Breakdown of Enerzijds herleeft de straat, anderzijds wordt het duur.
duur
expensive
het
it
worden
to become
de straat
the street
enerzijds
on the one hand
anderzijds
on the other hand (often paired with enerzijds)
herleven
to revive
Questions & Answers about Enerzijds herleeft de straat, anderzijds wordt het duur.
How does the prefix her- work in the verb herleeft?
The prefix her- is used to indicate repetition or doing something again, much like "re-" in English. Here, it is attached to leven (to live) to create herleven, meaning "to revive" or "to come back to life".
Is herleven a separable verb?
No, verbs starting with the prefix her- are inseparable. That's why it stays together as herleeft in this present tense sentence. Because it's inseparable, the pronunciation stress falls on the root verb (her-leeft), and its past participle doesn't get a ge- prefix (it is simply herleefd).
Why does the verb come before the subject in both halves of the sentence (herleeft de straat, wordt het)?
This is due to inversion. Both clauses begin with an adverb (enerzijds and anderzijds). In a Dutch main clause, if you put anything other than the subject in the first position, the verb must immediately follow it, pushing the subject into the third position.
How do enerzijds and anderzijds work together?
They are a formal pair of words used to contrast two points, translating perfectly to "on the one hand ... on the other hand". The ending -zijds comes from zijde, meaning "side". In more casual everyday speech, you will often hear aan de ene kant ... aan de andere kant instead.
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