Breakdown of Die accessoires, die zijn nu helemaal hip.
zijn
to be
nu
now
die
that / those (de-words and plurals)
helemaal
completely
Questions & Answers about Die accessoires, die zijn nu helemaal hip.
Why do we have die twice here? Wouldn't Die accessoires zijn nu helemaal hip mean the same thing?
Yes, the basic meaning is exactly the same. This structure is a conversational tool called Left Dislocation, which is used to heavily emphasize the topic. By putting Die accessoires before the comma, you're essentially saying 'As for those accessories...'. The second die then acts as a placeholder subject so the actual main clause can begin.
Why is the second pronoun die instead of ze (they)?
When you isolate a topic at the very front of a sentence like this, Dutch strongly prefers a demonstrative pronoun (die or dat) to point back to it, rather than a regular personal pronoun like ze. Because accessoires is plural, the correct pointing word is die.
If zijn is the verb, why does it look like it is in the third position of the sentence?
It actually perfectly follows the normal verb-second rule! The trick is that the emphasized phrase before the comma (Die accessoires) sits entirely outside the main clause. The main sentence officially starts with the second die in position one, making zijn the verb in position two.
Is helemaal hip a set phrase, or does helemaal just mean 'completely' here?