Breakdown of De onderzoeker werkt koortsachtig aan het project.
werken
to work
het project
the project
aan
on / at (attached to, edge)
de onderzoeker
the researcher
Questions & Answers about De onderzoeker werkt koortsachtig aan het project.
How does adding -achtig to the word for "fever" translate to "frantically" here?
The suffix -achtig means "-like" or "similar to." It is added to the noun koorts (fever) to create koortsachtig, literally meaning "feverish" or "fever-like." In both Dutch and English, working "feverishly" means working in a frantic, highly energetic, or hurried way.
Why doesn't koortsachtig get an -e ending in this sentence?
Here, koortsachtig is acting as an adverb describing how the researcher works (werkt). In Dutch, adverbs do not take the -e inflection. If it were an adjective modifying a noun directly, such as "a frantic researcher," it would get the ending: een koortsachtige onderzoeker.
Why do we use aan for working "on" a project instead of op?
The fixed preposition for working on a task, a project, or a physical object in Dutch is werken aan. While op often translates to "on," using werken op would imply that the researcher is physically standing on top of the project.
Is koortsachtig only used in this figurative way, or can it describe an actual medical fever?
It can be used for both! You can have a koortsachtige gloed (feverish flush) when you are physically sick, but just like the English word "feverish," it is extremely common to use it figuratively to describe frantic, tense, or agitated activity.