Breakdown of Het gebouw waarin wij wonen, is deels traditioneel en deels eigentijds.
zijn
to be
en
and
wij
we
wonen
to live
het
it
het gebouw
the building
waarin
in which
deels
partly
eigentijds
contemporary
traditioneel
traditional
Questions & Answers about Het gebouw waarin wij wonen, is deels traditioneel en deels eigentijds.
How do we use the structure deels ... deels in this sentence, and is the word en mandatory?
The phrase deels ... deels means 'partly ... partly'. When you are connecting two adjectives like traditioneel and eigentijds, adding en (and) between them is natural and common, just like in English. However, it is not strictly mandatory; you could also just use a comma: is deels traditioneel, deels eigentijds.
Why is waarin used for 'in which' instead of a literal translation like in wat or in dat?
In Dutch, when a preposition like in refers back to a thing (in this case, het gebouw), you cannot combine it with a standard relative pronoun like dat. Instead, you must form a pronominal adverb by replacing the pronoun with waar- and attaching the preposition to the end, resulting in waarin.
Why is there a comma right before the verb is?
The comma separates the relative clause (waarin wij wonen) from the rest of the main sentence. The entire chunk Het gebouw waarin wij wonen acts as the subject of the main clause. Since this long subject occupies the first position, the main verb is must sit directly in the second position, right after the comma.
What is the difference between eigentijds and the Dutch word modern?
Eigentijds literally means 'of one's own time' (from eigen + tijd) and translates specifically to 'contemporary'. While you could also use modern in Dutch, eigentijds specifically emphasizes that the building reflects the current day, whereas modern can refer to the broader modern era or a specific 20th-century architectural style.
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