Word
Naarmate het kind opgroeit, wordt het volwassen.
Meaning
As the child grows up, it becomes mature.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Naarmate het kind opgroeit, wordt het volwassen.
het kind
the child
het
it
worden
to become
opgroeien
to grow up
Questions & Answers about Naarmate het kind opgroeit, wordt het volwassen.
Why is the verb opgroeit at the end of the first clause?
The word naarmate (as or in proportion as) is a subordinating conjunction. This means it introduces a dependent clause, which forces the conjugated verb to move to the very end of that clause.
Opgroeien is a separable verb. Why isn't it split up here?
In a normal main clause, you would split it (for example, het kind groeit op). However, because naarmate pushes the verb to the end of the subclause, the prefix and the verb end up right next to each other and are written as a single word: opgroeit.
Why does the second part of the sentence say wordt het instead of het wordt?
This is because of inversion. The entire first clause (Naarmate het kind opgroeit) occupies the first position of the overall sentence. To keep the main verb in the required second position, wordt must come immediately after the comma, followed by the subject het.
How is volwassen used in this context?
Volwassen means 'adult' or 'mature'. While English often says a child 'grows up' or 'comes of age', Dutch commonly uses the phrase volwassen worden (literally 'to become adult') to express maturing.