Breakdown of De topsporter die de gouden medaille won, is veruit de allerbeste.
zijn
to be
winnen
to win
die
who / that (relative pronoun)
gouden
golden
de medaille
the medal
veruit
by far
allerbest
very best
de topsporter
the top athlete
Questions & Answers about De topsporter die de gouden medaille won, is veruit de allerbeste.
How do veruit and allerbeste work together here?
Veruit means "by far," and the prefix aller- attaches to a superlative to mean "the very [best]" or "[best] of all." Using both together in veruit de allerbeste is a common way in Dutch to heavily amplify the superlative, meaning "by far the very best."
Why is there a comma before the verb is?
The comma marks the end of the relative clause (die de gouden medaille won) and the return to the main clause. Dutch is much stricter than English about using commas to separate clauses, especially when it prevents two verbs (won and is) from sitting right next to each other without a visual boundary.
Why does the verb won go at the end of its clause?
The word die introduces a relative clause, which functions as a subclause giving more information about the athlete. In Dutch subclauses, the conjugated verb (won) must always be pushed to the very end of that clause.
Could I use dat instead of die to say "who" in this sentence?
No, because topsporter is a de-word (de topsporter). You must use die to refer back to de-words and plural nouns. Dat is strictly reserved for referring back to singular het-words.
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