Breakdown of Het water valt druppelsgewijs uit het plafond.
het water
the water
het
it
uit
out of / from
vallen
to fall
het plafond
the ceiling
druppelsgewijs
drop by drop
Questions & Answers about Het water valt druppelsgewijs uit het plafond.
How exactly is the adverb druppelsgewijs formed in this sentence?
It combines the noun druppel (drop) with the suffix -gewijs (in the manner of / by way of), joined by a linking -s-. This suffix is used to turn nouns into adverbs of proportion, which gives us the meaning "drop by drop" here.
Could I just say druppel voor druppel instead?
Yes, druppel voor druppel is perfectly natural and means exactly the same thing. druppelsgewijs sounds slightly more formal or descriptive, often used in written reports or news, but it is common enough to encounter in spoken Dutch too.
Why do we say the water falls uit (out of) the ceiling rather than van (from) it?
We use uit because the water is penetrating and leaking from inside the physical structure of the ceiling. If you used van, it would sound like the water was merely resting on the ceiling's surface before falling off.
Does the suffix have a variant with an extra -e, like druppelsgewijze?
Yes, you might occasionally see -gewijze in formal or older texts. The extra -e is just a remnant of older Dutch grammar cases. In modern Dutch, the shorter -gewijs is standard for adverbs like this and stapsgewijs (step by step).
Learn Het water valt druppelsgewijs uit het plafond and more in Dutch
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free