Breakdown of Het protocol blijft hetzelfde, behoudens onvoorziene incidenten.
blijven
to stay
hetzelfde
the same
het incident
the incident
onvoorzien
unforeseen
behoudens
subject to / except for
het protocol
the protocol
Questions & Answers about Het protocol blijft hetzelfde, behoudens onvoorziene incidenten.
How exactly does behoudens translate to "subject to" here? Doesn't it mean "except for"?
Yes, behoudens literally translates to "except for" or "barring". Saying the protocol remains the same except for unforeseen incidents has the exact same meaning as saying it is subject to those incidents. It is a highly formal preposition commonly used in official rules, contracts, or legal contexts.
Could I put the behoudens phrase at the beginning of the sentence?
Yes, you can say Behoudens onvoorziene incidenten blijft het protocol hetzelfde. Notice that doing this triggers inversion in the main clause, so the verb blijft comes before the subject het protocol.
Why do we use hetzelfde instead of dezelfde?
Because protocol is a neuter noun (het protocol). When referring back to a het-word, you must use hetzelfde (the same). If you were talking about a de-word, such as de regel (the rule), you would use dezelfde.
How is the adjective onvoorziene formed?
It comes from the verb voorzien (to foresee or predict). The past participle is also voorzien (foreseen). By adding the negative prefix on-, we get onvoorzien (unforeseen). Finally, it gets an -e ending here because it modifies a plural noun (incidenten).
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