Breakdown of De zakenlui hebben zich gisteren goed gedragen.
hebben
to have
goed
good
gisteren
yesterday
zich gedragen
to behave
de zakenman
the businessman
Questions & Answers about De zakenlui hebben zich gisteren goed gedragen.
The singular is zakenman, so why is the plural zakenlui instead of "zakenmannen"?
For many traditional professions or demographics ending in -man, Dutch shifts the suffix to -lieden or -lui for the plural. So, zakenman (businessman) becomes zakenlui or zakenlieden. The literal plural "zakenmannen" is sometimes heard today, but these irregular collective plurals are the standard.
Is there a difference in meaning between zakenlui and zakenlieden?
They mean exactly the same thing ("businesspeople" or "businessmen"), but they differ in tone. The suffix -lui is more casual and common in everyday speech, whereas -lieden is more formal and more often found in written texts.
Why do we need the word zich in this sentence?
It belongs to the verb zich gedragen, which means "to behave". Unlike in English, where you can simply say "they behaved well", this verb is always reflexive in Dutch. You must include the reflexive pronoun, which is zich (themselves) for a third-person plural subject like De zakenlui.
Could I change the word order to "De zakenlui hebben gisteren goed zich gedragen"?
No, that would sound very unnatural. In Dutch word order, a reflexive pronoun like zich needs to be placed as close to the subject and the conjugated verb (hebben) as possible. It should come before time words like gisteren.
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