Breakdown of Buiten dat het schilderij controversieel is, krijgt het veel kritiek.
zijn
to be
veel
much / many / a lot of
het schilderij
the painting
het
it
krijgen
to get (receive)
buiten dat
besides the fact that
controversieel
controversial
de kritiek
criticism
Questions & Answers about Buiten dat het schilderij controversieel is, krijgt het veel kritiek.
How does buiten dat affect the word order in the first part of the sentence?
Buiten dat (besides the fact that) acts as a subordinating conjunction here. That means it introduces a dependent clause, which forces the conjugated verb (is) to the very end of that clause, right before the comma.
Could I use behalve dat instead of buiten dat in this sentence?
Yes, they are mostly interchangeable when adding information like this. Both mean "besides the fact that". Buiten dat often emphasizes addition ("on top of"), whereas behalve dat can sometimes imply an exception ("except that"), but in this specific context, both work perfectly to show an additional fact.
Why is it krijgt het instead of het krijgt in the second half?
This is the verb-second (V2) rule in action. The entire dependent clause (Buiten dat het schilderij controversieel is) counts as the first block of information in the main sentence. To keep the main verb in the second position, krijgt must come immediately after the comma, swapping places with the subject (het).
Is it standard to use krijgen (to get) for receiving criticism in Dutch?
Yes, kritiek krijgen is the standard Dutch combination for "to receive criticism". Conversely, if you want to say that someone gives or has criticism about something, the set phrase is kritiek hebben op.
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