Word
De bewindslieden hebben zich verontschuldigd voor de fout.
Meaning
The government ministers apologized for the mistake.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of De bewindslieden hebben zich verontschuldigd voor de fout.
hebben
to have
voor
to (time), before
de fout
the mistake
zich verontschuldigen
to apologize
Questions & Answers about De bewindslieden hebben zich verontschuldigd voor de fout.
What is the singular form of bewindslieden, and could I say bewindslui instead?
The singular is bewindsman (a cabinet member or government minister). Because the current lesson focuses on the -man to -lieden / -lui shift, you might wonder if bewindslui is acceptable. While technically understood, bewindslieden is strongly preferred because -lieden sounds much more formal than -lui, which fits the serious context of government officials.
Is there a feminine equivalent to bewindsman, and does it change this plural?
Yes, a female minister is a bewindsvrouw (plural: bewindsvrouwen). However, bewindslieden acts as the collective, gender-neutral plural for a mixed group of ministers. You will see bewindslieden used constantly in Dutch political news when referring to the cabinet as a whole.
Why is zich used in this sentence?
The Dutch verb for "to apologize" is zich verontschuldigen (literally: to excuse oneself). It is a reflexive verb, meaning the action reflects back on the subject. Since the subject here is "they" (De bewindslieden), the matching reflexive pronoun is zich.
This sentence uses voor (for the mistake). What preposition do I use to say who the ministers apologized to?