Breakdown of De raadslieden hebben de risico's besproken.
hebben
to have
bespreken
to discuss
het risico
the risk
de raadsman
the legal counsel
Questions & Answers about De raadslieden hebben de risico's besproken.
The singular of raadslieden is raadsman. Can I also use raadslui here?
Grammatically, yes, because words ending in -man usually form their plural with either -lieden or -lui. However, -lieden is more formal than -lui. Since legal counsels operate in a formal, professional context, raadslieden is much more appropriate and common.
Why does risico's have an apostrophe for its plural?
In Dutch, nouns ending in a single open vowel (like a, i, o, u, or y) get an apostrophe plus s in the plural. This rule keeps the vowel sound long. If you just added an s to make risicos, the pronunciation rules would make that final o sound short.
Why is the past participle besproken without a ge- at the beginning?
The verb bespreken (to discuss) starts with the inseparable prefix be-. Verbs that start with inseparable prefixes like be-, ge-, ver-, ont-, or er- do not get an extra ge- added to their past participle.
If a female counsel is a raadsvrouw, how does that affect this plural?
While raadslieden serves as the collective plural for a mixed group or a general reference, a group of specifically female counsels would be raadsvrouwen. In modern Dutch, there is also a strong trend to use alternative job titles like advocaten (lawyers) to avoid the -man and -vrouw suffixes entirely.
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