Breakdown of De arts zoekt koortsachtig naar het juiste medicijn.
de arts
the doctor
naar
to
juist
right, correct; precisely
het medicijn
the medicine
koortsachtig
feverish / frantic
zoeken naar
to search for
Questions & Answers about De arts zoekt koortsachtig naar het juiste medicijn.
The translation says 'frantically', but how does koortsachtig actually break down?
The suffix -achtig means 'like' or 'similar to'. It is attached to the noun koorts (fever) to create a word meaning 'feverish' or 'fever-like'. In this sentence, searching 'feverishly' translates best to 'frantically' in English.
Why doesn't koortsachtig have an -e ending?
In this sentence, koortsachtig is used as an adverb because it describes how the doctor searches (the verb zoekt). In Dutch, adverbs do not take the -e ending. If it were used as an adjective before a noun, it would get an ending, such as in een koortsachtige zoektocht (a frantic search).
Why is the word naar used after zoekt?
The verb zoeken (to search or to look) is a prepositional verb that pairs with naar when you are looking for a specific person, object, or solution. Just like you 'search for' something in English, you use zoeken naar in Dutch.
Since medicijn is a het word, why does juiste get an -e ending?
Adjectives placed before het words do get the -e ending as long as they follow the definite article het or a demonstrative like dit. The only time the -e is dropped for a het word is when it follows an indefinite article like een or no article at all, such as in een juist medicijn.
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