Breakdown of De jonge duiker zocht naar iets ouds en vond het mysterie.
en
and
jong
young
oud
old
naar
to
vinden
to find
zoeken
to look for
iets
something
de duiker
the diver
het mysterie
the mystery (profound, inexplicable)
Questions & Answers about De jonge duiker zocht naar iets ouds en vond het mysterie.
Why is there an -s at the end of ouds in iets ouds?
When an adjective describes indefinite words like iets (something), niets (nothing), veel (much/a lot), or wat (some/a little), it gets an -s added to the end. This is a remnant of an old grammatical case and translates as "something old" (literally "something of old").
Does zoeken (to search) always require the preposition naar?
No, you can use zoeken with or without naar when looking for a direct object. Both zocht iets ouds and zocht naar iets ouds are completely correct, but adding naar slightly emphasizes the ongoing act of searching around for something.
What is the infinitive form of the past tense verb zocht?
The infinitive is zoeken. It is an irregular verb: the simple past is zocht (singular) or zochten (plural), and the past participle is gezocht.
Why does the adjective jong get an -e ending here?
Duiker is a de-word. Because it is preceded by the definite article de, the adjective jong must take the standard -e inflection, becoming jonge.
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