Breakdown of Dat ze dat enorme gebouw daar zomaar neerzetten!
daar
there
dat
that (het-words)
het gebouw
the building
ze
they; she (unstressed form of zij) / them (object)
Questions & Answers about Dat ze dat enorme gebouw daar zomaar neerzetten!
This sentence stands on its own but has the word order of a subordinate clause. Why?
This is an independent exclamatory dat-clause. In Dutch, you can express surprise, indignation, or disbelief by using a subordinate clause structure (starting with dat and ending with the verb) all by itself. It implies an unspoken main clause like 'I cannot believe that...' or 'It is crazy that...'.
Why are there two dats so close to each other at the beginning?
They have completely different functions. The first Dat is the conjunction 'That' which triggers the exclamatory clause. The second dat is the demonstrative pronoun pointing out het gebouw ('that enormous building'). Seeing them almost next to each other is quite common!
Gebouw is a neuter (het) word. Why does enorme get an -e ending?
Adjectives before neuter nouns only drop the -e ending if they are preceded by an indefinite word like een or geen, or by nothing at all. Because gebouw is preceded by the demonstrative pronoun dat, the phrase is definite, so enorme keeps the standard -e ending.
What does zomaar add to the meaning of the sentence?
Zomaar translates to 'just like that' or 'without further ado.' In this exclamation, it emphasizes the speaker's disbelief or annoyance, implying that the building is being put there thoughtlessly or without warning.