Breakdown of Behoudens onvoorziene omstandigheden is ernstig letsel zeldzaam.
zijn
to be
onvoorzien
unforeseen
de omstandigheid
the circumstance
zeldzaam
rare
ernstig
severe (serious, grave)
behoudens
subject to / except for
het letsel
the injury
Questions & Answers about Behoudens onvoorziene omstandigheden is ernstig letsel zeldzaam.
What does behoudens mean in this sentence, and how formal is it?
Behoudens translates to "subject to," "barring," or "except for." It is a highly formal preposition of exception, usually reserved for official, legal, or formal written language. In everyday casual speech, you would more likely use a phrase like behalve bij (except in the case of).
Why does the verb is come before the subject ernstig letsel?
Because the sentence starts with the prepositional phrase Behoudens onvoorziene omstandigheden. In Dutch, when a sentence begins with a phrase or word other than the subject, the subject and verb swap places to keep the verb in the second position. This is known as inversion.
Why is there no -e at the end of ernstig?
Letsel is a het-word (het letsel). When a het-word is indefinite, meaning it has no specific article like het or dit in front of it (or if it follows een), the adjective modifying it does not get an -e ending.
Why does onvoorziene get an -e ending, even though there is no article before it either?
Because omstandigheden is plural. Adjectives placed directly before plural nouns always get an -e ending in Dutch, regardless of whether the noun is a de-word or het-word, and regardless of whether an article is present.
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