Word
De klant begon te zeuren.
Meaning
The customer started to whine.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of De klant begon te zeuren.
beginnen
to begin
de klant
the customer
te
to (infinitive marker)
zeuren
to whine
Questions & Answers about De klant begon te zeuren.
How can I change this sentence to use the noun derivation taught in this lesson?
The verb zeuren (to whine) drops the -en to become the stem zeur, and with the prefix ge-, it becomes the noun gezeur (constant whining or nagging). You could rewrite the idea using this noun by saying Het gezeur van de klant begon (The customer's whining started) or De klant begon met zijn gezeur (The customer started with his whining).
If the customer had a serious, legitimate complaint, would I still use zeuren?
No, zeuren implies repetitive, irritating, and often petty complaining, much like "whining" or "nagging" in English. If it were a formal, serious, or justified complaint, you would use klagen (to complain) instead.
Why do we need te before zeuren here?
In Dutch, when the verb beginnen (to begin/start) is linked to another action, that second verb must be in the infinitive form and preceded by te. Just like in English ("started to whine"), you use begon te zeuren.
How would you rewrite this sentence in the present perfect tense ("The customer has started to whine")?