Breakdown of Het bedrijf moest deze kleine afdeling als gelijkwaardig erkennen.
klein
small
deze
this / these
moeten
to have to, must
als
as (like / conjunction)
het bedrijf
the company
de afdeling
the department
gelijkwaardig
equal
erkennen
to acknowledge
Questions & Answers about Het bedrijf moest deze kleine afdeling als gelijkwaardig erkennen.
Why do we need als before gelijkwaardig here?
The verb erkennen (to acknowledge or recognize) is used here to assign a status to the object (deze kleine afdeling). Verbs of categorization require als to introduce that assigned status, similar to saying "acknowledge as" in English.
Could I just use gelijk instead of gelijkwaardig?
They have slightly different meanings. gelijk usually means identical or exactly the same. gelijkwaardig combines gelijk (equal) with waardig (worthy) to mean "of equal value" or "of equal status," which fits perfectly when talking about a department's standing in a company.
Why are als gelijkwaardig and erkennen placed at the very end of the sentence?
Because moest (the past tense of moeten) is a modal verb, it sits in the second position and pushes the main infinitive verb (erkennen) to the very end of the clause. The complement als gelijkwaardig is closely tied to the action, so it is placed immediately before that final verb.
As a quick refresher, why does klein get an -e ending here?
The noun afdeling is a de-word. Because it is preceded by the specific determiner deze (this), the adjective before it must take the standard -e ending, making it kleine.
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