Word
Hij verraadt de spion en voorkomt het gevaar.
Meaning
He betrays the spy and prevents the danger.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Hij verraadt de spion en voorkomt het gevaar.
hij
he / it (referring to a 'de'-word)
en
and
het gevaar
the danger
voorkomen
to prevent
Questions & Answers about Hij verraadt de spion en voorkomt het gevaar.
How do we know voorkomt is functioning as an inseparable verb here?
In this sentence, voorkomen means "to prevent," which makes it inseparable. You can tell because the prefix voor- stays attached to the verb in the present tense (hij voorkomt). If it were the separable version of the verb (meaning "to occur" or "to appear"), the prefix would split off to the end of the clause. When spoken, the inseparable version places the stress on the verb itself: voorKOMEN.
If we changed this sentence to the present perfect ("has prevented"), would voorkomen get a ge- prefix?
No. Because voorkomen is inseparable when it means "to prevent," its past participle doesn't take the ge- prefix. The present perfect would be Hij heeft het gevaar voorkomen. If you were using the separable version ("to occur"), the past participle would take the prefix in the middle: voorgekomen.
Why is verraadt spelled with -dt at the end?
This is a quick refresher of the standard stem plus "t" rule for the hij (he) form in the present tense. The infinitive is verraden and its stem is verraad. To make the hij form, you must add a -t to the stem, resulting in verraadt. Even though it sounds exactly like the stem, that extra t is grammatically required.
Is the prefix ver- in also a dual-nature prefix like ?