Breakdown of Zowel de ontwerper als de bewonderaar kijken naar het schilderij.
naar
to
kijken
to watch
het schilderij
the painting
als
as (like / conjunction)
zowel
both (used with 'als')
de ontwerper
the designer
de bewonderaar
the admirer
kijken naar
to look at / to watch
Questions & Answers about Zowel de ontwerper als de bewonderaar kijken naar het schilderij.
Why does the agent noun bewonderaar end in -aar instead of the standard -er or -der?
The verb is bewonderen (to admire). Its stem is bewonder. Generally, verb stems ending in an "r" get the suffix -der (like huurder). However, verbs ending in unstressed -er, -el, or -en get the suffix -aar instead. Since bewonder ends in an unstressed -er, it becomes bewonderaar.
Why does ontwerper simply get an -er suffix rather than -der?
The verb here is ontwerpen (to design), and the stem is ontwerp. Because this stem ends in a regular consonant ("p") and doesn't fall into the special categories (like stems ending in "r" or unstressed syllables), it just takes the standard -er suffix to indicate the person performing the action.
Both ontwerper and bewonderaar are singular, so why is the verb kijken plural?
The correlative conjunction zowel ... als ... (both ... and ...) links the two subjects together into a plural concept. Just like when you connect two singular subjects with en (and), Dutch requires a plural verb here.
Why do we need the word naar in this sentence?
In Dutch, the verb kijken just means "to look". If you want to say you are looking at an object or a person, you must use the fixed preposition naar. Therefore, "looking at the painting" becomes kijken naar het schilderij.
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