Breakdown of Mijn trui is schoon, maar hij zit nog in de droger.
zijn
to be
hij
he / it (referring to a 'de'-word)
maar
but
in
in
mijn
my
de trui
the sweater
schoon
clean
nog
still, yet / more, another (with a quantity)
zitten
to be (located) in
de droger
the dryer
Questions & Answers about Mijn trui is schoon, maar hij zit nog in de droger.
How is the noun droger formed in this sentence?
It is formed by adding the suffix -er to the verb drogen (to dry). This suffix is commonly used to create nouns for instruments or machines that perform a specific action. Note the spelling rule: the verb stem is droog, but when you add the suffix, one 'o' is dropped to keep the vowel long in an open syllable (dro-ger).
Could the word droger also mean "drier" (more dry)?
Yes! Droger is both the noun for the appliance (a dryer) and the comparative form of the adjective droog (drier). You can easily tell it is the noun in this sentence because it follows the definite article de.
Why is the sweater referred to as hij (he) instead of het (it)?
Trui is a de-word. In Dutch, you must use hij to refer back to grammatically masculine de-words (and in spoken Dutch, it is used as the default for almost all inanimate de-words). You only use het to refer back to het-words.
Why use zit (sits) rather than is in hij zit nog in de droger?
Dutch heavily prefers posture verbs (staan, liggen, zitten, hangen) over the verb zijn to describe where something is located. Zitten is the correct choice here because it is used when an object is enclosed, trapped, or contained inside something else—like a sweater inside a machine.
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