
Could I use erg instead of heel before boeiend?
Yes, heel boeiend and erg boeiend are completely interchangeable here to mean 'very fascinating'. Both are natural, though heel is slightly more common in everyday spoken Dutch.