Breakdown of Zelfs de allersnelste topsporter is te laat, laat staan dat wij op tijd zijn.
zijn
to be
wij
we
de tijd
the time
op
on
laat
late
te
too
zelfs
even
laat staan dat
let alone that
de topsporter
the top athlete
allersnelst
very fastest
Questions & Answers about Zelfs de allersnelste topsporter is te laat, laat staan dat wij op tijd zijn.
How does the prefix aller- change the meaning of snelste here?
The prefix aller- is used to amplify a superlative. While de snelste just means the fastest, adding aller- makes it de allersnelste, which means the very fastest or the fastest of all. It adds extra emphasis to show how extreme the situation is.
Could we use veruit here instead, like veruit de snelste topsporter?
Yes, grammatically you could say veruit de snelste (by far the fastest). However, allersnelste fits the tone slightly better here. Veruit emphasizes the huge gap between the fastest athlete and the rest, whereas aller- just emphasizes the absolute extreme of the speed, which works perfectly with zelfs (even) to make a hypothetical point.
How exactly does the phrase laat staan dat work in this sentence?
The phrase laat staan dat translates to let alone that or not to mention. It is used to introduce a scenario that is even more unlikely or impossible than the first one. It is a highly common and idiomatic way to connect two clauses in Dutch when comparing two extreme situations.
Why does the verb zijn move to the very end of the sentence?
The second clause is introduced by laat staan dat. Because this connector ends with the subordinating conjunction dat (that), it forces a subordinate clause word order. This means all verbs get pushed to the end of the clause, resulting in dat wij op tijd zijn instead of dat wij zijn op tijd.
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