Breakdown of Schrijft de pers over het hoge percentage?
schrijven
to write
over
about
hoog
high / tall
de pers
the press
het percentage
the percentage
Questions & Answers about Schrijft de pers over het hoge percentage?
Why is hoog spelled with only one 'o' in het hoge percentage?
When you add the -e ending to the adjective hoog, the syllable boundary shifts to become ho-ge. Because the 'o' is now in an "open syllable" (a syllable ending in a vowel), a single 'o' naturally produces a long vowel sound. Writing a double 'o' here would violate Dutch spelling rules.
Since percentage is a neuter (het) word, shouldn't the adjective be left without an -e ending?
You only drop the -e ending for het-words when they are preceded by an indefinite word like een, geen, or nothing at all (for example: een hoog percentage). Because this sentence uses the definite article het, the adjective takes the standard -e ending.
Is de pers always treated as a singular noun, even though it represents many people?
Yes. Just like "the press" in English, de pers is a collective noun. It refers to a group but acts as a single grammatical entity, which is why it takes the singular verb schrijft.
Is over the only preposition used for "writing about" a topic?
Yes, schrijven over is the standard fixed combination in Dutch for writing about a subject. If you were to replace "the high percentage" with "it", you would combine them into the pronominal adverb erover (Schrijft de pers erover?).
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